Advent & Christmas Seasons 2023

“When the Church celebrates the liturgy of Advent each year, she makes present this ancient expectancy of the Messiah, for by sharing in the long preparation for the Savior’s first coming, the faithful renew their ardent desire for his second coming.” (CCC 525)

Advent is preparation for the celebration of what St. Teresa of Calcutta spoke of as the most powerful force in the world, the humility of God. This time of gathering darkness, even a certain starkness, is also a time of hopeful expectation for the coming of the Light that has power to dispel the darkness of war, of injustice, the darkness in our own lives … “the light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it” (John 1:5). The preparation for His First Coming is intended by Christ’s Mystical Body, the Church, to foreshadow His Second Coming.

What better way to prepare during Advent than through a more focused emphasis on prayer and the sacramental life, especially on Confession and on the Most Holy Eucharist, His real and substantial Body, Blood, Soul, and Divinity concealed under the forms of bread and wine? Especially knowing that, 33 years later, He would institute the sacrament of His Body and Blood, God the Son arranged from all eternity to be born in a village named “Beth-Lehem”, which translates as “House of Bread.”

Please use the resources below as aides as we enter into these four weeks of Advent, and to prepare well for the great day and season of Christmas!

Wishing you, and your family, a blessed Advent, a merry Christmas, and a happy New Year!

Resources for a fruitful Advent & Christmas Season

For a list of Advent and Christmas Notable Days, click here.

For Advent season resources from the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB), click here.

For Christmas season resources from the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB), click here.

Advent Calendars (from the USCCB)

Advent-Calendar-English

Advent Calendar – Spanish (Calendario de Adviento)

Advent Calendars (from Loyola Press)

Advent Calendar (English)

Calendario de Adviento (Spanish)

Advent Calendar for Kids (English)

Calendario de Adviento para niños (Spanish)

St. Andrew Christmas Prayer

The Saint Andrew’s Christmas Novena prayer below is traditionally prayed 15 times a day from November 30, the Feast of Saint Andrew, through Christmas Eve.

Hail, and blessed be the hour and moment at which the Son of God was born of a most pure Virgin at a stable at midnight in Bethlehem in the piercing cold. At that hour vouchsafe, I beseech Thee, to hear my prayers and grant my desires.

(Mention your intentions here)

Through Jesus Christ and His most Blessed Mother.

Amen.

Source of content: mycatholic.life

A Reflection on Advent & The Eucharist: God Has Come to Seek Me Out

Advent Prayer

My hidden Lord Jesus, I love You and thank You with profound gratitude for uniting Yourself with fallen humanity. When You first entered into this world, You remained hidden for nine months in the immaculate womb of Your Blessed Mother. She carried You, body and blood, soul and divinity, within the sanctuary of her body. She also carried You within her heart as a result of her perfect love for You and her perfect obedience to the will of the Father.

Precious Lord, as I embrace this Advent Season, please open my eyes to see the great value and blessing of Your Incarnation. Help me to discover Your hidden presence in this world and within my own soul. I desire to see, understand and experience the profound effects that Your Incarnation has on my life and I desire to receive those effects more fully this Advent. May I become a sanctuary in which You dwell so that I, like Your dear Mother, may bring Your presence into the world.

My loving Jesus, I choose You, this Advent, as my King and my God. I abandon myself to You and seek to put all my trust in Your tender care. Draw me close to You and free me from my sin so that I may love You with a pure and holy heart.

Mother Mary, as You carried your dear Son in your immaculate womb, you also carried Him in your heart. Pray for me, this Advent, that I may surrender myself to the will of the Father in imitation of you. You said “Yes” to all that God asked of you and never hesitated to fully embrace His divine will. Pray that I may imitate your perfect example so as to share a deeper union with you and your divine Son.

Come, Lord Jesus,

Come, Lord Jesus!

Amen.

Source of content: mycatholic.life

Christmas Prayer

Glory to God in the highest!

My precious Lord, Jesus,

I adore You with profound love and rejoice in the celebration of Your birth.

Your love for us is unfathomable,

it is glorious

transforming,

awe-inspiring,

and deeply personal.

You chose to come and dwell among us,

being born into poverty, rejection and humility.

Yet Your mother knew whom she bore,

Her heart was filled with the tenderest love

as she adored her Child and her God.

Help me, dear Lord.

to come to love You with the heart of Your mother.

Invite me to adore You with St. Joseph and the poor shepherds.

Reveal to me the glorious power of Your birth

and change my life on account of this perfect gift of Yourself.

I love You, dear Lord Jesus.

Help me to love You with all my heart.

Newborn Savior of the World,

I trust in You.

Mother Mary and St. Joseph,

Pray for me and for all.

Amen.

Source of content: mycatholic.life

Photo: USCCB.org