Hopefully all of you have been having a blessed season of preparation for the celebration of Christ's birth!! I love Advent...the cold weather, the snow(sometimes), the reflective and meditative music, the simplicity, the candles...all of it!
We're already in the third week of Advent, which is our week for JOY! Kid of a "we're halfway there!" to the season. We're reminded that Christ coming to earth is a JOYFUL thing. "Rejoice! Again I say, rejoice!" (Phil 4:4). That's why the candle is rose colored instead of purple...it's JOY!
Another pretty cool feature of the third week of Advent, is that we start the ancient tradition of the "O Antiphons." Every day for the 7 days leading up to Christmas, there is a specific antiphon, or verse, about Christ coming to save us. You are probably more familiar with these verses than you think, as they have been turned into a song...O Come O Come Emmanuel! Each verse starts with an Old Testament name of Christ, then continues with a fervent prayer for Christ to come and save us from our sin and darkness. Powerful stuff!
Here are yesterday's and today's, with links to where you can learn more about them. Read up on it! It's so cool!! Over the next week, I will continue to post those antiphons so you can pray and meditate along with the universal Church...who has used these antiphons for close to 1500 years!
Dec 18th - "O Lord and Ruler the house of Israel, who appeared to Moses in the flame of the burning bush and gave him the law on Sinai: come, and redeem us with outstretched arms." Reflection HERE!
Beautiful.
Be Holy.
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