O Dawn of the East/O Oriens

O Dawn of the East, brightness of light eternal, and sun of justice; come, and enlighten those who sit in darkness and in the shadow of death.

Latin:
O Oriens, splendor lucis aiternae, et sol iustitiae: veni, et illumina sedentes in tenebris et umbra mortis.

References from Scripture:
Luke 1:78,79
Malachi 4:2

"For God so loved the world that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life. For God sent the Son into the world, not to condemn the world, but that the world might be saved through him. He who believes in him is not condemned; he who does not believe is condemned already, because he has not believed in the name of the only Son of God. And this is the judgement, that the light has come into the world, and men loved darkness rather than the light, because their deeds were evil. For every one who does evil hates the light, and does not come to the light, lest his deeds be exposed.

But he who does what is true comes to the light, that it may be clearly seen that his deeds have been wrought in God."

John 3:16-21

Relevant verse of O Come, O Come Emmanuel:
O come, Thou Dayspring, come and cheer,
Our spirits by Thine advent here;
Disperse the gloomy clouds of night,
And death's dark shadows put to flight.

Few Thoughts:
The last few days the kids occasionally discuss which of the antiphons are their personal favorites. I would probably pick this one. O Oriens. For several years now the idea of light during the Christmas season  has intrigued me. The fact that God chose a star as a pointer to the Babe. Jesus and the Light of the World. I think the idea really started when we were living in Anchorage, Alaska where the winters are DARK and LONG! Living there as an adult I was really struck by the darkness and how the Christmas lights and candles really help to lift ones spirits. Darkness is difficult. It's hard  not to get down. One must have light of some sort. And we do live in a dark world. Daily I get down unless I  turn my heart east, to the Son, the Light of the World. I appreciate that this antiphon was chosen for this particular day, December 21st. The winter solstice. The darkest day of the year.