The Season of Advent 2021

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.

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 to the anniversary of Our Lord’s birth on Christmas. From the earliest days of the Church, people have been fascinated by Jesus’ promise to come back. But the scripture readings during Advent tell us not to waste our time with predictions. Advent is not about speculation.

Our Advent readings call us to be alert and ready, not weighted down and distracted by the cares of this world (Lk 21:34-36). Like Lent, the liturgical color for Advent is purple since both are seasons that prepare us for great feast days. Advent also includes an element of penance in the sense of preparing, quieting, and disciplining our hearts for the full joy of Christmas. (Source: USCCB)

Advent Toolbox: As we prepare ourselves to meet our Lord, let us make sure we make good use of our Preparation Tools:  Prayer, Charity, Confession, Forgiveness, and the Eucharist that saves us.
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.  Three candles are purple and one is rose.
The purple candles 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, 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.


For ideas on how to make an Advent wreath, click here.


Advent calendars are a fun and popular way to join with the Church in the waiting, expectation, and preparation of the coming of Jesus Christ--which is the true meaning of the Advent season.

The Advent calendar counts down the 24 days of December ending on Christmas Eve. We are all already counting down the days until Christmas arrives, so Advent calendars are a way for families to focus their eagerness and excitement on the birth of the baby Jesus.

The Advent Calendar is believed to have been created by Christians in the early 19th century to mark the days of Advent leading up to Christmas. The first known Advent calendar was handmade in Germany in 1851. Today Advent calendars take all kinds of forms and styles, the most popular and basic being the paper Advent calendar made out of thick card stock that children can keep as a Christmas decoration in their bedrooms.

Many Advent calendars display a colorful nativity scene with little numbered windows or doors that open to reveal a symbol of Advent or Christmas, or a passage from the Bible relevant to the Christmas season. Some special Advent calendars even have chocolates or other treasures hidden behind each flap. Whatever kind of Advent calendar you choose, your family is sure enjoy this fun Christian tradition!


The four weeks of Advent symbolize both the four thousand years (from the Old Testament to the New Testament) that the world waiting for the promised redeemer, as well as symbolizing the four ways that Christ comes into the world:

1. As a baby born in a manger in Bethlehem
2. His redemptive death on the cross
3. His dwelling in the hearts of believers
4. His Second Coming at the Last Judgment

Advent Calendars can be purchased in a store, or can be a great way for a family to celebrate the season by making one for their family. 

For some starter ideas on how to make your own Advent calendar, click on the links below:

Free Catholic Activity Advent Calendar
https://www.sarajcreations.com/2016/11/free-catholic-advent-calendar.html

Free “I Today I Will” Advent Calendar
https://s3.us-east-1.amazonaws.com/lpress-craft/files/ocf-files/advent-files/Advent-children-calendar.pdf

Random Act of Kindness Calendar
https://www.comebackmomma.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/10/2021KindnessCalendarFilled.pdf

Mary & Joseph Journey Calendar
https://www.papertraildesign.com/free-advent-calendar-printable/


Jesse Tree
Jesse Tree is a way of preparing for Advent by journeying through the stories on Jesus’s family tree. Each day of Advent, read a Bible story about someone on Jesus’s family tree and hang an ornament symbolizing the story on your Jesse Tree. As you decorate your tree, you’ll see how God prepared for Jesus to be born through many generations. 
Where does Jesse Tree come from?
The Jesse Tree tradition is rooted in Isaiah 11:1: “A shoot shall come out from the stump of Jesse, and a branch shall grow out of his roots.” Jesse was the father of David, Israel’s greatest king. And Jesus is descended from the line of David. He is the branch God promised would grow from Jesse’s family tree. Each symbol represents a story from within this family tree and a step toward the birth of Jesus.
Click here for easy instructions and free printables that can be used to create your own Jesse Tree.