Advent – A Time of Prayer and Preparation

Advent is a time to keep our hearts open and readied for the Feast of the Nativity of our Lord on Christmas Day. Here are a few suggestions to prepare for the birth of the Great King who comes to us as a tiny, poor Child.
 

• We should keep our gaze on the stable. Simplicity as much as possible in all of our preparations for Christmas keeps us focused on Him. We want to celebrate Christmas with great joy and festivity, of course. Let’s de-secularize our celebration and keep it “other-worldly”. We should not forget how He came to us, born of the Virgin Mary in the poverty of a stable and, yet, still God Himself who pours out the riches of His grace upon us. Perhaps, we can put out an empty stable with straw in a prominent place in our homes and make it a point of gathering for daily prayer.

 

• Remember the great charity of God in coming to us as One of us so that he could go to the Cross and save us by the greatest act of mercy and deed of love that the world will ever know. Each day of Advent we should offer an act of charity for another in thanksgiving for the charity of the Christ Child.

 

• Advent must be time of renewed and joy-filled prayer. Daily Mass is the best preparation for the Feast of Christmas. We should come and receive the Savior Himself in the Sacrament of His Body and Blood. The Joyful Mysteries of the Rosary provide a blessed opportunity to reflect on the Incarnation and Birth of Jesus.  Going to Confession during Advent and encountering the merciful Savior is an essential and beautiful way to prepare for Christmas. Finally the tradition of the “St. Andrew Novena” prayed from the Feast of St. Andrew the Apostle (November 30) until Christmas Day is a powerful way to pray for all of the intentions we hold in our hearts as we anticipate the Birth of the Infant King whose Sacred Heart is always open to us.

 
S.t Andrew Novena Prayer
(or the Prayer to Obtain Favors)
 
Hail and blessed be the hour and the 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 prayer and grant my petitions
through the merits of Our Savior Jesus Christ
and His Most Blessed Mother. Amen.
 
 
Blessed Advent!
 
Most Reverend William J. Waltersheid
Auxiliary Bishop of Pittsburgh