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Advent: Spiritual Preparation for Christmas
For Catholics, the Advent season is upon us yet again. A time of preparing our hearts for the coming of our dear baby Jesus.
There are obviously many things to prepare for this season. Grocery lists, gift lists, mountains of delicious food, wrapped presents, and stockings stuffed.
But what are some ways we can spiritually prepare for Christmas? Do we even think about this? I know it’s the last thing on my mind during the holidays.
It shouldn’t be. This year, I am attempting to do an Advent devotional that my lovely mother-in-law gave me. And with it, I hope to prepare my heart, mind, and soul for Christmas.
The way I should always be preparing for the coming of the Lord.
Catholic Definition of Advent
Catholic Online writes a wonderful article on the definition of Advent. Let me summarize a few key points:
- Advent is a Latin word meaning “coming”
- Period of Special Preparation
- Prayer, Penance, and Fasting are Appropriate
- More of a joyous season compared to Lent
- The Sacrament of Reconciliation should be practiced during the first two weeks
- Third Sunday is known as Gaudete Sunday, Gaudete meaning “rejoice”
To my understanding, Advent is meant to be a mini-Lent. Not as intense, but still a good time to prepare our hearts for celebrating our Savior.
Advent runs from December 2 to December 24 this year.
How can we make this December extra holy? By finding a routine or small devotion that we can dedicate to our Lord for these four weeks.
[bctt tweet=”Preparing for Advent is a special mini-Lent in our lives. Make it count!” username=”SpiritualCantor”]
What Special Prayers and Practices Are Associated With Advent?
There are many prayers, books, and traditional practices that can be observed during Advent. Some people like to use Advent calendars, others Advent wreaths with candles.
However, for this post, I am also going to outline the general practices of many Catholics and look at it from a Catholic musician perspective. As musicians, we have a special role in helping prepare the hearts of others with music that inspires and invites reflection.
Ways to Celebrate
I will briefly give an explanation of each tradition, and give some resources to find your own or observe in your own way if you like.
Each person should celebrate in ways that make sense to you and your family. For example, I have two young children in my house. It wouldn’t make much sense to have Advent candles strewn over my table because they would most definitely be messed with.
However, an advent calendar and prayers make things a bit easier for our family.
Advent Calendar
Much like a countdown to Christmas, an Advent calendar is a special calendar to count the days of Advent. Anticipating Christmas in a holy way, using an advent calendar has been around for a long time. First used by the German Lutherans, it now is a tradition used by many Christian denominations.
Some different options include:
- Compartment calendars (for putting toys, chocolate, trinkets, etc)
- Door Calendars with cute little doors to reveal something
- Pocket calendars
- Bag calendars
Almost every type of store sells these in relation to their particular products. For more Catholic centric Advent calendars, these would be more suiting to your style.
Calendar – Musician Style
For a church musician, this might be a good way to incorporate with a different advent song to sing for each day. You could use selections such as “O Come Emmanuel” or “Come Thou Long Expected Jesus”, and rotate selections if you wanted.
Read about my favorite Christmas hymns.
Or, you could incorporate music and praise inspired ornaments with your calendar to put on your tree as a reminder that your song is a gift to Him.
Advent Wreath
An advent wreath is a tradition that symbolizes the passing of the four weeks before Christmas. Traditionally, is it made of an evergreen wreath and four candles, though some versions have five candles. Lighting the candles can be accompanied by the reading of Bible passages, praying, and devotionals.
Some types of wreaths look like this:
If you are the creative type, you can most certainly make your own wreath as well. This fantastic Pinterest board has some easy and fun ideas to create your own advent wreath with candles for your family!
Advent Candles
Related very closely to the wreath, it seems almost necessary to have a wreath and the candles as well. I am sure some people opt for just the wreath, which is perfectly okay. Or just the candles.
According to The Catholic Company’s informative article, candles are meant to be a symbol of light against darkness. As Christmas draws nearer, lighting one more candle symbolizes the banishment of darkness little by little. The light as Jesus, this makes a wonderful representation of preparing our hearts for His birth.
And the truth of what Jesus really is to a darkened world.
[bctt tweet=”Jesus is the light of truth to our darkened world. O Come Emmanuel!” username=”SpiritualCantor”]
Type of Candles:
- Homemade for the crafty person who loves doing this!
- Thick, round, short, tall, skinny, it really doesn’t matter the shape
- You can buy Advent Candles lots of places. Just do a search!
- Most of them are purple with one rose colored one, but they vary depending on where you get them!
Advent Prayers
Perhaps one of the easiest and most spiritual ways of preparing our hearts is through prayer. It would seem only fitting to continue our spiritual journeys with prayers.
A beautiful prayer that I discovered on Catholic Online is this:
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.
This prayer page gives you a ton more options as well, including a short and meaningful devotion to Our Lady, Mother of Advent.
As a cantor, I would add the song, “Come, Thou Long Expected Jesus” after saying the prayer for added emphasis.
Use Music in Preparations
We have outlined a few ways to incorporate music into this season, but here are some general ideas to help make it a musical season as well!
Some ideas to incorporate music into your Advent preparations might include:
- Replacing your prayers with a song each week or each day as you celebrate
- Use a single verse each day from a song you pick for an entire week, repeating as necessary
- Commit to saying a scriptural Rosary with the Joyful Mysteries, and then find a song fitting and use that in your prayer time
- Introduce your family to singing with you during your prayer and devotional time
There are many other ways to incorporate songs in your Advent, but this is a good start.
Top Advent Songs
Since we sing and play a lot as musicians in the Catholic Church, it is great to use song as part of our preparation. Songs can range about the coming of Jesus, to the Magnificat, to the prophecy of Christ’s coming, or even the Annunciation.
[bctt tweet=”Using song with our Advent preparations is one of the many ways musicians can make it personal!” username=”SpiritualCantor”]
“Aquinas and More” has compiled this list of the top 10 songs of Advent:
- O Come, O Come, Emmanual — classic and stunning!
- Holy is His Name — I love love love this one! It is beautiful with some harmonies as well!
- O Come, Divine Messiah — such a hopeful song of anticipation!
- Emmanuel — there are many good versions of this hymn
- Let All Mortal Flesh Keep Silence — This is haunting when sung during Holy Week, but it would be a great option for Christmas preparation as well.
- Hark! A Thrilling Voice is Sounding — I am not familiar with this one, but it is a nice hymn.
- Come, Thou Long Expected Jesus — another classic.
- On Jordan’s Bank — John the Baptist’s prophesy
- The Angel Gabriel From Heaven Came — nice song.
- The Coming of Our God — a lovely hymn for the Advent season
These sweet songs on YouTube from dori411 have a short Advent song for each week. Very cool to teach your kids or include them in the singing preparations.
Related Articles:
Devotions for Catholic Musicians
How to Sing Well At Early Morning Masses
Cantoring Experiences: My Humble Take
What is a Cantor in the Catholic Church?
7 Surprising Things About Cantoring You Didn’t Know
How to Prepare for Advent as a Catholic (and musician)
Many options are available for celebrating and preparing our hearts for Christ. As Catholics and musicians, we have a special opportunity to use our gifts to integrate music into the rest of these beautiful traditions.
Whether you decide to use a calendar, wreath, or only candles, each tradition has a wonderful meaning and purpose in preparing our hearts for Christmas.
More than just gifts and food, Advent can help us recognize the joyful anticipation that should be present during this time. Don’t forget the penance, fasting, and prayers during this time as well.
Committing to the Season
I encourage all as Catholics and/or musicians to find a way to bring more meaning to our Advent season. As I mentioned before, I will be using the devotional Rejoice! to prepare for my Advent, as well as looking for other options that will be beneficial as a family.
I truly believe when we focus on the heart during the Christmas season instead of the material things, the joy we will receive will be like none other. And we equip ourselves to spread that joy to others in so many beautiful and wonderful ways!
[bctt tweet=”When we focus on the heart during the Christmas season instead of the material things, the joy we will receive will be like none other.” username=”SpiritualCantor”]
Happy Advent, friends! Have a blessed time of preparation!
First of all, be careful with what you say. In the Philippines, the Christmas spirit is so strong, that it starts with Christmas music playing as early as SEPTEMBER 1st and ends early January. In the Filipino culture, we celebrate nine evening or dawn masses from December 16th to the 24th in anticipation of Christmas. These masses are known as “Simbang Gabi”. Because Simbang Gabi is celebrated in anticipation of Christmas, it’s not treated like an ordinary Advent mass. These masses are festive. The Gloria and Christmas carols are sung, white vestments are worn by the clergy instead of violet and the sanctuary is festively decorated. Simbang Gabi is an ancient Filipino tradition that is approved by the Vatican and has spread all over the world. Someone might tell you that Advent should be treated like an ordinary Advent mass, but those people don’t understand what Simbang Gabi is all about. If you are confused, I would suggest reading this:
https://www.scribd.com/document/366116828/Guidelines-on-the-Celebration-of-Simbang-Gabi-in-the-Archdiocese-of-Manila-2013
Hi, Joseph! Of course, I can only speak from my experiences in the Midwest of the United States. Thank you so much for telling us about this tradition! It sounds wonderful!