Name: __________________________________

Email Address: _______________________

The Liturgical Season of Advent

A. Before You Read
Answer the following questions in your notebook.
1. How many advents had there been in your life? _______________________________________
2. How many days more are there before Christmas? ______________________________________
3. Highlight or underline the word “advent” in the Liturgical Note.

B. Liturgical Note
From http://www.usccb.org/prayer-and-worship/liturgical-year/advent/. Accessed: 16 November 2015.
1 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
5 second coming at the end of time and also to the anniversary of the Lord’s birth on Christ-
mas. 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). Advent devotions,
including the Advent wreath, remind us of the meaning of the season.
From Universal Norms on the Liturgical Year and the General Roman Calendar
10 39. Advent has a twofold character for it is a time of preparation for the Solemnities of
Christmas, in which the First Coming of the Son of God to humanity is remembered, and
likewise a time when, by remembrance of this, minds and hearts are led to look forward
to Christ’s Second Coming at the end of time. For these two reasons, Advent is a period of
devout and expectant delight.
15 40. Advent begins with First Vespers (Evening Prayer I) of the Sunday that falls on or
closest to November 30 and it ends before First Vespers (Evening Prayer I) of Christmas.
41. The Sundays of this time of year are named the First, Second, Third, and Fourth Sun-
days of Advent.
42. The weekdays from December 17 up to and including December 24 are ordered in a
20 more direct way to preparing for the Nativity of the Lord.
The liturgical color for Advent is purple, just like Lent—as both are seasons that prepare
us for great feast days. Also Advent (like Lent) includes an element of penance in the sense
of preparing, quieting and disciplining our hearts for the full joy of Christmas. This peni-
tential dimension is expressed through the color purple, but also through the restrained
25 manner of decorating the church and altar: “During Advent the floral decoration of the
altar should be marked by a moderation suited to the character of this time of year, without
expressing in anticipation the full joy of the Nativity of the Lord…[also] the use of the organ
and other musical instruments should be marked by a [similar] moderation…” (GIRM n.
305 and n. 313)
30 The third Sunday of Advent is called “Gaudete” Sunday (coming from the first word of
the Latin Entrance Antiphon for this day, meaning “Rejoice”) and the liturgical color may
be rose instead of purple. This is the Church’s way of further heightening our expectation
as we draw ever nearer the Solemnity of Christmas.
 1
2 Sunday Mass Readings (Year C)

About Advent wreaths

35 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
40 preparatory sacrifices and good work 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 rejoic-
ing because the faithful have arrived at the midpoint of Advent when their preparation is
now half over and they are close to Christmas.
45 The progressive lighting of the candles symbolizes the expectation and hope surround-
ing our Lord’s first coming into the world and the anticipation of his second coming to
judge the living and the dead.

C. Reading Comprehension
Part A. Write T if the sentence is true, or F if it is false.
_____ 1. The Advent consists of only four Sundays.
_____ 2. Like Lent, Advent is a time to prepare ourselves to celebrate a great feast in the Church.
_____ 3. Advent wreaths remind us of the meaning of Christmas.
_____ 4. Advent begins on the Saturday after Christ the King Sunday.
_____ 5. The organ and other musical instruments should not be played during Advent.

Part B. Fill in the blanks with the correct answer.

1. Advent comes from the Latin word ________________.
2. The first part of Advent focuses on the ____________ coming of Christ while in the second part
we remember his ____________coming.
3. From December 17 to 24 we prepare for the _______________ of Jesus.
4. Advent has a _________________ aspect expressed in the color _____________ and through
_______________ decoration.
5. The third Sunday of Advent is called ______________ Sunday.

Part C. Reflect on the following questions; write your reflection in your notebook.
1. Why is Advent a time of devout and joyful waiting? ____________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________________
2. How are the days of Advent divided? ________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________________
3. What message does the Advent wreath give to us? _____________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________________

D. Prayer
From http://www.usccb.org/prayer-and-worship/sacraments-and-sacramentals/sacramentals-blessings/ob-
jects/blessing-of-an-advent-wreath.cfm. Accessed: 17 November 2015.
Blessing of an Advent Wreath
The use of the Advent Wreath is a traditional practice which has found its place in the Church as well
as in the home. The blessing of an Advent Wreath takes place on the First Sunday of Advent or on the
The Litugical Season of Advent 3
evening before the First Sunday of Advent. When the blessing of the Advent Wreath is celebrated in
the home, it is appropriate that it be blessed by a parent or another member of the family.

All make the sign of the cross

as the leader says: Our help is in the name of the Lord.
All. Who made heaven and earth.
Reader: A reading from the book of Isaiah (9:1-2, 5-6).
1
The people who walked in darkness have seen a great light.
A light has dawned on those who live in the land of the shadow of death.
2
You have enlarged the nation; you have increased their joy.
5
They rejoice before you, as people rejoice at harvest time.
For a child is born to us, a son is given us;
the royal ornament is laid upon his shoulder, and his name is proclaimed:
“Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.”
6
To the increase of his powerful rule in peace, there will be no end.
Vast will be his dominion, he will reign on David’s throne and over all his kingdom,
to establish and uphold it with justice and righteousness
from this time onward and forever.
The zealous love of Yahweh Sabaoth will do this.
The Word of the Lord.
All. Thanks be to God.
With hands joined, the leader says:
Lord our God, we praise you for your Son, Jesus Christ:
he is Emmanuel, the hope of the peoples,
he is the wisdom that teaches and guides us,
he is the Savior of every nation.
Lord God, let your blessing come upon us
as we light the candle of this wreath.
May the wreath and its light
be a sign of Christ’s promise to bring us salvation.
May he come quickly and not delay.
We ask this through Christ our Lord.
All. Amen.
O come, desire of nations, bind
in one the hearts of humankind;
bid ev’ry sad division cease
and be thyself our Prince of peace.
Rejoice! Rejoice! Emmanuel
shall come to thee, O Israel.

Optional Additional Reading

I. More In-depth Reflection from Pope Francis

From http://liturgy.slu.edu/1AdvC112915/reflections_foley.html. Ac-
cessed: 17 November 2015.
4 Sunday Mass Readings (Year C)
1 Today...we begin a new liturgical year; that is, a new journey of the People of God with
Jesus Christ, our Shepherd, who guides us through history toward the fulfillment of the
Kingdom of God. Therefore, this day has a special charm, it makes us experience deeply
the meaning of history. We rediscover the beauty of all being on a journey: the Church, with
5 her vocation and mission, and all humanity, peoples, civilizations, cultures, all on a journey
across the paths of time.
But where are we journeying? Is there a common goal? And what is this goal? The Lord
responds to us through the prophet Isaiah, saying: “It shall come to pass in the latter days
that the mountain of the house of the Lord shall be established as the highest of the moun-
10 tains, and shall be raised above the hills; and all the nations shall flow to it, and many
peoples shall come, and say: ‘Come, let us go up to the mountain of the Lord, to the house of
the God of Jacob; that he may teach us his ways and that we may walk in his paths’”(2:2-3).
This is what Isaiah says regarding the goal toward which we are travelling. It is a universal
pilgrimage toward a common goal, which in the Old Testament is Jerusalem, where the
15 Temple of the Lord rises. For from there, from Jerusalem came the revelation of the Face
of God and of his Law. Revelation found its fulfillment in Jesus Christ, and he, the Word
made flesh, became the “Temple of the Lord”: he is both guide and goal of our pilgrimage,
of the pilgrimage of the entire People of God; and in his light the other peoples may also
walk toward the Kingdom of justice, toward the Kingdom of peace. The Prophet continues:
20 “They shall beat their swords into plowshares, and their spears into pruning hooks; nation
shall not lift up sword against nation, neither shall they learn war any more” (2:4). Allow
me to repeat what the Prophet says; listen carefully: “They shall beat their swords into
plowshares, and their spears into pruning hooks; nation shall not lift up sword against na-
tion, neither shall they learn war any more.” But when will this occur? What a beautiful day
25 it shall be, when weapons are dismantled in order to be transformed into tools for work!
What a beautiful day that shall be! And this is possible! Let us bet on hope, on the hope for
peace, and it will be possible!
This journey never comes to an end. Just as in each of our lives we always need to begin
again, to get up again, to rediscover the meaning of the goal of our lives, so also for the great
30 human family it is always necessary to rediscover the common horizon toward which we
are journeying. The horizon of hope! This is the horizon that makes for a good journey. The
season of Advent, which we begin again today, restores this horizon of hope, a hope which
does not disappoint for it is founded on God’s Word. A hope which does not disappoint,
simply because the Lord never disappoints! He is faithful! He does not disappoint! Let us
35 think about and feel this beauty.
The model of this spiritual disposition, of this way of being and journeying in life, is the
Virgin Mary. A simple girl from the country who carries within her heart the fullness of
hope in God! In her womb, God’s hope took flesh, it became man, it became history: Jesus
Christ. Her Magnificat is the canticle of the People of God on a journey, and of all men and
40 women who hope in God and in the power of his mercy. Let us allow ourselves to be guided
by her, she who is mother, a mamma and knows how to guide us. Let us allow ourselves to
be guided by her during this season of active waiting and watchfulness.