#advent
According to tradition, a Moravian Star should be displayed beginning on the first Sunday in Advent (the fourth Sunday before Christmas) until Epiphany (January 6). The Herrnhut Star Company in Herrnhut, East Saxony, Germany, has been producing Moravian Stars for over 160 years. The star on exhibit in Glencairn’s Upper Hall was originally given as a gift to Oskar Boehm by his sister Erna Pfueller (née Boehm). Oskar, his wife Anna, and their children had immigrated from Germany’s Erzgebirge region to the United States in 1928. Edna remained in Germany, and following World War II the region where she lived became part of the German Democratic Republic (East Germany). In the 1950s Erna mailed the star from Germany to Oskar’s family as a gift. Oskar worked as a sexton for St. James Methodist Church on Tabor Road in Philadelphia, and for many years it was displayed in that church at Christmastime. (Gift of Helmut and Elfriede Boehm)
Check out this year’s “Christmas at Glencairn” events here: https://bit.ly/ChristmasAtGlencairn
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ADVENT CALENDAR DAY 9
Watercolor painting by Maud Petersham, from Woodstock, New York (1961). Glencairn Museum, Bryn Athyn, PA, 07.WC.1225.
This watercolor painting of the Presentation in the Temple, an early episode in the life of Jesus Christ, was made by Maud Petersham, an artist from Woodstock, New York. According to the biblical account, after Jesus was born Joseph and Mary traveled to Jerusalem to present their newborn child at the temple, as required by law. While they were at the temple, the Holy Spirit visited a man named Simeon and revealed to him that Jesus was the Messiah. Simeon then took Jesus into his arms, said a prayer, and blessed them (Gospel of Luke 2:25–35).
Maud and Miska Petersham, a husband-and-wife artist team, were well known in the first half of the 20th century as illustrators and authors of children’s literature. Their illustrations were a special favorite with Mildred Pitcairn. This painting was commissioned by Raymond and Mildred Pitcairn in 1961, and was sent from Glencairn as their Christmas card that year.
Every day, from December 1 through December 25, a new work of Nativity art from the Glencairn Museum collection will appear on the home page of our Advent calendar (Follow the Star: A 2021 Advent Calendar. To receive these in your newsfeed, follow our social media (Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, Tumblr).
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ADVENT CALENDAR DAY 8
Limestone relief of the Adoration of the Wise Men, 13th-century France. (Detail photo on top.) Glencairn Museum, Bryn Athyn, PA, 09.SP.119.
This limestone relief with the Adoration of the Wise Men was made in 13th-century France. It illustrates the biblical story describing these travelers, who came “from the East,” saying, “Where is He who has been born King of the Jews? For we have seen His star in the East and have come to worship Him” (Gospel of Matthew 2:1–2).
During the construction of Glencairn, Raymond Pitcairn set this relief into the north wall of the inglenook in the Great Hall, where it remains today. All three of the Wise Men are represented as kings wearing crowns, in keeping with medieval tradition. The foremost king, whose arm is broken off, is shown kneeling to present a gift—either gold, frankincense, or myrrh (Matthew 2:11).
Every day, from December 1 through December 25, a new work of Nativity art from the Glencairn Museum collection will appear on the home page of our Advent calendar (Follow the Star: A 2021 Advent Calendar). To receive these in your newsfeed, follow our social media (Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, Tumblr).
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ADVENT CALENDAR DAY 7
Lampshade panel illustrating the Visitation of the Shepherds, made in the late 1930s or early 1940s. Glencairn Museum, Bryn Athyn, PA, 11.OP.02.
This handcrafted lampshade panel illustrates the Visitation of the Shepherds. According to the Gospel of Luke, “So it was, when the angels had gone away from them into heaven, that the shepherds said to one another, ‘Let us now go to Bethlehem and see this thing that has come to pass, which the Lord has made known to us’” (2:15).
The panel is one of six scenes from the Nativity narrative decorating a Christmas-themed lampshade in Glencairn’s Chapel. The plexiglass shade was commissioned by Raymond Pitcairn in the late 1930s or early 1940s; it was designed and painted by Francis (“Frank”) Eugene Snyder (1908–1995). Synder painted the plexiglass with oils and other media in order to achieve the appearance and texture of stained glass when the lamp is turned on.
Every day, from December 1 through December 25, a new work of Nativity art from the Glencairn Museum collection will appear on the home page of our Advent calendar (Follow the Star: A 2021 Advent Calendar. To receive these in your newsfeed, follow our social media (Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, Tumblr).
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ADVENT CALENDAR DAY 6
Stained-glass roundel of the Annunciation to the Shepherds made in 13th-century France. Glencairn Museum, Bryn Athyn, PA, 03.SG.240.
This 13th-century stained-glass roundel illustrates the biblical story of the Annunciation to the Shepherds (Luke 2:8–14). Here an angel with green wings and a purple cloak descends from a heavenly cloud, announcing to the shepherds that they will “find a babe wrapped in swaddling cloths and lying in a manger.”
According to Professor Michael W. Cothren, “Medieval artists commonly used a wavy, arching band of clouds (frequently placed across the corner of a rectangular composition) to show a separation between the earthly realm below and the heavenly realm above. For example, when a disembodied hand of God emerges from heaven to command or bless a situation taking place on earth, it is often overlapped by an arching band of ‘clouds of heaven.’ Sometimes the face of God appears within the cloud band. Sometimes angels swoop down toward earth underneath or emerging from the clouds.” (“The ‘Clouds of Heaven’ Motif in Art Created for Glencairn,” Glencairn Museum News No. 1, 2021).
Every day, from December 1 through December 25, a new work of Nativity art from the Glencairn Museum collection will appear on the home page of our Advent calendar (Follow the Star: A 2021 Advent Calendar). To receive these in your newsfeed, follow our social media (Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, Tumblr).
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Noël arrive à Paris
#paris #christmas #advent #travel #courtjard #mini #christmastree #café (hier: Merci)
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Mini-christmas-tree search yesterday stay tuned in case I manage to decorate the one I bought
#Christmasspirit #Christmas #busybee #bitalsolazyaf #Advent #ersteradvent #Christmasshopping #Christmastree #weekend #lovechristmas #Christmastime #Weihnachten #vorweihnachtszeit
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My final Christmas yarn of 2017 is now available on four different bases. I’ll use the next few weeks to restock colourways that will continue into 2018 and plan my New Year releases…. #yarn #yarnporn #yarnstash #yarnaddict #yarnstagram #knit #knitting #knitter #knittersofinstagram #instaknit #knitspiration #knitting_inspiration #knitstagram #mothyandthesquid #etsy #ravelry #sockyarn #sockknitting #operationsockdrawer #knitallthethings #knittersoftheworld #fibreshare #indiedyer #glasgowetsy #indieyarn #woolswap #yarnspirations #yarnharlot #donegalsock #advent (at Mothy and the Squid)
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#Bradvent — Day Eight. | Londondesignz.com
Last one from me this evening… Eight — the horseman of Infinity. Just realised that I’m subconsciously channeling Roy Lichtenstein, but somehow I don’t think he needs to worry to much.
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#Bradvent — Day Seven. | Londondesignz.com
This one was a lot trickier than the simple shape of a generic seven might imply. I began with two separate shapes (e.g. the bar and the descender). Joining them together was trickier than I’d anticipated. But then, don’t knock the power of parallel lines to soften any ‘quirks’. It might even be a pair of giant fingers picking up a fleck of dust.
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#Bradvent — Day Six. | Londondesignz.com
Here’s day six of #bradvent. Day seven to follow (in case you hadn’t figured the pattern).
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#Bradvent Day Five. | londondesignz.com
Just catching up on the last few days of Bradvent. Only just realised that day five onwards haven’t seen the light of day on Tumbler just yet. More to come…
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#Bradvent — Day four.|Londondesignz.com
In which I feature the unsubtle nod towards Christmas trees and Baubles, four what it’s worth. See what I did there?
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#Bradvent — The first three. | Londondesignz.com
I had a great if unoriginal idea the other day: basically aim to do some form of hand lettering to mark each day of advent. It would have helped if I’d had the idea ahead of time — it only dawned on me on 1st December, so it was straight out with the Parallel Pen and run with the plan on the fly.
So in this spirit, I’ve only just realised that I haven’t been posting the results on Tumblr — here they are so far. If all things are equal, I’ll endeavour to post one a day throughout advent, but don’t hold me to that.
And the name of the ‘campaign’? Well I simply did a portmanteau on my own name and the word advent, then spiked it with a hashtag.
See what I did there?
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May God bless us all the more richly this Advent and as we begin a new Liturgical Year, may God grant us the grace to put our hearts and affairs in order so as to prepare for the great feast of Christmas, as well as His return at the End of Time.
This Sunday we will enter into the season of Advent. Let’s take the opportunity to ask ourselves how we would react if God surprised us as He did Mary. Are we ready for God to “wreak havoc with our plans”? Or do we want God to abide by the plans that we have for our lives?
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Interrupting the stream of November comics to let you know I made a free printable liturgical calendar, for the liturgical year fans out there. (Happy Advent!)
For folks who are new here: I’m a UX designer and a liturgical calendar nerd and I think a lot about how different tools shape our perception of time. I think the way we experience time is deeply linked with the ways that capitalism warps our souls, and I’m interested in tools and rituals that invite us outside of “productive” time and into sacred and communal time.
I designed the calendar to be split up by liturgical seasons, rather than calendar months, with Sunday (Christian sabbath & reminder of resurrection) as the core of the week.
Download the printable calendar here
A few quotes from Abraham Joshua Heschel’s The Sabbath, which has deeply influenced how I think about time and the sacred:
“Judaism is a religion of time aiming at the sanctification of time. Unlike the space-minded man to whom time is unvaried, iterative, homogeneous, to whom all hours alike, qualitiless, empty shells, the Bible senses the diversified character of time. There are no two hours alike. Every hour is unique and the only one given at the moment, exclusive and endlessly precious.
Judaism teaches us to be attached to holiness in time, to be attached to sacred events, to learn how to consecrate sanctuaries that emerge from the magnificent stream of a year. The Sabbaths are our great cathedrals; and our Holy of Holies is a shrine that neither the Romans nor the Germans were able to burn …
To the biblical mind … labor is the means toward an end, and the Sabbath as a day of rest, as a day of abstaining from toil, is not for the purpose of recovering one’s lost strength and becoming fit for the forthcoming labor. The Sabbath is a day for the sake of life. Man is not a beast of burden, and the Sabbath is not for the purpose of enhancing the efficiency of his work.
The sabbath is not for the sake of the weekdays; the weekdays are for the sake of the Sabbath. It is not an interlude but the climax of living.”
Remember the excitement you had for Christmas as a child? How we all couldn’t sleep and tried to get up as early as humanly possible so that we could open our gifts Christmas morning?
The anticipation for Christmas is most evident in the hearts of small children. Unfortunately, when we grow up we tend to forget about how exciting Christmas used to be for us, and are somewhat surprised and annoyed when we realize it’s time to start looking for gifts in the midst of all the other things we have to do.
While it’s not a bad thing to stop incessantly asking for a certain gift from an imaginary man with a beard, I actually think that the kids got this one right—there should be a sense of anticipation as we enter the Christmas season. This time of year where children struggle to wait is actually a biblical concept—we call it advent.
Advent is more than something you do to get to Christmas or a reason for companies to sell more calendars. In fact, without advent, Christmas doesn’t actually have much meaning.
Christmas celebrates the birth of our savior, but advent is a lived-out retelling of the story behind Christ’s birth and a reminder of the promises of God.
What is advent?
Advent is the period of anticipation that points to the coming messiah. The word is a version of the latin word for “coming.” For Christians (at least those in US evangelical protestant traditions), the advent season begins on the 4th Sunday before Christmas.
For my church, advent means the lighting of 5 candles each Sunday and Christmas eve for one month. Each candle signifies a different part of the Christmas story. For other traditions, advent may include special daily prayers or even fasting in preparation for Christmas.
The important part of advent is not exactly what you do, but that you are reflecting on the importance and reasons for the coming Messiah, preparing your heart to receive him on Christmas day.
What does advent signify?
Advent represents two separate periods of waiting: We’ll start with the Israelites.
In the Old Testament (OT), God continually weaves together the story of his people with the promise of a coming messiah to save the people from their sins. This promise first appears in Genesis 3, directly after the fall when God promises Adam and Eve that one of their offspring would “bruise [the serpent’s] head.” The serpent had tempted Eve to sin, therefore he would be judged with a coming “serpent crusher.” As God continues to make promises to Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, David, and Solomon, this hero figure continues to be mentioned as the ultimate fulfillment of each promise—a king from the line of David, yet greater than David.
Then, the Israelites get conquered by the Assyrian and Babylonian empires. The Davidic line is lost. The temple is destroyed. The people are spread through all the lands. Yet the promises of God do not fade. Throughout the prophets that speak to Israel during this dark time, the promises of a new King that will liberate his people continue to appear and develop.He will come from Bethlehem (Micah 5:2). He will be called a Nazarene (Isaiah 11). He would be born of a virgin (Isaiah 7). He would be the son of God (Psalm 2). He would do healing signs (Isaiah 35). He would be pierced for our transgressions (Isaiah 52). He would bring a new covenant for all people (Jeremiah 31).
Imagine the anticipation for the Israelites as they waited for hundreds of years in exile for the coming of new and greater king to vindicate them. They didn’t wait just 4 Sundays for Christmas, they waited over 400 years. It makes us understand why the Angels announced the news to the shepherds, and they ran to praise the newborn king, why Simeon in the temple said he could die now that he had seen the promises of God fulfilled in baby Jesus (Luke 2), and why every single OT passage that Jesus told the jews was about himself caused a scandal in Jerusalem.
Jesus was everything that they had waited for.
The world received it’s Messiah once, but the story isn’t over yet. The second part of advent is just as crucial. The second period of waiting in anticipation for the Messiah is now. We are waiting for the return of the king. We are waiting for a new heaven and new earth—the fulfillment of the promises of God. Advent isn’t just about the past, it’s also a reminder that we are currently waiting (as the Israelites did), and that the Messiah will come (just as we celebrate on Christmas).
Advent is a reminder that because God fulfilled his promises to the Israelites through Jesus Christ, so will he fulfill his promises to us through Christ’s second-coming.
Think about it: Joy to the World isn’t a Christmas song at all, and neither is O Come O Come Emmanuel. They are both advent songs. O Come O Come relays the emotion of waiting for the liberation of the Messiah for a people in exile. It awaits Jesus’ coming. And Joy to the World? It’s theme is not the birth of Jesus, but rather the second-coming! Advent does remember the past, which helps us to celebrate Christmas in all it’s weighty glory, but it is also a reminder of what is to come. It encourages us to wait.
Joy to the world
The Lord has come
Let earth receive her King
Let every heart prepare Him room
And heaven and nature sing
And heaven and nature sing
And heaven and heaven and nature sing
-31Women (Beth)
This post is part of the #waitwhy series. You can find more posts like this here.
Information used on OT prophecies in this post can be found here.
#advent #dinnertime #duck #crispy #crispycrust #duckleg #yummi #redcabbage #christmasdinner #tuborg #danishbeer
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What is Advent?
Advent is a season of waiting for the birth of Jesus on Christmas day. It’s often an underrated and overlooked way to experience a deeper meaning of Christmas. Just as the season of Lent helps us to prepare for the full impact of the resurrection on Easter, Advent is a way for people to brace their spirits for the incarnation (God becoming a human) on Christmas. Swipe through for some more info on Advent!
First of all Advent is the beginning of the Liturgical Year on The Church Calendar which is also an often overlooked and underrated way for Christians to engage their faith. The Liturgical Year includes scripture readings, feast days, traditions, music, food and all sorts of traditions that unites Christians from all over the world regardless of their denomination or background as they follow these yearly rhythms together.
Practices like Advent and following the Liturgical Year are particularly important to us at Beloved Arise because we are an ecumenical Christian organization. Ecumenical is a fancy way of saying that we include all Christian expressions; we aren’t associated with any one particular denomination. One way we see this expressed every week is at our virtual youth group where we have Baptists, Pentecostals, Presbyterians, “Non- Denoms”, Catholics, and many more participating in our weekly virtual youth group. Collectively following The Liturgical Year connects us to our more ancient roots instead of focusing on some of the more modern expressions of Christianity that sometimes divide us.
But wait! Isn’t this supposed to be a slide guide about ADVENT!? Yes- we just wanted you to have some brief backstory and context before moving forward.
The word advent can be translated as “coming” or “arrival” and observing this season (which starts on November 29) is about anticipating the arrival of Jesus. On a more meta level it can also be about anticipating the arrival of Christ our hearts and the second coming of Jesus.
Christians from around the world celebrate Advent in a variety of ways that you probably already engage in as part of the Christmas season. Putting up a Christmas tree is traditionally a part of advent along with daily readings, special music, and even a designated traditional color- PURPLE. In many Churches around the world sanctuaries and pastors will be decked out in purple which is a royal color and is yet another way to anticipate the coming of the Prince of Peace- Jesus. There are many resources for daily advent readings, but here is one we would recommend: https://lectionary.library.vanderbilt.edu/daily.php?year=B
These days one of the most common ways of celebrating Advent is to light an Advent wreath. Advent wreaths are actually a fairly new tradition as far as Christianity is concerned. The modern Advent wreath was conceived of by a German pastor named Johann Hinrich Wichern in 1839 and involves the lighting of a different candle each Sunday along with daily readings. The Advent wreath is loaded with symbols and meaning that we encourage you to look up, but the most obvious symbol is the slow steady emergence of light in darkness.
Advent traditions and celebrations are just like Christmas traditions in that there is always a surprising depth and richness to these practices that get lost in the modern commercialization of our sacred traditions. There is a deep well of traditions and practices to help guide your experience of Advent that will most likely enhance your experience of Christmas, but we are also invited to add our own traditions to this season as well. Whatever you can do during this time to cultivate a sense of waiting and anticipation for the celebration of the birth of Christ is a way for you to more deeply engage with the spirit of the season and join the global Church in a yearly practice.
Beloved Arise wants to invite you to join us this year in observing Advent. Let’s collectively join together in anticipation of Emmanuel- God with us. It is this message of hope that fuels our call to spread a message of hope and affirmation to queer youth of faith all over the world. God’s love is for everybody and ultimately the message of Christianity is that God broke through the forces of darkness and evil to communicate to spread hope and love to every human and that’s the message that we exist to amplify.
We’d like to conclude this slide guide on Advent with an Advent poem from Rowan Williams who was the Archbishop of Canterberry from 2002 to 2012.
He will come like last leaf’s fall.
One night when the November wind
has flayed the trees to bone, and earth
wakes choking on the mould,
the soft shroud’s folding.
He will come like frost.
One morning when the shrinking earth
opens on mist, to find itself
arrested in the net
of alien, sword-set beauty.
He will come like dark.
One evening when the bursting red
December sun draws up the sheet
and penny-masks its eye to yield
the star-snowed fields of sky.
He will come, will come,
will come like crying in the night,
like blood, like breaking,
as the earth writhes to toss him free.
He will come like child.
To view this in slide guide form, go here.
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The Standard Consortium boxes are going out today!! And the Secondaries will be shipped tomorrow. I’ll probably try to take a video of making one of the last 3 unsold Consortiums once I have a moment late Thursday… it is such a /process/ but it’s a good break. It’s honestly kinda fun but definitely exhausting in a different way.
But yep, I’m pretty proud of these! :D
Left to right on the makers: @alchemyartgroup @kittynaut @sleepingwolvesart @tealteacup @whalephat
There are 3 more in store and they are the ONLY things that can be bought now that will be shipped before Christmas (outside of the 45ish remaining orders I have to pack going out today and tomorrow).
#advent #adventcalendar #enamelpins
https://www.instagram.com/p/CI3xqIhFIoT/?igshid=hqytwyymjyts
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#Repost @madamekyra_duesseldorf
(@get_repost)
• • •
Ich wünsche allen einen schönen ersten #Advent - #Madamekyra #domina #leather #spanking #disciplinarian #eliteherrin
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Page Seven’s 2017 calendars are going quick!
Will you, this advent season, help to sponsor one more orphan to be able to go to college here in South Korea?
The Korean government cuts off financial funding of orphans once they graduate high school, which makes it very difficult for them to pursue further education, let alone make a living. Many girls fall into sex-trafficking at this time. This scholarship not only allows them to focus on their studies, but also provides them with Godly guidance and encouragement. This scholarship & mentoring program gives the Korean youth a chance to dream, a chance to build, and a chance to flourish.
50% of all proceeds will be donated to Oak Tree Project - a college scholarship and mentoring program for orphans here in Korea (oaktreeproject.com).
Yes? https://www.etsy.com/shop/pg7inc
*The wooden stands are included & will come with your order :)
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oats and oats and oats
Happy first week of Advent!
I dare to say I am almost as obsessed with oats this time of the year as I am with pumpkins
oatmeal might not be the prettiest thing in the world but especially here in colder climates I love to have something to warm me up for breakfast (not only for breakfast tbh). It never gets boring, just be creative! My current favorite is slicing up apples from our garden and heating them up with some @oatlyab or @alpro ☕️when it’s finished I love to top it up with cinnamon, maple sirup and some nuts.
what do you put into your oats?
☕️⛄️
#oats#oatmeal#breakfast#winter#fall#autumn#advent#christmas#foodporn#vegan#alrpo#oatly#food#frühstück#würzburg#whatyogiseat#cozy#cosy#goodmorning#blogger#lagom (hier: Würzburg)
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Abstract Advent Week 3 + 2
Abstract Advent Week 3 + 2
Final week (plus 2 days) of Abstract Advent challenge, which I completed on Christmas Eve – it’s been a blast, writing this on Christmas Day – hope you all are having a good one however your celebrate it (or not). First up was Day 15, with a shape like a hole (rather than a head) which I did an ink painting and a wax resist painting on opposite pages as a two page piece. Sadly this got nuked by…
Abstract Advent: Week 2
Abstract Advent: Week 2
Last week was a blast, this week for the Abstract Advent the Christmas Shit™ started to bite, and I found it harder to juggle meeting up with people, portrait sessions, getting all the cards and parcels off in a panic because like storms, flooding, wrong kind of wind, snow and ice on the roads as always Royal Mail can’t keep to their last posting times…
As Sandy Denny says in ‘No End’ “They said…
Abstract Advent: Week 1
Abstract Advent: Week 1
After completing Inktober for the last two years I took a well-deserved rest this year, but am taking part in the slightly shorter ‘Abstract Advent’ as run by @artpedagogy, like an abstract advent calendar but on Instagram – so it runs from the 1st of December to the 24th. Unlike the word prompts of Inktober, he provides a shape for you to work from or adapt, and you can work in any media…
Christmas Tree Cookie cutter before red background
ByMellimage
Available to license exclusively at Stocksy
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HOMILY for First Sunday of Advent ©
Jer 33:14-16; Ps 24; 1 Thess 3:12-4:2; Luke 21:25-28, 34-36
Many people think that Advent, which means ‘coming’, is about getting ready for Christ’s First Coming, what we call ‘Christmas’. In fact the first period of Advent is much more concerned with readying us for Christ’s Second Coming. For on the Last Day the Lord will come, not hidden and in meekness as he did at Bethlehem over two thousand years ago, but rather he shall come “with power and great glory”, as we hear in today’s Gospel. One of the great Wesleyan hymns for Advent thus says: “Ev’ry eye shall now behold him, robed in dreadful majesty…” And then the hymn continues – in a verse that is, unfortunately, seldom sung these days – but which is clearly inspired by today’s Gospel: “Ev’ry island, sea, and mountain, heav’n and earth, shall flee away; all who hate him must, confounded, hear the trump proclaim the day: Come to judgement! Come to judgement! Come to judgement, come away!”
Advent, therefore, begins, not quietly and in hushed silence, as one might expect if it were simply about the coming of the Babe of Bethlehem. But, as it is concerned about our readiness for the coming of Christ as our Judge. So it begins by sounding the alarm, as it were, with the prophet Jeremiah calling us to “practise honesty and integrity”, that is to say, to live up to our Christian calling. Hence the apostle St Paul says: “we urge you and appeal to you in the Lord Jesus to make more and more progress in the kind of life that you are meant to live: the life that God wants.” The goal, as he says, is that, by God’s grace, we should be “blameless in the sight of our God and Father when our Lord Jesus Christ comes with all his saints.”
Who among us can say that we shall be found blameless on the Day of Judgement? None of us, I fear! So, there is an urgency behind St Paul’s words, and throughout this Advent season – not so much about getting the Christmas shopping and cards and preparations done – but rather, much more importantly, that we should be prepared for Christ’s return as Judge. And on that day, as St John of the Cross says, we shall be judged by Love. Hence St Paul prays that we will increase in love, that means, a Christ-like sacrificial love for one another (our fellow Christians), and even for the whole human race.
The purple colour of Advent, the more sombre tones and music of this season, thus all serve to remind us of the penitential aspects of this season. For nobody, when thinking of the Last Judgement and of how little we love and how far from blameless we are, can fail to do penance during Advent. We are called, therefore, to examine our consciences, consider the kind of life we’re meant to live as Christians, and so to go to confession and receive the graces we need. For God desires, through the sacraments, to increase our love. Hence, next Saturday, on the first Saturday of the month, we have our customary first Saturday devotions in which we’ve been asked by Our Lady of Fatima to go to confession, make reparation for sin, and to pray the Rosary. Indeed, here in the Rosary Shrine, we have regular scheduled times for confession every single day of the week, so please do take up the opportunity. For as the Lord says: “that day will be sprung on you suddenly, like a trap.” So, if we wish to “stand with confidence before the Son of Man” when he returns to judge the living and the dead, so we must be prepared through penance and frequent recourse to the Sacrament of Confession.
However, I believe there is a different character to the penitence of Advent that distinguishes it from Lent. There is, it seems to me, an element of deep joy and the expectation of our redemption. As the Lord says in the Gospel: “when these things begin to take place, look up and raise your heads, because your redemption is drawing near.” (Lk 21:28) So, we are not to hang our heads in shame, but to raise our heads in joyful hope of God’s salvation. For, by our repentance and thus throwing off the works of darkness, we have been shown the mercy of God, and we can then have a renewed hope in God’s salvation.
The result of this work of redeeming grace in our souls, a grace that stirs us to repentance and to the renewal of our lives, is that we now long for Christ’s return, indeed, we look forward to it. Just as children look forward to Christmas, so the Christian who has become like a little child in his humility and obedience to the demands of the Gospel, can also look forward to Christ’s Second Coming with great eagerness and hope. Therefore, as the season of Advent advances, and indeed, as our own Christian lives progresses in years, we should increasingly look up as we bask in the light of the Lord, looking out for the coming splendour of the Day of his Coming.
For as St Paul says to the Romans: “salvation is nearer to us now than when we first believed”! (Rom 12:11) So, just as a child waits for Christmas morning, so we Christians stand ready and awake, looking up with joy, waiting for the coming of the Lord Jesus. Therefore the chorale of a beautiful Bach cantata that I enjoy listening to every Advent Sunday, Wachet auf, sings out with these words: “Zion hears the watchmen sing, her heart leaps for joy, she awakes and gets up in haste. Her friend comes from heaven in his splendour, strong in mercy, mighty in truth.”
Yes, Christ, our friend shall come to us in splendour, strong in his mercy and mighty in his truth. This Advent, let us seize the day, and deepen our experience of the strength of God’s mercy, above all through the Sacrament of Confession, and of the might and power of his truth, which is that Christ has come to make us his Saints. He accomplished this by his First Coming on the first Christmas day; he will complete it at his Second Coming when he comes as Judge; and he comes to us every day through grace, through the gift of the Sacraments, by which he works within us to cause us to increase and grow in genuine Christian love. Therefore, for these beautiful comings of the Lord Jesus, his advent in our heart, we cry out: Maranatha, which means, Come, Lord Jesus!
