Welcome to Day 6 of our Advent Calendar!
During the 22 days of Advent, new content will be available each day behind the calendar’s doors.
Season of Advent
Advent is the four-week season before Christmas during which we prepare for the coming of Christ. The word Advent comes from the Latin word adventus, which means “coming”. The season of Advent is a time of waiting, conversion and of hope, which has a twofold character as:
- A time of preparation for the Solemnities of the Christmas season, in which the first coming of the Son of God to humanity is remembered; and,
- A time when – by remembrance of this – our minds and hearts look forward to the Second Coming of Christ at the end of time.
For these two reasons, Advent is a period of devout and expectant delight.
Our digital Advent calendar is a helpful resource for our ‘journey’ towards Christmas. Each day, by clicking on a virtual door, we are inviting you to take a few minutes to avail of our resources to rediscover the true meaning of Advent and Christmas.
A video message from Julieann Moran, General Secretary of the Synodal Pathway on the Feast of the Immaculate Conception of the Blessed Virgin Mary
Today is the Solemnity of the Immaculate Conception of the Blessed Virgin Mary.
The Blessed Virgin Mary, conceived without sin and full of grace, is at the centre of today’s Feast of the Immaculate Conception. In his 2019 reflection on the feast day, Pope Francis highlighted all Mary’s beauty: a masterpiece even in her humility, capable of making room for God without complacency and ready to put herself at the service of others. May she be a model of our communities and of our life.
Pope Francis said that God thought of Mary and wanted her “from the beginning”. But, he said, in order to be “full of grace”, to be filled with God’s love, it is necessary to listen to God’s Word and trust totally in His will, as Mary did.
Mary, the Pope said, “does not lose herself in logical arguments, she does not place obstacles in the Lord’s way, but she promptly entrusts herself and leaves room for the action of the Holy Spirit”. Corresponding perfectly to God’s plan for her, “Mary becomes ‘all beautiful’, ‘all holy’, but without the slightest shadow of self-satisfaction”. That is, she remains “humble, small, poor”.
Pope Francis then emphasised “the word with which Mary defines herself in her surrender to God”. “Mary’s ‘yes’ to God”, the Pope said, assumes from the beginning the attitude of service, of attention to the needs of others”, as seen in Mary’s visit to Elizabeth. “Openness to God is found in the openness to take on the needs of one’s neighbor”. Moreover, he emphasized, this is done without “noise or ostentation… because charity and works of mercy do not need to be exhibited as a trophy”.
Pope Francis concluded his reflection with the prayer that the feast of the Immaculate Conception might “help us to make our whole life a ‘yes’ to God, a ‘yes’ made of adoration of Him and of daily gestures of love and service”.
Advent Prayers
Lend Me Your Hand
Jesus, remember me
at this time.
I have questions and concerns,
I am worried.
As you journey with me, Jesus,
in your promise
of everlasting friendship,
help me to place myself
in your care
as you lend me your hand
through the care of my carers.
Help us, Jesus, to allow God’s Light
to shine through our hopes and concerns.
Rev Peter Murphy, World Day of the Sick Prayerbook, 2013.
Kids’ Corner!
Each day of Advent you will find fun activities for children to enjoy and learn more about the Season of Advent!
A Child’s Prayer for Morning
My God, I offer to you this day all I think and do
and say, in union with all you have done fro me
by Jesus Christ your Son. Amen
Dear Lord, I rise from bed to pray: then soon go
out to school or play. Let all I meet along the way
see you in me throughout the day. Amen
Print out the picture below and colour it in however you like!
To print: click on the link below to open a new page, then select “print” to print out the page for colouring.
