Advent Carols

Singing Christmas Carols

Yes, we've heard them all our lives, but didn't think about them being for Advent.... 

I've listed some here and with the You Tube versions for your enjoyment...

O Come, O Come Emmanuel  https://youtu.be/RP4iyJqrPvY

O Come Divine Messiah  https://youtu.be/dzNiBdW4Le4

Maria Walks Amid the Thorn https://youtu.be/AZS0h7DZT5M

Gabriel’s Message  https://youtu.be/7AmWu2zLzrU

Creator of the Stars of Night  https://youtu.be/wc2vV-v802s

Saviour of the Nations Come Arranged by J.S. Bach.  https://youtu.be/ldb56S3ZQ7M

Lo! He Comes with Clouds Descending By Charles Wesley  https://youtu.be/Vj7F3P0rIfo

Wake, Awake, for night is flying A 16th century German hymn.  https://youtu.be/xjCJrNQsefc

Rorate Caeli A traditional latin hymn.  https://youtu.be/-EjHCYLukRY

Alma Redemptoris Mater  https://youtu.be/B7aWpB9cAnM

Advent - Keep Awake, Awaiting His Coming

Second Coming of Christ

Keep watch, He is to come again

From a commentary on the Diatessaron by Saint Ephrem, deacon

To prevent His disciples from asking the time of his coming, Christ said: About the hour no one knows, neither the angels nor the Son. It is not for you to know times or moments.  He has kept those things hidden so that we may keep watch, each of us thinking that he will come in his own day.  

If He had revealed the time of His coming, 

His coming would have lost its savor: 

it would no longer be an object of yearning 

for the nations and the age in which it will be revealed.

  

He promised that He would come but did not say when 

He would come, and so all generations 

and ages await Him eagerly.

Though the Lord has established the signs of His coming, the time of their fulfillment has not been plainly revealed.  These signs have come and gone with a multiplicity of change; more than that, they are still present.  His final coming is like His first.  As holy men and  prophets waited for Him, thinking that He would reveal Himself in their own day, so today each of the faithful longs to welcome Him in His own day, because Christ has not made plain the day of His coming.

He has not made it plain for this reason especially, that no one may think that He whose power and dominion rule all numbers and times is ruled by fate and time.  He described the signs of His coming; how could what He has Himself decided be hidden from Him?  Therefore, He used these words to increase respect for the signs of this coming, so that from that day forward all generations and ages might think that He would come again in their own day.

Saint Ephrem the Syrian, Deacon and
Doctor of the Church (309-373).

Keep watch; when the body is asleep nature takes control of us, and what is done is not done by our will but by force, by the impulse of nature.  When deep listlessness takes possession of the soul, for example, faintheartedness or melancholy, the enemy overpowers it and makes it do what it does not will.  The force of nature, the enemy of the soul, is in control.

When the Lord commanded us to be vigilant, He meant vigilance in both parts of man: in the body, against the tendency to sleep, in the soul, against lethargy and timidity.  

As Scripture says: Wake up, you just, and I have risen, and am still with you; and again, Do not lose heart. Therefore, having this ministry we do not lose heart.

St. Nicholas Day - December 6th or December 19th

St. Nicholas Day

The legendary figure of St. Nicholas is derived from Nicholas of Myra who officiated as a bishop in 4th century Greece. During his lifetime he developed a reputation for gift-giving by putting coins in other people's shoes, which accounts for many of today's Christmas traditions that involve leaving gifts in shoes or boots.

Having inspired both the figure of the North American Santa Claus and the British Father Christmas, St. Nicholas has in some countries been more recently joined on his visits to children's homes by an evil companion who punishes the naughty ones: in Austria, Hungary, the Czech Republic and northern Italy, this personification of evil is called Krampus, in Germany Knecht Ruprecht, and in the Netherlands Zwarte Piet.

Why Celebrate St. Nicholas Day?

December 6 or December 19 on the Julian Calendar

St. Nicholas, a man of faith who lived his life in devotion to Christ

• To focus on giving more than receiving: St. Nicholas cared for the needy

• To emphasize small treats and family fun: St. Nicholas loved children

• To provide a bit of special festivity early in the waiting weeks of Advent: St. Nicholas points to Jesus, the heart of Christmas

• To offer a spiritual dimension to gift giving

• To tell the story of a Christian saint, whose model life inspires compassion and charity

• To honor St. Nicholas honors the Christ Child who selflessly gave the greatest gift of all—himself

St. Nicholas' feast day, December 6, is one of the highlights of the Advent season. It is on this eve that our children hang their stockings. From babyhood they learn to love the kind bishop with his mitre, staff and bag of gifts--whose name has become parodied as "Santa Claus" and whose memory is tarnished by commercialism.

In addition to the toys received on this feast, the Christ-Child and His angels bring other gifts on Christmas Eve; and the Magi a few more on Epiphany.

Placing less exclusive emphasis on December 25 as the day of presents and also curtailing its gifts somewhat makes it easier to place more emphasis on the religious aspects of that great holy day. 

Do other children think ours are queer? Not at all. If anything, they are a bit envious of children who receive Yule gifts so early and who enjoy such a happy feast as our traditional St. Nicholas Day party. Having an early gift day also makes it possible for the children to give some of these gifts as Christmas presents to other less fortunate children.

Treats of the St. Nicholas party are the exchange of gifts, genuine Dutch cookies and Bishopwyn (bishop's wine). For children the wine is grape juice. But the grownups who face the high December winds along the Hudson River to pick up their children at our house always welcome the mulled Bishopwyn. Its recipe is from our favorite cook book, "Cooking for Christ" by Florence Berger.

                      1 bottle of Claret        6 cloves       4 inches stick cinnamon

Break cinnamon into small pieces. Simmer wine and spices for about five minutes. Strain wine. Serve hot.

The Speculatius, a spice cookie from the Netherlands

The Speculatius, a spice cookie from the Netherlands, like all of Mrs. Berger's recipes, is foolproof.

1 cup butter                       4 tsp. cinnamon

1 cup lard                          1/2 tsp. nutmeg

2 cups brown sugar           1/2 tsp. cloves 

1/2 cup sour cream          4-1/2 cups sifted                                                              flour

1/2 tsp. soda                      1/2 cup chopped                                                               nuts

Cream the butter, lard and sugar. Add sour cream alternately with sifted dry ingredients. Stir in the nuts. Knead the dough into rolls. Wrap the rolls in wax paper and chill them in the refrigerator overnight. Roll the dough very thin and cut into shapes. Bake in moderate oven (375 degrees) for 10 to 15 minutes.

The dough may be cut into St. Nicholas shapes, or into the shape of birds, fish or animals. We also like to cut out stocking shapes and ice them in honor of St. Nicholas, patron of school boys.

During the party we light the Advent wreath candle, and the children sing Advent hymns. All classes at Corpus Christi School have wreaths, but some of the children do not have them at home. We have found that parents, enjoying their Bishopwyn, have become interested in the wreath and have integrated the Advent program of school and home as a result of the St. Nicholas Day party.

Excerpt taken from FAMILY ADVENT CUSTOMS by Helen McLoughlin

https://www.ewtn.com/library/FAMILY/ADVCUST.TXT

Get Kids Thinking of Advent

GIFTS FOR JESUS

On the first Sunday of Advent each child in our family receives an empty manger. An oatmeal box covered with bright paper will do as well. At bedtime the children draw straws for each kind deed performed in honor of Baby Jesus as His birthday surprise. The straws are placed in the child's manger or box daily. It is amazing how much love a child can put into Advent when he is preparing for His Redeemer's coming in grace.

On Christmas each child finds an Infant in his manger, placed on a small table or on a chair beside his bed. Usually it is a tiny doll, beautifully dressed; but one of our children receives a Hummel Infant year after year. This custom, which in no way interferes with the larger manger in the living room, fills the child with a longing in Advent, and gives him an image of his Redeemer as his first happy glance mornings and his last impression at night during the entire Christmas season.

As our youngsters grew older, they added the Hungarian custom of planting a grain of blessed wheat for each Advent sacrifice. They use small flower pots, especially decorated with Christmas symbols. By Christmas the tender green shoots of wheat are growing, each a reminder of some special, and of course secret, offering of love for "Little Jesus" on His birthday. The wheat is placed at the crib and usually lasts until Epiphany.

Excerpt taken from FAMILY ADVENT CUSTOMS by Helen McLoughlin

https://www.ewtn.com/library/FAMILY/ADVCUST.TXT

Christmas Pudding Tradition and Recipes

One of my most favorite Christmas traditions is watching the movie The Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens (actor Alastair Sim, he's the best Scrooge!)... When I was a child that was the first time I heard about the Christmas pudding.  Since then it has become a favorite dessert to look forward to as well.  

If you have watched the Christmas Carol movie or better yet read the book written by Charles Dickens, you will know that the Christmas pudding was part of the Christmas meal... To read The Christmas Carol by Dickens see http://gaslight.mtroyal.ca/carol.htm

An excerpt from the story: 

"Hallo! A great deal of steam! The pudding was out of the copper. A smell like a washing-day! That was the cloth. A smell like an eating-house and a pastry-cook's next door to each other with a laundress's next door to that! That was the pudding! In half a minute Mrs. Cratchit entered, -- flushed but smiling proudly, -- with the pudding, like a speckled cannon-ball, so hard and firm, blazing in half of half a quartern of ignited brandy, and bedight with Christmas holly stuck into the top.

 

1840s-1843-Charles-Dickens-Christmas Carol

O, a wonderful pudding I Bob Cratchit said, and calmly too, that he regarded it as the greatest success achieved by Mrs. Cratchit since their marriage. Mrs. Cratchit said that now the weight was off her mind, she would confess she had had her doubts about the quantity of flour. Everybody had something to say about it, but nobody said or thought it was at all a small pudding for a large family. Any Cratchit would have blushed to hint at such a thing."

Christmas pudding is a type of pudding traditionally served as part of the Christmas dinner in Britain, Ireland and in some other countries where it has been brought by British emigrants. It has its origins in medieval England, and is sometimes known as plum pudding or just "pud", though this can also refer to other kinds of boiled pudding involving dried fruit. 

Despite the name "plum pudding," the pudding contains no actual plums due to the pre-Victorian use of the word "plums" as a term for raisins. The pudding is composed of many dried fruits held together by egg and suet, sometimes moistened by treacle or molasses and flavoured with cinnamon, nutmeg, cloves, ginger, and other spices. The pudding is aged for a month, months, or even a year; the high alcohol content of the pudding prevents it from spoiling during this time.

History of the Christmas Pudding

Medieval Christmas

There is a popular myth that plum pudding's association with Christmas goes back to a custom in medieval England that the "pudding should be made on the 25th Sunday after Trinity, that it be prepared with 13 ingredients to represent Christ and the 12 apostles, and that every family member stir it in turn from east to west to honour the Magi and their journey in that direction". 

However, recipes for plum puddings appear mainly, if not entirely, in the 17th century and later. Their possible ancestors include savoury puddings such as those in Harleian MS 279, crustades, malaches whyte, creme boiled (a kind of stirred custard), and sippets. 

Various ingredients and methods of these older recipes appear in early plum puddings.

One of the earliest plum pudding recipes is given by Mary Kettilby in her 1714 book A Collection of above Three Hundred Receipts in Cookery, Physick and Surgery.

There is a popular and wholly unsubstantiated myth that in 1714, King George I (sometimes known as the Pudding King) requested that plum pudding be served as part of his royal feast in his first Christmas in England. As techniques for meat preserving improved in the 18th century, the savoury element of both the mince pie and the plum pottage diminished as the sweet content increased. 

People began adding dried fruit and sugar. The mince pie kept its name, though the pottage was increasingly referred to as plum pudding. Although the latter was always a celebratory dish it was originally eaten at the Harvest festival, not Christmas. It was not until the 1830s that the cannonball of flour, fruits, suet, sugar and spices, all topped with holly, made a definite appearance, becoming more and more associated with Christmas. 

Christmas Pudding

The East Sussex cook Eliza Acton was the first to refer to it as "Christmas Pudding" in her bestselling 1845 book Modern Cookery for Private Families.

The pudding "had the great merit" of not needing to be cooked in an oven, something "most lower class households did not have".

The custom of eating Christmas pudding was carried to many parts of the world by British colonists, and beyond the United Kingdom, became a popular and common a dish in the Republic of Ireland, Australia, New Zealand, and South Africa.

Excerpts from Wikipedia https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Christmas_pudding

Stirring the Pudding

On the first Sunday of Advent we bring to the dinner table the "Stir-up" or traditional English plum pudding for family and guests to stir. Each makes a wish, as he or she stirs, and then prays the Collect from the Mass of the day:

"Stir up Thy might, we beg Thee, O Lord; and come so that we may escape through Thy protection and be saved by Thy help from the dangers that threaten us because of our sins. Who livest and reignest for ever and ever."

Afterwards the pudding is steamed and put away until the feast of Christmas. Then warmed brandy or rum is added and set ablaze; and the flaming pudding is brought to the dinner table to be served as soon as the flame burns out. Actually the pudding is prepared on the Saturday before "Stir-up" Sunday. Filled with the good things of the world, the pudding is supposed to represent Christ who will bring with Him on His birthday all the good things of heaven. Children love to work on the pudding, and the busy mother finds extra hands a great help in dicing, grating and juicing the fruits.

We use a recipe from "Jubilee," November 1953. The ingredients cost about three dollars and will make five pounds of pudding. Adolph Paganuzzi, chef of a well-known Greenwich Village, New York, pastry shop, reduced his famous recipe to family proportions for "Jubilee." With his kind permission we give it here:

               1/2 lb. beef suet, chopped                        1/4 lb. diced candied citron

               1/2 lb. all-purpose flour, sifted                1/4 lb. diced candied orange peels

               1/4 lb. bread crumbs                                1/4 lb. diced candied lemon peels

               3/4 lb. brown sugar                                  8 eggs, beaten

               2 teaspoons ground cinnamon                 2 lemons--grated rind and their juice

               1 teaspoon ground allspice                      2 oranges--grated rind and their juice

               1 teaspoon ground ginger                        1/2 pt. Sherry or Port wine

               1-1/4 lbs. raisins--any kind         

Into a bowl mix and work together all the ingredients one at a time, in the order in which they are listed above. 

When they have been well mixed, pour the mixture into a well-greased mold or can. Cover, and seal tight. Steam in large, covered kettle, roaster or similar utensil and let simmer for at least five hours. 

When done, the pudding can be stored away until Christmas. It may be kept a year and will improve with age. It may be served with any sauce desired, such as fruit, rum, brandy, raisin, vanilla or any other kind. Liquid sauces are better than semi-liquid.

               Rum Sauce

         1 pt. Sherry wine                                1 small stick cinnamon

         1/2 lb. brown sugar                            Rind of 1/2 orange

         2 bay leaves                                       1/2 pt. rum

Place all the ingredients in a glass jar and let stand together for a few days. Bring to a boil, strain and serve over the pudding.

Excerpt taken from FAMILY ADVENT CUSTOMS by Helen McLoughlin

https://www.ewtn.com/library/FAMILY/ADVCUST.TXT

Recipe for Christmas Plum-Pudding from Beeton’s Book of Household Management, 1861.

Taken from Mimi Matthews.com AUTHENTIC VICTORIAN CHRISTMAS PUDDING

https://mimimatthews.com/2015/12/21/authentic-victorian-christmas-pudding/

The Custom of the Advent Wreath

Advent Wreath preparing for Christmas

Most popular of the Advent customs handed down to us is the Advent wreath made of evergreens, bound to a circle of wire.

German in origin--it was taken, so we are told, from the pagan fire wheel--the wreath represents the cycle of thousands of years from Adam to Christ during which the world awaited the coming of a Redeemer. 

It also represents the cycle of years since then that bears four candles, equally spaced, three purple ones to be lighted on the "penitential" Sundays, and a rose-colored one for Gaudete, the joyful Sunday in Advent. Candles may be placed inside or outside the wreath.

Any kind of Christmas wreath such as those hung in windows may be used. It may be set on a kitchen or dining room table, on an end table in the living room, or in a child's bedroom. However, it is most appealing when suspended by four purple ribbons from a light fixture in the ceiling.

When our children were small we bought a large, permanently preserved pine wreath and used it year after year. Now that they are going to school they help to make a new one each Advent. Inexpensive and easy to assemble is the wreath we make from a bunch or two of laurel leaves bound to a circle of wire from coat hangers. The evergreens are secured by fine wire to the circle. Candles and ribbons are added as the wreath is put together. Laurel is practical because it does not shed when suspended over the dining room table. Moreover, laurel is a symbol of victory, and thus reminds us that Christ's coming means victory over sin and death. Loveliest of wreaths and fragrant, too, is one of fresh princess pine. When we use that type, we hang it in the living room and add a single silver star to it each evening in Advent when the candles are lighted for prayers. Stars are cut from metallic paper.

City dwellers may make an attractive wreath of fireproof green paper, while country folks will find a metal barrel hoop ideal as a frame for whatever evergreens are at hand. In our children's classrooms in Corpus Christi School, New York City, Advent greens are sometimes kept fresh in inexpensive plastic rings.

The home ceremony for use of the Advent wreath is simple. It consists of Collects, hymns and prayers proper to the Advent season.

We have put it together as follows. 

On the first Sunday of Advent, our family gathers for the blessing of the wreath by father, who begins:

Father: Our help is in the Name of the Lord.

All answer: Who made heaven and earth.

Father: Let us pray. O God, by whose word all things are sanctified, pour forth Thy blessing upon this wreath, and grant that we who use it may prepare our hearts for the coming of Christ and may receive from Thee abundant graces. Through Christ our Lord.

All: Amen.

He sprinkles the wreath with holy water. Then Myles, our youngest child, lights the first candle, and the prayer for the first week is said.

Father: Let us pray. Stir up Thy might, we beg Thee, O Lord, and come, so that we may escape through Thy protection and be saved by Thy help from the dangers that threaten us because of our sins. Who livest and reignest for ever and ever.

All: Amen.

During the first week one candle is left burning during the evening meal, at prayers or at bedtime.

Two candles are lighted on the second Sunday and allowed to burn as before. The prayer for the week is:

Father: Let us pray. O Lord, stir up our hearts that we may prepare for Thy only begotten Son, that through His coming we may be made worthy to serve Thee with pure souls. Through the same Christ our Lord.

All: Amen.

Three candles, including the rose candle, are lighted on Gaudete, the third Sunday, and during that week. The following prayer is said:

Father: Let us pray. We humbly beg Thee, O Lord, to listen to our prayers; and by the grace of Thy coming bring light into our darkened minds. Who livest and reignest for ever and ever.

All: Amen.

All four candles are lighted on the fourth Sunday and allowed to burn as before. The prayer said the fourth week is:

Father: Let us pray. Stir up Thy might, we pray Thee, O Lord, and come; rescue us through Thy great strength so that salvation, which has been hindered by our sins, may be hastened by the grace of Thy gentle mercy. Who livest and reignest for ever and ever.

All: Amen.

At the end of Advent, candles and ribbons are changed to white, evergreens renewed if necessary, and tiny Christmas balls added to decorate the wreath. We hang ours in the entrance hall where it adds a festive note to the house and gives us a chance to explain the wreath to neighbors and tradespeople who have not seen it previously. The wreath, unless it sheds, is kept until Epiphany.

Excerpt taken from FAMILY ADVENT CUSTOMS by Helen McLoughlin

https://www.ewtn.com/library/FAMILY/ADVCUST.TXT

Advent is Here!! Come Lord Jesus!

Sound the trumpets in Zion, 

summon the nations; 

call the people together and tell them the good news: 

Our God and our Saviour 

is coming!

St. Charles Borromeo

The Season of Advent

From a pastoral letter from St. Charles Borromeo, bishop

Beloved, now is the acceptable time spoken of by the Spirit, the day of salvation, peace and reconciliation.  The great season of Advent.  

This is the time eagerly awaited by the patriarchs and prophets, the time that holy Simeon rejoice at last to see.  This is the season that the Church has always celebrated with special solemnity.  

We too should always observe it with faith and love, offering praise and thanksgiving to the Father for the mercy and love he has shown us in this mystery.  In his infinite love for us, though we were sinners, he sent his only Son to free us from the tyranny of Satan, to summon us to heaven, to welcome us into its innermost recesses, to show us truth itself, to train us in right conduct, to plant within us the seeds of virtue, to enrich us with the treasures of his grace, and to make us children of God and heirs of eternal life.

Every year, as the Church recalls this mystery, she urges us to renew the memory of the great love God has shown us.  This holy season teaches us that Christ’s coming was not only for the benefit of his contemporaries; his power has still to be communicated to us all.  We shall share his power, if, through holy faith and sacraments, we willingly accept the grace Christ earned for us and live by that grace and in obedience to Christ.

The Church asks us to understand that Christ, who came once in the flesh, is prepared to come again.  When we removed all obstacles to his presence he will come, at any hour and moment, to dwell spiritually in our hearts, bringing with him the riches of his grace.

In her concern for our salvation, our loving mother the Church uses this holy season to teach us through hymns, canticles and other forms of expression, of voice and ritual, used by the Holy Spirit.  She shows us how grateful we should be for so great a blessing, and how to gain its coming of Christ as if he were still to come into this world.  The same lesson is given us for our imitation by the words and example of the holy men of the Old Testament.

Lord, help me welcome You once again 

and make room for You in my daily life, 

that You may make Your home in my heart.

Advent is the beginning of the new liturgical year. 

It is a season of spiritual preparation, 

marked by eager longing for the

coming of the Saviour 

through grace at Christmas, 

and for His second and final coming.

Incarnation - Christ Comes to Us

St. Gregory  Nazianzen

The Marvel of the Incarnation

From a sermon by St Gregory Nazianzen, bishop

The very Son of God, older than the ages, the invisible, the incomprehensible, the incorporeal, the beginning of beginning, the light of light, the fountain of life and immortality, the image of the archetype, the immovable seal, the perfect likeness, the definition and word of the Father: he it is who comes to his own image and takes our nature for the good of our nature, and unites himself to an intelligent soul for the good of my soul, to purify like by like. 

He takes to himself all that is human, except for sin. He was conceived by the Virgin Mary, who had been first prepared in soul and body by the Spirit; his coming to birth had to be treated with honor, virginity had to receive new honor. 

He comes forth as God, in the human nature he has taken, one being, made of two contrary elements, flesh and spirit. Spirit gave divinity, flesh received it.

He who makes rich is made poor; he takes on the poverty of my flesh, that I may gain the riches of his divinity. 

He who is full is made empty; he is emptied for a brief space of his glory, that I may share in his fullness. 

What is this wealth of goodness? What is this mystery that surrounds me? I received the likeness of God, but failed to keep it. He takes on my flesh, to bring salvation to the image, immortality to the flesh. He enters into a second union with us, a union far more wonderful than the first.

Holiness had to be brought to man by the humanity assumed by one who was God, so that God might overcome the tyrant by force and so deliver us and lead us back to himself through the mediation of his Son. The Son arranged this for the honour of the Father, to whom the Son is clearly obedient in all things. 

The Good Shepherd by Philippede

The Good Shepherd, who lays down his life for the sheep, came in search of the straying sheep to the mountains and hills on which you used to offer sacrifice. When he found it, he took it on the shoulders that bore the wood of the cross, and led it back to the life of heaven.

Christ, the light of all lights, follows John, the lamp that goes before him. The Word of God follows the voice in the wilderness; the bridegroom follows the bridegroom’s friend, who prepares a worthy people for the Lord by cleansing them by water in preparation for the Spirit.

We need God to take our flesh and die, that we might live. We have died with him, that we may be purified. 

We have risen again with him, because we have died with him. 

We have been glorified with him, because we have risen again with him.

Prayer to Mary

To Mary in Praise!

given by the Queen of Heaven to St. Bridgett

taken from St. Bridgett Prophecies & Revelations Chapter 8

Blessed be You, God,

Creator of all things,

Who deigned to descend into

the womb of Mary!

Blessed be You God,

Who wished to be within the

Virgin Mary without burdening her,

and deigned to take immaculate flesh

from her without sin!

Blessed be You God,

Who came to the Virgin,

bringing joy to her soul

and her whole body,

and Who went out of her without sin,

to the joy of her whole body!

Blessed be You God,

who after your heavenly ascension

gladdened the Virgin Mary,

Your Mother,

with continuous comforts

and visited her with Your Consolation!

Blessed be You God,

Who assumed the body and soul

of the Virgin Mary, Your Mother,

into heaven and honorably placed her

above all the angels next to Your Divinity!

Have Mercy on me f

or the sake of all her prayers!

Advent - Praying with Isaiah

Praying with Isaiah during Advent

The messages from the book of the prophet Isaiah are our guide for the first part of Advent. This page is meant to be a help for our letting these words console us and offer us hope. Though they were first meant to be God's word to a people who "walked in darkness," they are for us today quite alive with meaning. We can hear them personally. 

We can hear their prophetic hope in a future redemption that was fulfilled in Jesus. 

We can let these words challenge us to open our hearts. We can hear them helping us know and trust our God's love for us today. When we let them into our hearts - a phrase at a time - and chew them and let them nourish us, we can let these words feed an Advent hope and longing within us. 

Read them one at a time, or scan several. It is better to enjoy small bits of this message and to savor it, than to run through it, too quickly. Return to this page regularly during Advent. It is a wonderful practice to ask for a grace before we let these words touch our hearts. For example, we might ask something like this:

"Lord, open my heart to hear your word for me today. I ask that you console me, comfort me, strengthen my trust in your faithful love, and that you give me hope in the renewal of your coming in my life this Advent." Or, we might pray: "Lord, show me the desert, the wasteland, within me, and let me trust that you will bring new life and build a path to you, within me."

The quotations are taken from the readings of the first part of Advent. The links are to the full reading for that day.

The First Week of Advent 

The Prophet Isaiah

Why do you let us wander, O LORD, from your ways, and harden our hearts so that we fear you not?

Isaiah 63

Oh, that you would rend the heavens and come down.

Isaiah 63

Would that you might meet us doing right, that we were mindful of you in our ways!

Isaiah 63

"Come, let us climb the LORD's mountain, to the house of the God of Jacob, That he may instruct us in his ways, and we may walk in his paths."

Isaiah 2

They shall beat their swords into plowshares and their spears into pruning hooks.

Isaiah 2

Come, let us walk in the light of the LORD!

Isaiah 2

On that day, A shoot shall sprout from the stump of Jesse, and from his roots a bud shall blossom. The Spirit of the LORD shall rest upon him. ...

Then the wolf shall be a guest of the lamb, and the leopard shall lie down with the kid; The calf and the young lion shall browse together, with a little child to guide them. The cow and the bear shall be neighbors, together their young shall rest; the lion shall eat hay like the ox. The baby shall play by the cobra's den, and the child lay his hand on the adder's lair. There shall be no harm or ruin on all my holy mountain; for the earth shall be filled with knowledge of the LORD, as water covers the sea.

Isaiah 11

Trust in the LORD forever! For the LORD is an eternal Rock. He humbles those in high places, and the lofty city he brings down; He tumbles it to the ground, levels it with the dust. It is trampled underfoot by the needy, by the footsteps of the poor.

Isaiah 26

On that day the deaf shall hear the words of a book; And out of gloom and darkness, the eyes of the blind shall see. The lowly will ever find joy in the LORD, and the poor rejoice in the Holy One of Israel. ...

Those who err in spirit shall acquire understanding, and those who find fault shall receive instruction.

Isaiah 29

He will be gracious to you when you cry out, as soon as he hears he will answer you. The Lord will give you the bread you need and the water for which you thirst. No longer will your Teacher hide himself, but with your own eyes you shall see your Teacher, While from behind, a voice shall sound in your ears: "This is the way; walk in it," when you would turn to the right or to the left.

The Second Week of Advent

Comfort, give comfort to my people, says your God. Speak tenderly to Jerusalem, and proclaim to her that her service is at an end, her guilt is expiated; indeed, she has received from the hand of the LORD double for all her sins.

Isaiah 40

In the desert prepare the way of the LORD! Make straight in the wasteland a highway for our God! Every valley shall be filled in, every mountain and hill shall be made low; the rugged land shall be made a plain, the rough country, a broad valley. Then the glory of the LORD shall be revealed, and all people shall see it together.

Isaiah 40

Like a shepherd he feeds his flock; in his arms he gathers the lambs, carrying them in his bosom, and leading the ewes with care.

Isaiah 40

The desert and the parched land will exult; the steppe will rejoice and bloom. They will bloom with abundant flowers, and rejoice with joyful song. The glory of Lebanon will be given to them, the splendor of Carmel and Sharon; They will see the glory of the LORD, the splendor of our God.

Isaiah 35

Strengthen the hands that are feeble, make firm the knees that are weak, Say to those whose hearts are frightened: Be strong, fear not! Here is your God, he comes with vindication; With divine recompense he comes to save you.

Isaiah 35

Then the blind shall see...

Then will the eyes of the blind be opened, the ears of the deaf be cleared; Then will the lame leap like a stag, then the tongue of the mute will sing. Streams will burst forth in the desert, and rivers in the steppe. The burning sands will become pools, and the thirsty ground, springs of water; The abode where jackals lurk will be a marsh for the reed and papyrus. A highway will be there, called the holy way; No one unclean may pass over it, nor fools go astray on it. No lion will be there, nor beast of prey go up to be met upon it.

Isaiah 35

It is for those with a journey to make, and on it the redeemed will walk. Those whom the LORD has ransomed will return and enter Zion singing, crowned with everlasting joy; They will meet with joy and gladness, sorrow and mourning will flee.

Isaiah 35

Do you not know or have you not heard? The LORD is the eternal God, creator of the ends of the earth. He does not faint nor grow weary, and his knowledge is beyond scrutiny. He gives strength to the fainting; for the weak he makes vigor abound.

Isaiah 40

Though young men faint and grow weary, and youths stagger and fall, They that hope in the LORD will renew their strength, they will soar as with eagles' wings; They will run and not grow weary, walk and not grow faint.

Isaiah 40

I, the LORD, your God, teach you what is for your good, and lead you on the way you should go.

Isaiah 48

The Third Week of Advent

The Spirit of the Lord is upon Me...

The spirit of the Lord GOD is upon me, because the LORD has anointed me; he has sent me to bring glad tidings to the poor, to heal the brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives and release to the prisoners, to announce a year of favor from the LORD and a day of vindication by our God.

Isaiah 61

Let justice descend, O heavens, like dew from above, like gentle rain let the skies drop it down. Let the earth open and salvation bud forth; let justice also spring up! I, the LORD, have created this.

Isaiah 45

Turn to me and be safe, all you ends of the earth, for I am God; there is no other!

Isaiah 45

Raise a glad cry, you barren one who did not bear, Break forth in jubilant song, you who were not in labor, For more numerous are the children of the deserted wife than the children of her who has a husband, says the LORD. Enlarge the space for your tent, spread out your tent cloths unsparingly; lengthen your ropes and make firm your stakes. For you shall spread abroad to the right and to the left; your descendants shall dispossess the nations and shall people the desolate cities.

Isaiah 54

Fear not, you shall not be put to shame; you need not blush, for you shall not be disgraced. The shame of your youth you shall forget, the reproach of your widowhood no longer remember. For he who has become your husband is your Maker; his name is the LORD of hosts; Your redeemer is the Holy One of Israel, called God of all the earth.

Isaiah 54

The LORD calls you back, like a wife forsaken and grieved in spirit, A wife married in youth and then cast off, says your God. For a brief moment I abandoned you, but with great tenderness I will take you back. In an outburst of wrath, for a moment I hid my face from you; But with enduring love I take pity on you, says the LORD, your redeemer.

Isaiah 54

This is for me like the days of Noah, when I swore that the waters of Noah should never again deluge the earth; So I have sworn not to be angry with you, or to rebuke you. Though the mountains leave their place and the hills be shaken, My love shall never leave you nor my covenant of peace be shaken, says the LORD, who has mercy on you.

Isaiah 54

The Fourth Week of Advent

Isaiah the Prophet

Observe what is right, do what is just; for my salvation is about to come, my justice, about to be revealed.

Isaiah 56

No more shall people call you "Forsaken," or your land "Desolate," but you shall be called "My Delight," and your land "Espoused." For the LORD delights in you and makes your land his spouse. As a young man marries a virgin, your Builder shall marry you; and as a bridegroom rejoices in his bride so shall your God rejoice in you.

Isaiah 62

The people who walked in darkness have seen a great light; upon those who dwelt in the land of gloom a light has shone. You have brought them abundant joy and great rejoicing, as they rejoice before you as at the harvest, as people make merry when dividing spoils.

Isaiah 9

For the yoke that burdened them, the pole on their shoulder, and the rod of their taskmaster you have smashed, as on the day of Midian. For every boot that tramped in battle, every cloak rolled in blood, will be burned as fuel for flames.

Isaiah 9

For a child is born to us, a son is given us; upon his shoulder dominion rests. They name him Wonder-Counselor, God-Hero, Father-Forever, Prince of Peace. His dominion is vast and forever peaceful, from David's throne, and over his kingdom, which he confirms and sustains by judgment and justice, both now and forever. The zeal of the LORD of hosts will do this!

Isaiah 9

See, the LORD proclaims to the ends of the earth: say to daughter Zion, your savior comes! Here is his reward with him, his recompense before him. They shall be called the holy people, the redeemed of the LORD, and you shall be called "Frequented," a city that is not forsaken.

Isaiah 62

How beautiful upon the mountains are the feet of him who brings glad tidings, announcing peace, bearing good news, announcing salvation, and saying to Zion, "Your God is King!"

Isaiah 52

Taken from  http://onlineministries.creighton.edu/CollaborativeMinistry/Advent/Praying-with-Isaiah.html