We all long for something.

We long for our children to grow up to be healthy, happy, and fulfilled. We yearn for a place to belong, friends who see and love us, and space to do the things we love. We ache for a world of kindness and justice in which we can all thrive.

Longing is part of the human condition. The Hebrew and Christian Scriptures are both filled with stories, songs, and supplications that express the wide diversity of our inherently human hankerings. And, in the liturgical tradition of the Christian faith, we have twin seasons devoted to our longings and their fulfilment: Advent and Christmas.

The O Antiphons

The Advent Season is particularly good at helping us to express our desires in song.
In the week before Christmas, many churches across the world sing seven ancient Advent chants known as the O Antiphons. All begin with the one-letter word O accompanied by a biblical name or title for Christ. They all express some need which we yearn to have addressed in our lives and world, and they all pray for Christ to fulfil our longing. 

The Songs of Our Longings
A new Liturgical and Devotional Guide from Sacredise
for Advent and Christmas

Based on the Gospel readings for Year C, The Songs of Our Longings—Meeting Christ in Ancient Advent Chants brings together the seven verses of the Advent hymn, O Come, O Come, Emmanuel, with the O Antiphons and the longings they express. The journey that results from this recipe is startlingly relevant to the lives and world in which we live today.

Every chapter of The Songs of Our Longings speaks to our personal and collective yearning. Drawing on the poetry and symbolism of the O Antiphons, they invite us to seek what we need in Christ and in following his liberating way.

If you are searching for an Advent series that can offer hope, comfort, inspiration, and purpose for frail, flawed, and foolish humans doing their best to navigate this challenging world, The Songs of Our Longings is for you.

The Songs of Our Longings
is available in three options:

THE SONGS OF OUR LONGINGS
Liturgical Guide includes:
● Sermon starter chapters for every service of the series based on the Lectionary readings from Luke’s and John’s Gospels;
● Purpose written prayers and liturgies for all four Advent Sundays, Christmas Day and both Sundays after Christmas;
● Ideas and suggestions for decorating your sanctuary and for creating visual elements to enhance your worship;
● A ‘Hanging of the Greens’ meditation for Advent Sunday and Advent Candle lighting liturgies for all services from Advent Sunday to Christmas Day (with Advent candle reflections for the two Sundays after Christmas);
● A theme-based Table Liturgy that can be used at any service in the series;
● A scripted, purpose-written Nine Lessons and Carols Liturgy;
● Theme-based graphics for your projection software, including welcome screens and backgrounds for song lyrics, liturgies, and sermon notes. 

THE SONGS OF OUR LONGINGS
Devotional Guide includes:
● Preparing, Responding, and Integrating practices for every day of the series to ensure that people can easily apply the message of each day to their own lives.
● Copies of the Sermon Starters for each week for quick reference in daily devotional practice.
● Daily reflection questions to enable people to listen more deeply to the message of the Scriptures and apply it to their lives and relationships.
THE SONGS OF OUR LONGINGS
Bundle includes:
Designed for communities that want to journey together, while also providing a meaningful personal journey for congregation members, the Bundle includes both the Liturgical and the Devotional Guides. It also includes a license to share the Devotional Guide through any or all of the following channels: 
● Printed handouts to distribute to congregation members; 
● Digital copies sent to members via email; 
● Posted on your church's social media channels; 
● Posted on your church's website.

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The Songs of Our Longings
includes the following chapters:

Advent 1 - Emmanuel
We often lose ourselves in times of chaos. Anxiety and pain dull our hearts and rob us of life. We become exiles to ourselves, each other, and God. But, as the O Antiphon sings, Christ comes to us as Emmanuel, reawakens our dulled hearts, and leads us back to our true selves. And when we are liberated from our exile, we are empowered to embody God’s reign and become little Emmanuels to one another.

Advent 2 - Wisdom
We long to know how to navigate our world, which so often feels like an inhospitable wilderness. We need wisdom that can guide us to lives of authenticity, wholeness, and connection. Both John the Baptiser and Jesus found the wisdom they needed in the wilderness, not apart from it. And now, through the Scriptures, they share that wisdom with us. As the O Antiphon sings, Christ, the Divine Wisdom, teaches us to find order and fullness of life in our wilderness world.

Advent 3 - Adonai
The O Antiphon reminds us that, Adonai, the God of Might, gave the law to Israel as a way to lead them from being a ragtag group of slaves to becoming a united, mutually-caring nation. And as John the Baptiser prepared people for the coming of Christ, he called them to a simple, practical way of kindness as their guide for life. Now, as we long for peace, safety, and justice we are reminded that little acts of consideration are used by God to heal and restore us.

Advent 4 - Rod of Jesse
When she became pregnant, Mary’s life was under threat and she risked becoming invisible to a community that would have reduced her to one word: adulterer. And so she went in search of someone who would see her, love her, and help her through the danger. In our workaholic and turbulent world, we can often feel invisible and insecure, and we need someone to see us, love us, and help us. The O Antiphon reminds us that Christ is the Rod of Jesse who saves us from the tyranny of accusation and invisibility, and leads us to love and life.

Christmas - Key of David
The Christmas story skips over the wealthy, powerful, and beautiful people of first century Israel and highlights the poor, marginalised, and weak. In a world that values only the successful, Christmas is good news for ‘losers’. And, as the O Antiphon sings, Christ as the Key of David opens God’s reign to all the devalued and dismissed people of the world and invites them into the joy and worthiness of God’s unfailing grace and love.

Christmas 1 - Dayspring
We all know the darkness of loss, failure, regret, and grief. The dark fear that gripped Mary and Joseph when they lost their twelve-year-old son, resonates with our shadows, but also invites us to find God there. Darkness is not just destructive. It is also the place of creativity. As the O Antiphon sings, Christ is the Dayspring who comes into our darkness and transforms it, cheering our spirits and en-lightening us with God’s beauty, truth, and goodness.

Christmas 2 - Desire of Nations
As we enter a new year, it is easy to get caught up in all that is wrong with the world and to lose hope and courage. But the great problems facing our world are also personal—what we do matters. As the O Antiphon sings, Christ is the Desire of Nations and the Cornerstone which is the foundation for building lives of peace, mutual care, and holistic abundance. And as we embody Jesus’ vision and values, we are able to real-ise God’s reign of love and justice in our own lives and world.