Celebrating Liturgical Seasons
Growing by Experiencing the Feasts and Seasons of the Church Year
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Beginning the Church's liturgical year, Advent (from, "ad-venire" in Latin or "to come to") is the season encompassing the four Sundays (and weekdays) leading up to the celebration of Christmas. In 2021, Advent begins on Sunday, November 28.
The Advent season is a time of preparation that directs our hearts and minds to Christ’s second coming at the end of time and also to the anniversary of the Lord’s birth on Christmas. The final days of Advent, from December 17 to December 24, focus particularly on our preparation for the celebrations of the Nativity of our Lord (Christmas). |
Scripture Reflections and Artwork on our Worship Tab
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Each week of Advent and Christmas, we will upload a new reflection resource on our Worship tab. There you will find a prayer, illustration, and a reflection on the Sunday Scripture and a reflection for each weekday-about the day's Scripture, saint, or Catholic practices, along with a smaller illustration. Citations for Scripture readings are included with each day.
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Traditional Advent Devotions
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Advent Wreaths
Advent devotions including the Advent wreath, remind us of the meaning of the season. Traditionally, Advent wreaths are constructed of a circle of evergreen branches into which four candles are inserted, representing the four weeks of Advent. Ideally, three candles are purple and one is rose, but white candles can also be used.
The purple candles in particular symbolize the prayer, penance, and preparatory sacrifices and goods works undertaken at this time. The rose candle is lit on the third Sunday, Gaudete Sunday, when the priest also wears rose vestments at Mass; Gaudete Sunday is the Sunday of rejoicing, because the faithful have arrived at the midpoint of Advent, when their preparation is now half over and they are close to Christmas. The progressive lighting of the candles symbolizes the expectation and hope surrounding our Lord’s first coming into the world and the anticipation of his second coming to judge the living and the dead. |
Jesse Trees
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The Jesse Tree helps us connect the custom of decorating Christmas trees to the events leading to Jesus' birth. The Jesse Tree is named from Isaiah 11:1: “A shoot shall come out of the stock of Jesse, and a branch shall grow out of his roots.” Jesse was the father of King David. We adorn a Jesse Tree with illustrated ornaments that represent the people, prophesies, and events leading up to the birth of Jesus. The ornaments of the Jesse Tree tell the story of God in the Old Testament, connecting the Advent season with the faithfulness of God across four thousand years of history.
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The Loyola Press Jesse Tree offers ornament ideas, in depth reflections, and links to bible verses.
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O Antiphons - December 17 - 24
December 17 marks the beginning of the "O" Antiphons, an ancient part of our liturgy, dating back to the fourth century, one for each day until Christmas Eve. These antiphons address Christ with seven magnificent Messianic titles, based on the Old Testament prophecies and types of Christ. The Church recalls the variety of the ills of man before the coming of the Redeemer. For more information on the O Antiphons, see Observing the O Antiphons by Jennifer Gregory Miller. Find activities for the O Antiphons at CatholicCulture.org and Catholic Icing. |
Click Here for more Family Advent Activities and Book Recommendations
Daily or Weekly Reflections
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Living Well Through Advent 2021
Practicing Patience With All Your Heart, Soul, Strength, and Mind
From Living Compass
This resource provides a foundation for seeking a deeper experience of Advent, an experience that will help prepare us for the true meaning of Christmas.
WE ARE HAPPY TO OFFER SEVERAL WAYS TO ENGAGE WITH US THROUGHOUT THE 2020 ADVENT SEASON:
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Journey With St. Joseph
Spend a few moments each day of Advent on a Journey with St. Joseph. This special e-mail series will explore Joseph as a man of courage, love, and acceptance. The messages also include suggestions for further exploration of Advent themes through additional online articles and prayers.
Featured authors include Bishop William D. Byrne, Barbara Lee, and Joe Paprocki. End this Year of St. Joseph by joining us! Sign up to receive the daily messages beginning the First Sunday of Advent, November 28, 2021, through Christmas. The messages will come from the Year in Our Church from Loyola Press. |
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Arts and Faith: Advent
Prepare for Christmas and deepen your experience of the Advent season this year with Arts & Faith: Advent. Each week Loyola Press will provide a video commentary about a work of art inspired by the Sunday Scriptures. Use these videos to take a new look at this season of hope and preparation through the lens of sacred art.
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Daily Advent Gospel Reflections from Bishop Robert Barron
Subscribe today for FREE and get:
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Advent Calendars
The USCCB Advent calendar can help you fully enter into the season with daily activity and prayer suggestions to prepare you spiritually for the birth of Jesus Christ. Busted Halo's 2021 Advent Surprise Calendar brings a sense of surprise by showing you the whole calendar, but not letting you “open” each day and find out what’s behind the picture until that day comes along. Each day, the link will lead you to a special Advent-themed Daily Jolt and MicroChallenge. CAFOD's online Advent calendar 2021 of daily prayer and reflection offers an opportunity to pause and reflect, pray and take action as we prepare for Christmas. Join us as we journey throughout the season of Advent with our global family. You can also reflect with our Advent calendar for families, or download our Advent calendar for children or our Advent calendar for young people. Loyola Press Advent Calendar for Adults invites you to slow down this season and discover the quiet moments of Advent hope. Each day of Advent, you’ll be directed to a reflection, media link, or activity to inspire you. Bloggers Vinita Hampton Wright, Joe Paprocki, Paul Brian Campbell, SJ, Jim Manney, and others share resources to nurture your spirituality at this busy time of year. |
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Art and Music
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Songs for Advent:
A Playlist of Waiting Songs December is filled with Christmas music and carols that focus in on the babe in the manger, rather than the coming King. As an antidote to the hyperfocus on December 25, Anam Cara Ministries has curated a list of waiting songs and hymns that help tune our hearts to this time. (You can access it here or by clicking on the image at the left.)
And, if you have little ones, they highly recommend the album Waiting Songs by a band called Rain for Roots. It's full of singable songs that help kids understand the struggles and hope of waiting for God. |
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Songs for the Waiting: Devotions Inspired by the Hymns of Advent
Available on Kindle for $1.99 or in paperback.
Despite the presence of many beautiful Advent songs in many of our hymnals, most of us would prefer to skip right to singing our favorite Christmas carols. But in our rush to get to the joy of Christmas, we forget what Advent is all about--watching and waiting for the coming of a promised king.
It is not about shopping, partying, gift wrapping, and vacationing. It is about resting, trusting, praying, and seeking. Through the words of moving Advent hymns and the powerful words of Scripture, Songs for the Waiting will help readers reclaim a sense of the beautiful anticipation and preparation that is central to Advent. |
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Amy Grant - Breath Of Heaven
This song was originally written by Chris Eaton, but Amy Grant wanted to record it and asked Chris if she could rewrite some of the lyrics from a woman's perspective, namely Mary. Chris agreed. So this is Amy's version. The images are from the wonderful movie "Nativity Story"; if you have not seen it, do it, whether it's Christmastime or not.
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Lo, How A Rose E'er Blooming
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O Come, O Come Emmanuel
Traditional 12th century Latin hymn, English text with lyrics performed by a traditional choir. |
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People Look East
Sung by Marty Haugen and captioned.
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Andrae Crouch *Soon And Very Soon* w/Lyrics
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Online Retreats
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November 28-December 27, 2021
Led by Jan Richardson In a chaotic time, the Illuminated retreat will offer a space of elegant simplicity. Intertwining reflection, art, music, and community, this four-week online retreat provides a distinctive opportunity to journey through Advent and Christmas in contemplation and conversation with others along the way.
This online retreat is not about adding one more thing to your holiday schedule. It is about helping you find spaces for reflection that draw you deep into a season that shimmers with mystery and possibility. |
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WE ARE NOT ALONE
November 28 – December 26, 2021 Self-Paced with an optional community gathering Led by Becky Eldridge, Stephanie Clouatre Davis, Kathy Powell, and Charlotte Phillips Advent prepares our hearts for the coming of the Light of the world, Jesus Christ.
This year, as we end a year of continued uncertainty and a longing to return "normal", let's be intentional about praying through the season. With God, there is hope. You do not have to journey through Advent alone. We invite you to turn to prayer as your foundation. And we’re making it easy for you. We have created an online Advent retreat in daily life that will provide a pause in one of the busiest seasons of life. For 29 days, starting on the first Sunday of Advent, November 28th, and running through the Feast of the Holy Family on December 26th, we will walk with you in daily prayer.
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Online Classes
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The Birth of Jesus: Two Gospel Narratives is a free, online, self-paced tutorial written and narrated by Philip A. Cunningham, former Executive Director of Center for Christian-Jewish Learning at Boston College. It is a collaborative project of the Center and STM Online: crossroads.
The tutorial begins by exploring how the Catholic tradition and recent biblical scholarship understand the origins of the Gospels and their proper interpretation, continues with discussions of the Infancy Narratives in the Gospel of Matthew and the Gospel of Luke, and concludes by considering the two infancy narratives in relation to what is known historically about the late Second Temple period, their similar theological lessons, and some reflections on how they inform the Christian faith in our world today. Click here for more information. |
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The Christian story—the metanarrative of salvation history—is shaped by biblical figures that continue to inspire us, guide our faith, and ground our hope and our lives as believers. Inspired by the Jesse Tree, this course unpacks the Advent theme of hope as lived out by our forebears in faith. Using Scripture, videos with Fr. Michael Himes, and essays by the late Fr. Raymond Brown and Dr. Colleen Griffith, we look at some of the people in Matthew’s genealogy and others—people of hope who readied the way for Jesus and for us. With these stories in view, participants are invited to reflect on what it means to embrace and live out Christian hope today.
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Explore the Scriptures of Advent and Christmas for a richer celebration of these seasons. In this course you will have the opportunity to break open the Church's weekday readings for Advent, with emphasis on the dynamic of promise and fulfillment between the Old and New Testament readings as they are organized in the Lectionary. Then, take a closer look at the infancy narratives, and the distinctive approaches taken by the Evangelists. In addition, there will be recommendations for personal prayer practices in preparation for Christmas. No prior experience in Scripture study is necessary.
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