Today is the last day of Advent and the first time I studied it day-by-day. O’ Come Emmanuel. There are seven Antiphons one for each day leading to Christmas Eve. Emmanuel means, God with Us. O come, O come, Emmanuel. What a wonderful thought.

From Lectio 365 App, Day 7

This final antiphon carries within it a delightful surprise: a secret message worthy of Sherlock Holmes.

To find it | must turn to the original Latin of these seven titles: Emmanuel, Rex, Oriens, Clavis, Radix, Adonai, Sapientia.

The first letters of these words form an acrostic that spells out the answer to the question posed by all the antiphons.

Again and again over the last week I’ve prayed, “O come, O come, Emmanuel” and now the Latin phrase spelled out in the acrostic is: Ero cras, which simply means, “Tomorrow I come!”

At last, after centuries of longing expressed in the ancient prophecies, God whispers:

“Tomorrow I come!” And it’s perfectly timed, because, of course, the code is only finally decipherable today, upon completion of the antiphons, which is the day before Christmas Eve.

“Tomorrow,” God says, “Tomorrow I come!”