During the last week of Advent the church sings the O Antiphons; these antiphons, sung with the Magnificat during Vespers, draw upon imagery from Israel’s prophetic tradition to express the Christian community’s hope for light in darkness. Most people are familiar with the O Antiphons from the hymn O Come, O Come Emmanuel.

The image here is a portion of a 14th-century calendar (BL Egerton 3277, f. 6v); December 16th is marked with ‘O Sapientia’ . (Apparently the medieval church in England began the O Antiphons a day early.)