Advent Calendar

Here it is!  My "Advent Calendar" for 2018 is ready for you to color and enjoy!  Please feel welcome to print, photocopy, or distribute this for personal use only.

Advent Blessings!  iiii

Bible Verses for Sundays in Advent

I'm sorry to post this so late!  I thought I already had.  Here are some lovely Bible verses for your children to memorize and color for each Sunday in Advent!  The Fourth Sunday of Advent and Christmas Day will be finished soon and posted here, too.

Blessed Advent!  O Come, Let Us Adore Him!  Enjoy!


1st Sunday of Advent - Manuscript
1st Sunday of Advent - Cursive

2nd Sunday of Advent - Manuscript
2nd Sunday of Advent - Cursive

3rd Sunday of Advent - Manuscript
3rd Sunday of Advent - Cursive

4th Sunday of Advent - Manuscript
4th Sunday of Advent - Cursive

Christmas Day! - Manuscript
Christmas Day! - Cursive

O Antiphons...for Your 'Fridge!

Here is a lovely, one-page sheet on the O Antiphons by Michelle Quigley, perfect for taping up on your 'fridge, kitchen pantry door, bathroom mirror, or wherever you will see it most often to read the brief meditation thereon.

O Antiphons - In Brief

Beginning on December 17th, as the final phase of preparation for Christmas, the Church recites or chants the O Antiphons preceding the Magnificat during Vespers of the Liturgy of the Hours. The O Antiphons express the Church's longing and expectation for the Messiah, her startled wonderment at the fullness of grace which the Christ-Child is about to bestow on the world. Their theme is the majesty of the Savior, His wisdom, His faithfulness and sanctity, His justice and mercy, His covenant with His chosen people, who in their ingratitude broke faith with Him. They are concerned with His power and love as King and Redeemer of the world, His relation to every soul as Emmanuel, God-with-us. (source: With Christ Through the Year by Bernard Strasser)

According to Professor Robert Greenberg of the San Francisco Conservatory of Music, the Benedictine monks arranged these antiphons with a definite purpose. If one starts with the last title and takes the first letter of each one — Emmanuel, Rex, Oriens, Clavis, Radix, Adonai, Sapientia — the Latin words ero cras are formed, meaning, “Tomorrow, I will come.” Therefore, the Lord Jesus, whose coming we have prepared for in Advent and whom we have addressed in these seven Messianic titles, now speaks to us, “Tomorrow, I will come.” So the “O Antiphons” not only bring intensity to our Advent preparation, but bring it to a joyful conclusion. (source: Fr. William Saunders, the Catholic Education Resource Center [CERC})

There also is a nice meditation and explanation of the O Antiphons over at the CERC by Fr. Roger J. Landry.  You can find it here.
 
Lastly, the book pictured above, The O Antiphons: Poetry, Reflection, and Song to Being the Season of Advent, is from Grace Episcopal Church, but much of its content is gleaned from the aforementioned Fr. William Saunders at the Catholic Education Resource Center!  It's a really beautiful PDF that you can download for your private prayer.  It's only 18 pages and that's including the full hymns -- an easy devotion nightly! Enjoy!

O Antiphons Bible Study

(This post is from an invitation to read about the "O Antiphons," which began today, during Advent with Thomas Smith as part of The Great Adventure, a Bible study for Catholics!)

The titles of Christ in the O Antiphons have been invoked by the Church for at least 1,300 years. The Medieval monasteries would ring their largest bell as the choirs of monks intoned Mary’s Magnificat and these Advent antiphons. All seven can be found in the oracles of the Old Testament prophet Isaiah, who gives us many memorable images of the Messiah. They are rich meditations on the One who is to come.

Although there are seven titles in the O Antiphons, only one has remained firmly in popular Christian culture, thanks to an Advent hymn: O Come, O Come Emmanuel. This Messianic title is the final of the seven O Antiphons. To help us pray and even SING these beautiful prayers, Thomas Smith uses a translation that matches that familiar Advent melody. The other titles are O Wisdom, O Lord, O Root of Jesse, O Key of David, O Light, and O King of the Nations.

Join us for What's in a Name? Reflections on the O Antiphons with Thomas Smith as we prepare for Christ’s coming and kinship by meditating on his names. This free 10 Minute Study began December 16th and ends December 23. Enjoy!

The Anticipation of Advent

Catholic Sistas has posted here a wide variety of articles, lists, tips, and simple ideas for making your Advent less focused on materialism and more focused on the coming of the Christ Child, Our Savior!  There's something here for everyone, without overwhelming your life and your Advent season with, "one more thing to do."

Take a deep breath, turn a blind eye to the visual, decorative cacophony in the stores, and quiet your soul in the peaceful presence of the Prince of Peace Himself.  Focus on Our Lord, the Infant Jesus.  Let Our Lady gently guide you to the Manger, drawing you ever closer to the Sacred Heart of her Son, Jesus!

Vive Jesu!

Your Handy-Dandy List to an Intentional Advent

Kerry Baunach over at Catholic Sistas has posted a lovely list of, "Your Handy-Dandy List to an Intentional Advent," filled with both easy and more intensive ways to make your Advent a spiritually enriching time of preparation for the coming of the Christ Child.  Enjoy!

Vouchsafe, OMG

Allison H. over at, "Catholic Sistas," wrote a beautiful, succinct blog post last year about the St. Andrew's Christmas Novena, "where the theological truths of our Holy Faith crash like waves upon the rocky shores of our real lives."  You can read it quickly here:

http://www.catholicsistas.com/2013/12/23/vouchsafe-omg/

Are you still praying your novena?  Remember, 15 times a day can seem overwhelming, so you always can break it up into five recitations, three different times throughout the day, etc.

Blessed Advent to you and those whom you love!

Hail and blessed by the hour and moment
in which the Son of God was born
of the most pure Virgin Mary,
at midnight,
in Bethlehem,
in piercing cold.
In that hour, vouchsafe, O my God,
to hear my prayers
and grant my desires,
through the merits of our Savior,
Jesus Christ,
and of His Blessed Mother.
Amen.

Advent Coloring Calendar

Inspired by similar Lenten paths, I drew for you today an "Advent Coloring Calendar," to enjoy coloring with your children, grandchildren, nieces, or nephews.  (C'mon, admit it -- YOU enjoy coloring sometimes, too!)  The First Sunday of Advent is next weekend...ALREADY!

May Our Lady be your Joy this Advent as she leads you through the Rosary, drawing you ever closer to the manger and the Sacred Heart of her Son, the Infant Jesus, the Prince of Peace!  Vive Jesu!

Enjoy!  :-D

Keep Christ in Christmas

This year, I want to share with you several blogs that aim to "Keep Christ in Christmas!"  Here is the link to start the fun with your family!  Enjoy!

This post is part of the Keep Christ in Christmas Blog Link-Up

hosted by the Catholic Bloggers Network!

Advent - New Year's Resolutions!

Every year as Advent begins, I resolve that THIS year is going to be different!  THIS year we are going to slow down, ease up, and focus on the right things of Christmas!  The First Sunday of Advent is the Church's "New Year's Day", so this is the day we make some of our family's "New Year's" resolutions.  It's easy!  Come join us!

The first thing we do is clean out the old to clear space for the new, both physically and spiritually.

Physically, I'm sure "Hoarders" is poised to show up outside my house any minute, so at least twice a year (Advent and Lent) I try to make a clean sweep and discard little-used or unappreciated things.

This year, the kids are getting in on the act, too!  I've asked them to go through their closets and be brutally honest about the toys at the back, the ones they seldom or never play with anymore.  Anything incomplete or in tatters goes in the trash.  Anything intact and presentable goes to the Thrift Shop as a donation.

(Psssst!  Let me tell you a little secret:  I confess to surreptitiously "previewing" the kids' closets before I ask them to do this.  Because, inevitably, at least one kid will poke his or her head into the closet and emerge thirty seconds later stating, "Nope!  I'm good!"  So it helps to have a handle on what's in there....and perhaps even do a little painful-but-necessary-pre-purging myself.)

Our other big physical clean-out item is clothing.  With six children, we are the blessed beneficiaries of hand-me-down clothing from several friends.  Hand-me-downs, however, can pile up fast!  Statistics say you wear 20% of your wardrobe 80% of the time, and for us that's true.

For the children, I try to keep clothing of mostly complementary colors and simple or no patterns, so s/he easily can put together an outfit independently in the morning without looking like a circus clown.  We've managed to pare the boys' wardrobes down to one light jacket, one heavy coat, two pairs of khakis (for church, etc.), a few pajamas, and about five or so each of pants, shorts, t-shirts, and polo shirts.  That's it.  Anything more becomes unmanageable, especially when you have three of the boys sharing one dresser.

The girls are a little more difficult to manage.  There are just so many adorable and gorgeous outfits to be enjoyed!  But, we're trying.  For them, with so many "play" dresses and "church" dresses, we've turned all the hangers backward in their closet.  If they wear a dress, its hanger gets turned around properly.  If a hanger still is backwards by the end of the season, that article of clothing should be donated to someone else who will wear and appreciate it more.

Spiritually, our Advent clean-up is just as intense.  I always redouble my efforts to be more consistent in our morning Bible reading and ensure that our weekly Handwriting practice from the Bible reflects verses pertaining to Advent, particularly the Sunday Responsorial Psalms and the O Antiphons.

We also like to read about our "Saint of the Day," which we glean from the book, Saints for Young Readers for Every Day.  My kids love hearing the saints' real life stories and we frequently locate that saint on the globe and remember to invoke his or her patronage throughout the day.  The book comes in two volumes to cover the whole year and takes less than one or two minutes to read each day.  You can order your copy here:

http://www.amazon.com/Saints-Young-Readers-Every-Vol/dp/0819870811/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1385960550&sr=8-2&keywords=saints+for+young+readers+for+everyday

Another easy (and free!) Advent practice for the children is Holy Heroes' "Advent Adventure" (you can sign up here or via this link:

http://www.holyheroes.com/Holy-Heroes-Advent-Adventure-s/48.htm

The Davison family's eight children provide 1-3 minute videos explaining or exploring the Bible and other themes relevant to the Advent journey.  We usually put them on once everyone's seated for lunch.  Again, it's a quick bite that can nourish all of our souls throughout the school day.

Lastly, we like to pray the "St. Andrew Christmas Novena" (you can read about it here) 15 times a day, but we break it up into more manageable recitations by praying it five times in a row, three times a day.

None of these practices is difficult nor time-consuming, but we find that consistency is our downfall.  Even though sometimes the variations in our daily schedule are unavoidable, I'm hoping this year to manage it better and be mindful of returning to our spiritual center throughout the day.

Happily, when I do, things always seem to run better!

So Happy New Year!  Decide what's right for your family.  Dust off those New Year's resolutions and utilize the abundant graces of Advent to help you really make a difference in your interior preparations for the coming of the Christ Child!  And if you're reading this blog, be assured that our family will be praying for yours!

Thank you!

Finding Peace with the Prince of Peace

 A friend recently posted a request for prayers, as her homeschool responsibilities and Christmas preparations had been cast aside by her son's unexpected admission to the hospital.  As a faithful Catholic, she immediately rejoiced in having time for her and her son to be together in Advent prayer and reading Jotham's Journey.  But, understandably, she nevertheless was a little disappointed that certain school and holiday tasks at home just would have to be left undone this year.

As a compulsive list-maker and cookie-baker myself, I completely understood her frustration with not being able to "accomplish" or "do" the things she wanted to achieve, in order to prepare her family for Christmas.

But, let's also be practical here:

Schoolwork always will be there, whether you do it today or tomorrow or ten months from now.  Your child's good health might not be.  See to him, see to your souls, and see to the internal preparations that God wants you to make this Advent.  Remember, the Bible doesn't say that Mary baked the shepherds some cookies and sent out The First Christmas Cards (that would be Jesus's Shutterfly, photocard, birth announcement).

But it DOES say that she treasured all these things in her heart.

We all should do the same.

I've often found that when God allows all my plans to go completely awry, it's because I was facing in the wrong direction.  Turn your face toward Him, trust in His guidance and Will, and know the inner peace of the Christ Child, the Prince of Peace!

10 Ten Things About Advent

Thank you to Dr. Taylor Marshall for some Advent inspiration!

http://cantuar.blogspot.com/2012/12/10-things-you-should-know-about-advent.html?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+taylormarshall+%28Canterbury+Tales+by+Taylor+Marshall%29

May your Advent be blessed with joyous preparations for the Christ Child!

Enjoy!