Thursday, January 1, 2009

Mighty God

Source
"A tiny little son is born for us today, and he is called Mighty God, alleluia."

     Third antiphon (to Ps 149), Morning prayer, Christmas Day, and often throughout the Octave of Christmas:  "A little child is born for us today; little and yet called the mighty God, alleluia."
     Source is of course Is 9:6, but cut back in such a way as to turn parvulus back into an adjective and heighten the contrast: "Parvulus enim natus est nobis et filius datus est nobis . . . et vocabitur nomen eius . . . Deus fortis. . . ." Hodie is borrowed from Lk 2:11.
     One lovely parallel, taken out of context, is Dt 7:9: "the Lord thy God, he is a mighty and faithful God, keeping his covenant and mercy to them that love him, and to them that keep his commandments, unto a thousand generations [(Dominus Deus tuus ipse est Deus fortis et fidelis custodiens pactum et misericordiam diligentibus se et his qui custodiunt praecepta eius in mille generations)]".

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