ADVENT WREATH

ADVENT WREATH "Customarily the Advent Wreath is constructed of a circle of evergreen branches into which are inserted four candles. According to tradition, three of the candles are violet and the fourth is rose. However, four violet or white candles may also be used” (Book of Blessings 1510).
The rose candle is lit the third Sunday of Advent, for this color anticipates and symbolizes the Christmas joy announced in the first word of the Entrance Antiphon: "Rejoice" (Latin, Gaudete). For this reason the Third Sunday is also called Gaudete Sunday, and rose color vestments are permitted.
The Advent Wreath represents the long time when people lived in spiritual darkness, waiting for the coming of the Messiah, the Light of the world. Each year in Advent people wait once again in darkness for the coming of the Lord, His historical coming in the mystery of Bethlehem, His final coming at the end of time, and His special coming in every moment of grace.
During Advent, family and friends can gather around the Advent Wreath lighting the appropriate candle(s), read from the daily Advent meditation and sing songs. The Church's official Book of Blessings also provides a blessing ceremony for the advent wreath which can be used in the absence of
a priest.
http://www.ewtn.com/devotionals/Advent/wreath.htm

Advent

ADVENT The word Advent is from the Latin adventus for "coming" and is associated with the four weeks of preparation for Christmas. Advent always contains four Sundays, beginning on the Sunday nearest the feast of St. Andrew the Apostle, (November 30) and continuing until December 24. It blends together a penitential spirit, very similar to Lent, a liturgical theme of preparation for the Second and Final Coming of the Lord, called the Parousia, and a joyful theme of getting ready for the Bethlehem event.
Since the 900s Advent has been considered the beginning of the Church year. This does not mean that Advent is the most important time of the year. Easter has always had this honor.
The traditional color of Advent is purple or violet which symbolizes the penitential spirit. Religious traditions associated with Advent express all these themes.
http://www.ewtn.com/devotionals/advent/advent.htm

Advent prayer

Come, long-expected Jesus. Excite in me a wonder at the wisdom and power of Your Father and ours. Receive my prayer as part of my service of the Lord who enlists me in God's own work for justice.

Come, long-expected Jesus. Excite in me a hunger for peace: peace in the world, peace in my home, peace in myself.

Come, long-expected Jesus. Excite in me a joy responsive to the Father's joy. I seek His will so I can serve with gladness, singing and love.

Come, long-expected Jesus. Excite in me the joy and love and peace it is right to bring to the manger of my Lord. Raise in me, too, sober reverence for the God who acted there, hearty gratitude for the life begun there, and spirited resolution to serve the Father and Son.

I pray in the name of Jesus Christ, whose advent I hail. Amen.
http://www.catholic.org/prayers/prayer.php?p=350

The Definitive Guide to Advent and Christmas

The Definitive Guide to Advent and Christmas
from Our Sunday Visitor

Advent is a time of preparation for the coming of the Christ Child, but in the midst of the pre-Christmas frenzy, it's easy to lose sight of the profound spiritual importance of the Advent season. Your greatest temptation during Advent will be scrimping on your spiritual needs because there are so many other things going on! There are presents to make or buy, cookies to bake, cards to mail, parties to plan, gifts to wrap and trees to decorate. Even your parish can put demands on your time with choir practices, pageant rehearsals, candy sales, food collections for the poor and Advent evenings of reflection. There's nothing wrong with pre-Christmas preparations. But it's important to balance the sacred part of the Advent season with all of the other things you are doing. If you don't make time for quiet reflection, prayer and conversion of heart, you will find yourself physically, emotionally and spiritually exhausted by Christmas Day. Your Christmas celebration will look perfect on the surface, but will feel spiritually unsatisfying. You will have a hard time experiencing the joy and peace that the Babe in Bethlehem brings.

What is Advent?
The word "Advent" comes from the Latin Adventus, which means "coming." It is a time for quiet reflection, prayer and conversion in anticipation of the coming of Christ from two different perspectives. The readings and the liturgies during Advent prepare us for the birth of Jesus, but they also prepare us for the Second Coming of Jesus at the end of the world. The season offers us the opportunity to share in the ancient longing for the coming of the Messiah, and to be alert as we await his Second Coming. Advent begins four Sundays before Christmas. It ends at sundown on Christmas Eve. Since Christmas falls on different days of the week, Advent can range in duration from 22 days when Christmas falls on a Monday to 28 days when Christmas falls on a Sunday. Advent marks the beginning of the Church year. Unlike the secular year, which marks the passage of time, the liturgical year celebrates the sacred mysteries of the birth, life, death and resurrection of Jesus. The year begins during Advent in anticipation of the coming of Jesus with reflections on the Hebrew prophecies and the ancient longing for the coming of the Messiah.
What do the colors of Advent signify?
The purple or dark blue is a symbol of royalty that anticipates the coming birth of Jesus. It also reflects a spirit of penitence and the need to prepare our hearts. Pink is a secondary Advent color that symbolizes the joy of the season. The evergreens in the Advent wreath signify eternal life that comes to us through Jesus.
What are the rules regarding fasting and abstinence during Advent?
There are no longer any "official" days of fast or abstinence during Advent, but Catholics are encouraged to prepare themselves spiritually during Advent with voluntary acts of prayer, fasting, penance and almsgiving.
http://www.osv.com/OSV4MeNav/ChurchSeasons/AdventResources/DefinitiveGuidetoAdvent/tabid/7301/Default.aspx

1 Maccabees 1:10-15, 41-43, 54-57, 62-63 Psalm 119:53, 61, 134, 150, 155, 158 Luke 18:35-43

Monday, November 14, 2011
St. Nicholas Tavelic, OFM, Priest, and Companions, Martyrs (Memorial)

First Reading: Psalm: Gospel:

1 Maccabees 1:10-15, 41-43, 54-57, 62-63 Psalm 119:53, 61, 134, 150, 155, 158 Luke 18:35-43 It is never true that we have no time to meditate; the less one thinks of God, the less time there will always be for Him. The time one has for anything depends on how much we value it. Thinking determines the use of time; time does not rule over thinking! The problem of spirituality is never, then, a question of time; it is a problem of thought. For it does not require much time to make us saints; it requires only much love. -- Bishop Fulton Sheen

Read more: http://www.ewtn.com/Devotionals/inspiration.htm#14#ixzz1dheKegd1

Pope condemns violence in Nigeria, prays for victims

Pope condemns violence in Nigeria, prays for victims
By Kristin GobbergCatholic News Service

VATICAN CITY (CNS) -- Pope Benedict XVI appealed for an end to violence in Nigeria and prayed for victims of the most recent wave of civil conflict there.

"I am following with concern the tragic incidents that have occurred in recent days in Nigeria. As I pray for the victims, I call for an end to all violence, which never solves problems, but only increases them, sowing hatred and division even among believers," the pope said.

The pope made the comments at his noon blessing Nov. 6, two days after attacks in Nigeria's northeastern states of Yobe and Borno left more than 100 people dead. The attacks targeted churches, police stations and military barracks, Vatican Radio reported.

Officials blamed the violence on Boko Haram, a radical Muslim group responsible for previous attacks in the region.

Archbishop Ignatius Kaigama of Jos, vice president of the Nigerian bishops' conference, condemned the attacks, saying that the radical group targets both Muslims and Christians.

"They attack Christians and Muslims indiscriminately. Our police are Christian and Muslim, they are even targeting other Muslim leaders. Boko Haram are not anti-Christian, they are anti-civil society," Archbishop Kaigama told Vatican Radio.

He praised religious leaders of both faiths for working toward peace but also urged the Nigerian government to help eliminate violence through the education of young people.

"Many of the young people caught up in this extremist activity are illiterate, they have no education and no hope for the future. The government must give them the tools to become a constructive and not destructive force for the good of society," the archbishop said.

Bishop Oliver Doeme of Maiduguri said one of the churches affected was a Catholic church in Damaturu. He said he talked to the parish priest, who did not say whether any of his parishioners were among those killed.

Bishop Doeme said the causes of the violence are social, economic, political and religious.

"In particular, there are some powerful people in our society who are losing their importance and use religion to incite the minds of uneducated youth to sow violence," the bishop said. "In fact, these young people are exploited by greedy politicians who are losing relevance and want to still remain in power to continue to improve their finances."

The bishop also spoke of "a strong level of indoctrination based on the belief that if one dies fighting for the cause, he will go to heaven."

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Contributing to this story was Peter Ajayi Dada in Lagos, Nigeria
http://www.catholicnews.com/data/stories/cns/1104364.htm