O Rex Gentium

Come, O King of Nations

Friends,

Today’s O Antiphon is below—in its Latin, English, and adapted forms. Subscribers can keep reading below the image for a short reflection and another response poem by the brilliant Fr. Malcolm Guite. I hope these brief moments of reading and reflection help you capture the heart of Advent in this busy final week before Christmas.

O Rex Gentium

Latin Text
O rex gentium, et desideratus earum,
lapisque angularis, qui facis utraque unum,
(veni, et) salva hominem quem de limo formasti

English Translation 
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 Adaptation
O come, Desire of nations, bind
In one the hearts of all mankind;
Bid Thou our sad divisions cease,
And be Thyself our King of Peace.