Good news! We’ve completed the latest edition of the Daily Office Booklet. Beginning to pray the Daily Office is a great way to start the New Year. This edition will guide you through Morning and Evening Prayer, using the lectionary readings from January through April 2026. As always, we’ve rendered PDFs for you to print in both booklet and…
Today in the Spirit: Christmas 2A
We continue to celebrate the Christmas season on the Second Sunday of Christmas. For Christmas 2, the Church gives two options for the assigned Gospel readings in all three lectionary years. These, together with the various options for Gospel readings on Christmas Day, provide coverage of all the infancy and childhood narratives of our Lord’s…
What is Boxing Day? A Guide to the Second Day of Christmas
Boxing Day, celebrated on December 26, is the second day of Christmas and a day of charity and public festivity. The day is named for gift boxes given to those outside the immediate family, especially those who serve us throughout the year. (It might have something to do with boxing, too, but you’ll have to…
The Liturgical Home: Christmas Day
After the long weeks of Advent, of intentional waiting, fasting, prayer, and preparation, the great Feast of the Nativity is finally here.
O Emmanuel
It is folly to the world wrapped in darkness, but our pleas to God to send us Immanuel find their answer in God’s naturally ordered creation by sending us a baby.
O Rex Gentium: O King of the Nations
Traditional Antiphon O King of the nations, and their desire, The Cornerstone making both one: Come and save the human race, which you fashioned from clay. O Come, O Come, Emmanuel O come, Desire of nations, bindin one the hearts of all mankind;Bid thou our sad divisions cease,And be thyself our King of Peace. It…
Festive Events of Advent and Christmas in the ACNA
Anglican Compass is excited to showcase a variety of holiday-themed events hosted by churches across the Anglican Church in North America.
O Oriens: O Dayspring
December 21st arrives draped in shadow. In the Northern Hemisphere, the winter solstice—the shortest day of the year and the longest night—often falls on this day. It’s a time when darkness seems to have truly overcome the light. Thus, it is particularly fitting that the Church assigns O Oriens, the O Antiphon naming Christ as…
Hymn Guide: Lo, How A Rose E’er Blooming
The image of a rose blooming in winter, emerging from a tender stem, reflects both the beauty and the vulnerability of baby Jesus and his mother Mary.
O Clavis David: O Key of David
O Clavis David, meaning “O Key of David,” proclaims God’s appointed leadership of Christ Jesus as the fulfillment of the hopes and promises given to the dynasty of King David.
O Radix Jesse: O Root of Jesse
To many of us modern folks, the antiphon that begins with “O Root of Jesse” seems, perhaps, out of place among the others in the sequence. Poetic, sure. “Biblical,” of course. But the rest of the “O Antiphons” appear to emphasize key—sometimes eternal—attributes of who God is.
O Adonai: O Lord of Might
The O Antiphons give seven Messianic titles to Jesus. The first title, Wisdom (Sapientia), evokes God’s creation as described in Genesis and Proverbs. The second title, Adonai, derives from the second book of the Bible, Exodus, in which God delivers his people. Traditional Antiphon O Adonai, and leader of the House of Israel, who appeared…
