Advent
Showing all 23 results
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Christmas : The Season Of Life And Light
$20.00Add to cart“O wondrous exchange!”
Of all the seasons of the church calendar, Christmas is the one most recognized and celebrated by our society at large. That means it’s the season we’re most familiar with–but that can also make it harder to see past Christmas’s many cultural trappings to its timeless beauty.
At the first Christmas, God exchanged the glories of divinity for the vulnerability of human existence, uniting himself to us in order to unite us to God. In this short volume, priest and theologian Emily Hunter McGowin invites us into the church’s celebration of that great exchange, in all its theological and liturgical splendor.
Each volume in the Fullness of Time series invites readers to engage with the riches of the church year, exploring the traditions, prayers, Scriptures, and rituals of the seasons of the church calendar.
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Oriens : A Pilgrimage Through Advent And Christmas 2023
$20.95Add to cartMake a life-changing pilgrimage, beginning this Advent.
Oriens is a Latin word meaning “rising” and “dawn.” Your Oriens journey begins on the First Sunday of Advent and continues until the feast of the Presentation on February 2. Each day, you’ll take a step closer to “the dawn from on high.”
Fr. Joel Sember is your leader on this pilgrimage, one in which you will learn what God is revealing to you through Scripture and prayer. With Oriens as your guidebook, you’ll learn how to pray and reflect more deeply. For each entry, you’ll read a Scripture passage, receive Fr. Joel’s guidance on how to pray with that passage, and find questions for reflection and journaling.
If in years past you have felt like you weren’t really “doing” Advent and just skipping right to celebrating Christmas, this book will speak to you. If you utilized Oriens in previous years to intensify your Advent preparation and Christmas celebration, then you already know this book will open you up to God speaking directly into your heart.
Welcome, Oriens pilgrim.
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Welcoming The Christ Child With Padre Pio
$13.95Add to cartSt. Pius of Peitrelcina had a deep devotion to the Christ Child. The man more commonly known as Padre Pio also possessed extraordinary and unique mystical gifts: Jesus often came to him in the form of a little child.
In Welcoming the Christ Child with Padre Pio, stories about the saint known for his stigmata and ability to bilocate are woven with scripture and prayer to help you experience Advent-Padre Pio’s favorite season-with greater hope and joy.
Each day of Advent you will read an account from someone who knew Padre Pio, including:
*his Capuchin brothers’ amazement as they witnessed Padre Pio walking the halls of the monastery, cradling an apparition of the Christ Child;
*the miraculous healing of Vera Marie Calandra, who was blessed by the Franciscan monk as an infant and whose parents later founded the National Centre for Padre Pio; and
*examples of the extraordinary spiritual gifts of this holy confessor, including his stigmata, his ability to bilocate and read hearts, and the healing gifts that flowed from his fervent devotion to the Holy Family.
This book contains daily readings for Advent as well as special entries for moveable feasts celebrated by Catholics around the world. Each day includes a quotation from Padre Pio, a short story about the saint, a scripture reflection, and prayer to help you follow this extraordinary saint’s example and welcome the Christ Child into your home and heart during Advent.
An appendix includes additional resources and prayers to learn more about Padre Pio.
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Oriens A Pilgrimage Through Advent And Christmas 2022
$19.95Add to cartOriens is a Latin word meaning “rising” and “dawn.” Your Oriens journey begins on the First Sunday of Advent and continues until the feast of the Presentation on February 2. Every day, you’ll take a step closer to “the dawn from on high.”
Fr. Joel Sember is your leader on this pilgrimage, one in which you will learn what God is revealing to you through Scripture and prayer. With Oriens as your guidebook, you’ll learn how to pray and reflect more deeply. Each day you’ll read a Scripture passage, receive Fr. Joel’s guidance on how to pray with that passage, and find questions for reflection and journaling.
If in years past you have found yourself on Christmas wondering how you missed Advent, this book will speak to you. If you utilized Oriens in previous years to intensify your Advent preparation and Christmas celebration, then you already know this book will open your heart to hearing the voice of God.
Welcome, Oriens pilgrim.
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Advent And Christmas With Saint Joseph
$6.95Add to cartPrepare for and celebrate Christ’s coming with brief daily meditations for Advent and the Christmas season. Scripture readings, a personal reflection, a question to ponder or act to consider, and a short prayer to Saint Joseph are sure to touch your heart and lead you to a deeper relationship with Jesus and his foster father, Joseph.
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Soul Of Christmas
$18.99Add to cartWith his trademark blend of storytelling, faith and psychological insight, New York Times bestselling author Thomas Moore turns his attention to the most enduring story of them all: the birth of Christ in Bethlehem. Moore uses passages from the Gospels, archetypal stories and ancient myths to explore the idea that Christmas can only be fully understood as belonging to everyone-as a plan for the entire human race. This may be the most profound reflection on the meaning of Christmas in a generation.
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Prayers For Public Worship
$12.99Add to cartThis book brings together over 300 beautiful prayers for advent and the Season of Christmas, written by four of the best-loved and most distinguished Christian writers: David Adam, Nick Fawcett, Susan Sayers, and Ray Simpson. This book is an invaluable resource for all those who prepare public worship.
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Advent With Saint Francis Daily Reflections
$12.99Add to cartOne of the most beloved saints in history, Francis of Assisi had a special insight into the importance of the Incarnation. From his love of the humanity of Christ, to his celebration of the first Christmas creche at Greccio, Francis is an ideal guide for prayer and reflection during the seasons of Advent and Christmas. The liturgical readings and the example of Francis combine to offer a unique contemplative experience.
By pairing the words and deeds of St. Francis with the Scripture readings for Advent, Advent with St. Francis: Daily Reflections helps readers explore how they, too, can live the Gospel in the circumstances of their daily lives. It is written in a simple and engaging style that will draw readers in to the life of Francis as they grow in their faith and spiritual practice through the inspiration of this beloved saint.
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Season Of Little Sacraments
$14.95Add to cartThe lament swells every December, as perennial as the jingle of Salvation Army bells: we’ve lost the “reason for the season” in the secular trappings of Christmas preparation. For those aspiring to a reverent Advent but caught up in twenty-first-century to-do lists, A Season of Little Sacraments offers a fresh perspective on the secular-sacred December divide.
Susan Swetnam invites readers along on an ordinary woman’s day-by-day walk through Advent, demonstrating that the very “distractions” accused of taking Christ out of Christmas can become “little sacraments”-occasions for grace to break through and faith to deepen-if approached with mindful reflection. For readers who want to experience a truly sacred Advent without fleeing completely from contemporary society, A Season of Little Sacraments will be a welcome source of nourishment and delight.
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Advent And Christmas Wisdom From Pope Francis
$13.99Add to cartI invite all Christians, everywhere, at this very moment, to a renewed personal encounter with Jesus Christ. – Pope Francis in Evangelii Gaudium, or The Joy of the Gospel, I, 2-3 This Advent, prepare to celebrate Jesus’ arrival as an infant in the small town of Bethlehem. Born into poverty, he brings us the good news that God loves us – and calls us to give of ourselves to others. Let the example of Pope Francis, as he models the humility and generosity of our Savior, inspire you. Reflect on the pope’s teachings, accompanied by Scripture, prayer, and action. Then go out and share the message: Jesus Christ is born!
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Advent And Christmas Wisdom From Saint Therese Of Lisieux
$13.99Add to cartEven though she is a Doctor of the Church, St. Therese of Lisieux is more well-known for being the “little flower” of Jesus. Through her “little way,” she has inspired many Catholics to love God simply, devoutly, and with great love. St. Therese believed that no act of faith is too small for God. Loving God in this way wasn’t always easy for St. Therese, but even through her suffering and death at age twenty-four she tried to love God with all her heart.
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Advent Of Christ
$17.99Add to cartPerhaps the Christmas story has become almost too familiar. A virgin giving birth. A child laid in a manger. Shepherds greeted by angels. The Christmas story has become so familiar that the profound, even shocking, nature of the incarnation might be overlooked. But what if we had never heard the story before? What if we were hearing it for the first time, like the first-century Jews? These events certainly would not be taken for granted-they would signal something new: the dawning of the long-awaited Messiah.
This Advent, put yourself in that ancient Jewish world. Containing an entry for each day of Advent and continuing through the Christmas season, Dr. Ted Sri will help you to discover spiritual treasures in the Gospels and gain a new understanding of the coming of Christ.
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Preparing For Christmas
$12.99Add to cartNow available in a trade edition, Richard Rohr’s Scriptural reflections for Advent are the perfect preparation for the Christmas season. This beautiful redesign provides daily reflections for the Advent season, along with each day’s Scripture readings and questions for reflection.
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Catholic Family Advent
$13.99Add to cartFor many families, the four weeks leading up to Christmas can be a time of great stress, unrealized dreams, a commercial blur, and a financial burden. Susan Hines-Brigger, the mother of four children, knows well that the days counting down to Christmas can easily become for parents and grandparents a nightmare of whiny behavior, crowded to-do lists, and a less-than-spiritual experience. That’s why this mother who has seen and heard it all in her own home during Advent created this resource with prayers and activities: She wants to put Christ back into the family holiday celebration and help families-even hers-become holier. Using A Catholic Family Advent on a daily basis will give Catholic families time together to pray, reflect on Scripture, and do a simple activity together. This daily source of inspiration can be used in the family setting as prayer before or after meals, as morning and evening prayer, or as family time in front of the Advent wreath or Christmas creche.
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Advent And Christmas Wisdom From Saint Francis Of Assisi
$13.99Add to cartIt’s easy to get lost in the bustle of Christmas shopping and holiday parties, losing sight of God. Advent and Christmas Wisdom from St. Francis of Assisi gives readers a momentary cease in the chaos, allowing daily meditation. It is essential in today’s postmodern culture to remember the true purpose of Advent–the preparation for and celebration of the coming of Jesus.
Each day’s selection offers a new insight from one of the most beloved saints, St. Francis of Assisi. St. Francis serves as an appropriate model of virtue during the time of year when it is easy to become caught up in the materialized aspects of the holiday. Through his words, we are reminded of the simplicity in poverty, the reverence of God’s word, of showing gratitude, and practicing forgiveness. Along with the words of St. Francis are daily Scripture readings and prayers that mirror his philosophy. After reflecting, readers will find an Advent action–something simple they can do to keep the words and prayers alive with them throughout the day.
Christians looking for a way to energize their holiday practices will cherish this guide to refocusing on the true “reason for the season,” the birth of Christ.
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Watching And Waiting
$21.00Add to cartAwareness of the liturgical seasons of the year has increased greatly in recent years, as the popularity of the Common Worship Times and Seasons volume has illustrated. Churches are constantly looking for ways to enrich their seasonal celebrations, and the first point of better celebration is better understanding. Of all the seasons, Advent is the least understood, the least studied. An entirely Western phenomenon without much of a preaching or liturgical tradition, it is characterised as much by its folk customs – the advent wreath and the Feast of St Nicholas – as by its biblical themes. Here is a book that helps to create a fuller theology of Advent. Kenneth Stevenson characteristically draws on biblical, historical and liturgical evidence to show how the churches have understood and kept Advent down the centuries, and finds that the season has much to say to contemporary concerns in today’s church and world, from how we do mission to Richard Dawkins’ brand of atheism and a surprising number of issues in between.
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Advent And Christmas Wisdom From Henri J M Nouwen
$13.99Add to cartThe inspiring words of Henri J. M. Nouwen guide the faithful on a spiritual journey through the Advent and Christmas season in this book of waiting, hope, anticipation, and celebration. Each day of the Advent season (28 in all, to accommodate the varying number of days in the season) and each day of Christmas (12 in all, ending with Jesus’ baptism in the Jordan by John the Baptist) contain a pertinent excerpt from the writings of Father Nouwen, a related quotation from Scripture, a prayer for the day, and a suggested activity that offers a concrete response to mark the season.
Advent and Christmas Wisdom is indeed an easy-to-use, daily program to celebrate the momentous arrival of the Christ Child and the joyous news of our salvation. It is also an ideal book for the individual seeking active participation in the season and a renewal of faith for the start of the liturgical year.
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Advent And Christmas With The Saints
$13.99Add to cartAdvent and Christmas with the Saints offers spiritual sustenance from those holy men and women whom we honor because of their close spiritual relationship with God. Readers walk day-by-day with the saints, recalling the Scriptures they read, meditating on the thoughts they had, praying as they might have prayed, and talking openly with God. Christians looking for a way to re-spiritualize their Christmas practices, prayer groups, small-faith communities, Bible study classes, teachers, clergy, and religious will cherish this guide to refocusing on the “reason for the season,” the birth of the Messiah.
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Advent And Christmas With Fulton J Sheen
$13.99Add to cartBeginning with the first day of Advent and continuing through the Feast of the Baptism of Our Lord, these selections from the immortal pen of Fulton J. Sheen encourage readers to explore the essence and promise of the season. Those looking to grow in their prayer life and become more attuned to the joy of Advent and Christmas will find a wonderful guide in this spiritual companion.
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No Trace Of Christmas
$11.95Add to cartWhat is the significance of Jesus’ genealogy in the Gospel of Matthew? Why do we put and ox and ass at our creches? Why did angels appear to the shepherds? In No Trace of Christmas? Christoph Dohmen explains why the answers to these and other questions regarding our understanding of Christmas are to be found not in the New but in the Old Testament.
For the most part Christians regard the Old (or First) Testament as pre-history, a preparation for, or a promise of the New Testament and its proclamation of Christ. This is especially true during Advent, when the Christian liturgy directs our attention to the promise and its fulfillment. Yet Advent’s status as the beginning of the Church year-as a turning point-calls us to look back in order to move forward. We read intensively from Old Testament prophecy texts with a special view toward their future meaning. Hence, Advent is the time of the year when Christians are reminded that they have one sacred Scripture in two parts, one Bible composed of the Old and New Testaments.
Since it was with the aid of the Old Testament that the early Church interpreted the event at Bethlehem, many of the images and biblical texts associated with Christmas can only be understood by following their Old Testament roots. Like the Magi who followed the star, we can, with Dohmen’s help, follow in the liturgy of Advent and Christmas the traces that lead us into the Old Testament. Following those traces, we can arrive at a Christmas that appears to us in a new light, that of the Old Testament.
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Advent A Family Celebration
$14.95Add to cartAdvent is the perfect season to begin praying as a family! Its wealth of traditions, such as the Advent wreath, the Advent calendar, and the Jesse tree, can be the perfect focal point for prayer. Advent: A Family Celebration will delight both children and adults with its ability to relate Scripture and prayer to real life events.
Each day’s meditation, designed to be said after the lighting of the Advent wreath, features a Scripture passage based on the Mass readings. A reflection and prayer then relates the Bible passage to a story or event.
Two sets of meditations are written-one for very young children and another for older ones.
Prayers for all three Sunday cycles are also included. In addition, the book includes special Scripture passages and prayers to say each day while decorating the Jesse tree.
In the frenzy of the busy shopping season, family prayer during Advent keeps the reason for Christmas ever before us and our children. -
Season Of Light
$14.95Add to cartThe Season of Light is a guide for families, households, classrooms, communities, and parishes who wish to make the lighting of the Advent candles a daily prayer. For each day of the season, from the First Sunday of Advent until Christmas Day, The Season of Light offers a brief liturgy that is based on the structure of Vespers or Evening Prayer in the Liturgy of the Hours: the lighting of the candles (the “lucernarium”), a reading from the Advent Scriptures, petitions and collect, and a final blessing.
The Advent wreath is one of the most enduring customs of the Christmas season. Rich in meaning, the four lights of the Advent wreath kindle “our blessed hope and manifestation of the glory of our great God and Savior, Jesus Christ.” (Titus 2:13). It is a symbol of our faith: that light and life will triumph over darkness and death, that our hope in God’s providence and love will never leave us disappointed.
With this rich tradition in mind, Jay Cormier has structured the daily liturgies in The Season of Light as follows: “The Lucernarium,” the lighting of the candle(s); “The Word of God,” in which a lector reads a Scripture passage that reflects the Advent themes of joyful expectation and the restoration of justice and peace in the dawning of Jesus Christ, the Light of the World; and “Prayers,” in which the presider or leader offers petitions and all respond. Then the Lord’s Prayer is recited, and the final collect and the blessing (including a scriptural blessing and a table blessing before meals) are offered by the presider.
The structure and prayers in The Season of Light are offered as suggestions; adaptions are encouraged. For example, families may wish to make the intercessions an opportunity for spontaneous prayers offered by participants; groups with musical ability and leadership may want to incorporate hymns from the rich treasury of Advent and Christian hymnody; those who pray the Liturgy of the Hours regularly might consider including the Advent wreath custom with the psalms and prayers of the Hours.
Designed for all those who wish to make the Advent wreath a daily prayer and part of their Christmas observance and tradition, The Season of Light helps Christians celebrate that we are an Advent people: a people who live in the eternal hope and expectation of the ever-burning light of Jesus Christ.
