John Neale

Sackville College served as a retirement home for poor men in nineteenth century England. The four-hundred-year-old building remains in use today, providing affordable housing to elderly people. The college’s most famous warden (director) was John Mason Neale (1816-1866). He was an Anglican priest until a chronic lung disease made it impossible for him to continue leading public worship, so he turned to supporting the school’s social ministry by introducing an Anglican order of sisters to care for poor women in neighboring towns. He was verbally and physically attacked for starting this Anglican sisterhood, as though he was using it strictly as a ruse to woo Anglicans to Catholicism.  John also translated old Latin hymns into English in his spare time and composed the carols “Good King Wenceslas” and “Good Christian Men, Rejoice.”
John’s most famous composition, “O Come, O Come Emmanuel,” was a discarded Latin hymn from the eighth century. In its original form, the hymn was a prayer of seven antiphons. Antiphon is a sentence or verse prayer. The exclamation “O” added emphasis to various Old Testament titles for the coming Messiah. Five antiphons were included in his hymn–O come, Emmanuel; O come, Rod of Jesse; O come, Dayspring; O come, Key of David; and O come, Desire of Nations. He translated this Latin hymn into English and coupled it with a hauntingly beautiful fifteenth century French tune. Was it accidental or deliberate that the first letter of each antiphon in Latin forms an acrostic in reverse, spelling Ero Cras, meaning “Tomorrow, I come?” Note the repetition of the imperative “come” in this ancient prayer hymn.  We join with believers in praying,” Come, Lord Jesus” (Rev. 22.20). As we draw upon the original words of this eighth century Latin hymn, we invite Christ to come into our hearts this Advent season: