This video was created by friends of mine in the States last year to express something of the longings and anguish that characterise the season of advent. The video works through the seven medieval advent 'antiphons' (cries or chants) which are the basis for the hymn 'O Come, O Come Emmanuel.' Each antiphon is a biblical name for Jesus. The purpose of the film is to visually represent the longings of advent to which Jesus is God's response. For example, for the medieval Christians to cry out 'O Sapientia' (O Wisdom) demonstrates their longing for the knowledge that exceeds all human understanding. So the character is found searching for information in a library but is unable to find what he is, ultimately, looking for.
A few other things to look out for... Purple is the traditional colour of advent and, by wearing the hooded tops of that colour, the film-makers were illustrating how Christ comes into the midst of our experiences. By shedding the purple tops at the end of each sequence, revealing a white tops beneath, they signify that Christ not only meets with us, but that he is answer to our longings and the full realisation of God's promises.
Finally, they discovered that the first letters of the Latin names of Jesus in the antiphons spelt 'Ero Cras' which translates as 'Tomorrow I Will Be There,' which is the great hope of advent and the greatest promise of them all - Emmanuel, God with us!
This is well worth meditating on this advent.
Jonathan
http://video.google.com/videosearch?sourceid=navclient&ie=UTF-8&rls=SUNA,SUNA:2006-48,SUNA:en&q=ero%20cras&um=1&sa=N&tab=wv#
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