Our favorite set of books to share is Dom Gueranger's Liturgical Year set! They are worth every penny and are truley an investment in regards to learning the Faith and one's path to salvation. The Advent book is the first volume of this set and is perfect for the Advent season upon us!

Read more about this set and how St. Therese the Little Flower's family used it!

Written by a favorite author of ours, this little book is now back in print thanks to Refuge of Sinners publishing. Rev. Wilfred G. Hurley C.S.P. explains in convincing language that indifferentism, which says: "One church is good as another" is blasphemy and atheism. READ MORE HERE

Do you have your Advent wreath yet, how about candles for this year? Make sure to visit E'clare's Floral Design if you are in need of a wreath. Then come back here and enter to win a set of candles!

Not able to make it to mass on Sunday? This little book is the perfect book for your weekly Sunday sermon. And who better to give it than the great Cure d' Ars?!!! A reading for every Sunday in the year along with major feasts. The Cure always has great advice for anyone no matter their state of life. Read the details of the book here!

Have you downloaded your free Liturgical Calendar from Crusader's for Christ yet? If not you might just get one of these beautifully printed versions if you win our GIVEAWAY! They would also make great Christmas gifts! Feel free to print away the FREE download.

Two more very short weeks are left until Advent is here! The week of the 25th Sunday After Pentecost brings us just that much closer. The world continues to put out their Christmas decor to celebrate a month early but as Catholics we are busy preparing for Advent, the 4 weeks of waiting for our Lord.

One of the traditions that are used during Advent is the Advent wreath. We will leave it to Helen McLoughlin from her book Family Advent Customs to share with us the history of the Advent wreath: 


Family Advent Customs 
By: Helen McLoughlin 
Imprimatur 1954 

Most popular of the Advent customs handed down to us is the Advent wreath made of ev-ergreens, 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 we have been waiting His second and final coming in glory. It bears four candles, equally spaced, three pur-ple ones to be lighted on the “penitential” Sun-days, and a pink one for Gaudete, the joyful Sunday in Advent. Candles may be placed in-side 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 bed-room. However, it is most appealing when suspended by four purple ribbons from a light fixture in the ceiling. The home ceremony for the use of the Advent wreath is simple. It con-sists of the Collects for the Sundays of the season. 

To download a free printable brochure on the history of the Advent Wreath, the prayers to be said with it and a brief summary on the Spirit of Advent CLICK HERE. 

Do you have your Advent wreath yet? My very generous sister-in-law (the youngest of the bunch) whom is also a florist remade mine for me this year. It is pictured below, she is also selling them on her site if you don't yet have your own. Next Monday join us as we will be giving away a set of Advent candles as ONE of the prizes in our December GIVEAWAY! 

This season is full of so many blessings from Holy Mother Church! The posts over the next month will be packed full of information! Not only is it the start of Advent but it is the start of another Liturgical Year within the Church. No one is better qualified to give us an explaination on what that means than the very renowned Dom Guearnger! The writings on this subject is rather long and so you may download the full article in PDF FORM HERE. Please do read it as it really is worth the time despite its length. He is every so wise in his writings and they provide edification to the soul.

In addition to our giving a way a set of Advent Candles on next weeks GIVE A WAY we are also giving away 5 copies of the first book of the Liturgical Year set! Start out Advent the right way with the first volume of this wonderful work! Visit next Monday for details!

Make sure to visit our Liturgical Year Page, Liturgical Year Blog Posts and Liturgical Year Bulletin Board for more information on the Church's Calender along with projects and activities!

GENERAL PREFACE
Liturgical Year - Advent Impr.1927

Prayer is man’s richest boon. It is his light, his nourishment, and his very life, for it brings him into communication with God, who is light [St. John viii. 12], nourishment [Ibid. vi. 35], and life [Ibid.xiv. 6]. But of ourselves we know not what we should pray for as we ought [Rom. viii. 26]; we must needs, therefore, address ourselves to Jesus Christ, and say to Him as the apostles did: ‘Lord, teach us how to pray.’ [St. Luke xi. 1] He alone can make the dumb speak, and give eloquence to the mouths of children; and this prodigy He effects by sending His Spirit of grace and of prayers [Zach. xii. 10], who delights in helping our infirmity, asking for us with unspeakable groanings [Rom. viii. 26].

Now it is in the holy Church that this divine Spirit dwells. He came down to her as an impetuous wind, and manifested Himself to her under the expressive symbol of tongues of fire. Ever since that day of Pentecost, He has dwelt in this His favoured bride. He is the principle of everything that is in her. He it is that prompts her prayers, her desires, her canticles of praise, her enthusiasm, and even her mourning. Hence her prayer is as uninterrupted as her existence. Day and night is her voice sounding sweetly in the ear of her divine Spouse, and her words are ever finding a welcome in His Heart.

At one time, under the impulse of that Spirit, who animated the admirable psalmist and the prophets, she takes the subject of her canticles from the Books of the old Testament; at another, showing herself to be the daughter and sister of the holy apostles, she intones the canticles written in the Books of the new Covenant; and finally, remembering that she, too, has had given to her the trumpet and harp, she at times gives way to the Spirit who animates her, and sings her own new canticle [Ps. cxliii. 9]. From these three sources comes the divine element which we call the liturgy.

The prayer of the Church is, therefore, the most pleasing to the ear and heart of God, and therefore the most efficacious of all prayers. Happy, then, is he who prays with the Church, and unites his own petitions with those of this bride, who is so dear to her Lord that He gives her all she asks. It is for this reason that our blessed Saviour taught us to say our Father, and not my Father; give us, forgive us, deliver us, and not give me, forgive me, deliver me. Hence we find that, for upwards of a thousand years, the Church, who prays in her temples seven times in the day and once again during the night, did not pray alone. The people kept her company, and fed themselves with delight on the manna which is hidden under the words and mysteries of the divine liturgy. Thus initiated into the sacred cycle of the mysteries of the Christian year, the faithful, attentive to the teachings of the Spirit, came to know the secrets of eternal life; and, without any further preparation, a Christian was not unfrequently chosen by the bishops to he a priest, or even a bishop, that he might go and pour out on the people the treasures of wisdom and love, which he had drunk in at the very fountain-head.

For whilst prayer said in union with the Church is the light of the understanding, it is the fire of divine love for the heart. The Christian soul neither needs nor wishes to avoid the company of the Church, when she would converse with God, and praise His greatness and His mercy. She knows that the company of the bride of Christ could not be a distraction to her. Is not the soul herself a part of this Church, which is the bride? Has not Jesus Christ said: ‘Father, may they be one, as We also are one’? [St. John xvii. 11]. And, when many are gathered in His name, does not this same Saviour assure us that He is in the midst of them? [St. Matt. xviii. 20]. The soul, therefore, may converse freely with her God, who tells her that He is so near her; she may sing praise, as David did, in the sight of the angels, [Ps. cxxxvii. 1] whose eternal prayer blends with the prayer which the Church utters in time.

But now for many ages past, Christians have grown too solicitous about earthly things to frequent the holy vigils, and the mystical Hours of the day. Long before the rationalism of the sixteenth century had become the auxiliary of the heresies of that period by curtailing the solemnity of the divine service, the people had ceased to unite themselves exteriorly with the prayer of the Church, except on Sundays and festivals. During the rest of the year, the solemn and imposing grandeur of the liturgy was gone through, and the people took no share in it. Each new generation increased in indifference for that which their forefathers in the faith had loved as their best and strongest food. Social prayer was made to give way to individual devotion. Chanting, which is the natural expression of the prayers and even of the sorrows of the Church, became limited to the solemn feasts. That was the first sad revolution in the Christian world.

But even then Christendom was still rich in churches and monasteries; and there, day and night, was still heard the sound of the same venerable prayers which the Church had used through all the past ages. So many hands lifted up to God drew down upon the earth the dew of heaven, averted storms, and won victory for those who were in battle. These servants of God, who thus kept up an untiring choir that sang the divine praises, were considered as solemnly deputed by the people, which was still Catholic, to pay the full tribute of homage and thanks giving due to God, His blessed Mother, and the saints. These prayers formed a treasury which belonged to all. The faithful gladly united themselves in spirit to what was done. When any affliction, or the desire to obtain a special favour, led them to the house of God, they were sure to hear, no matter at what hour they went, that untiring voice of prayer which was for ever ascending to heaven for the salvation of mankind. At times they would give up their worldly business, and cares, and take part in the Office of the Church, and all still understood, at least in a general way, the mysteries of the liturgy.

Then came the so-called reformation, and at the outset it attacked the very life of Christianity: it would put an end to man’s sacrifice of praise to God. It strewed many countries with the ruins of churches: the clergy, the monks, and virgins consecrated to God were banished or put to death; and in the churches which were spared the divine Offices were not permitted. In other countries, where the persecution was not so violent, many sanctuaries were devastated and irremediably ruined, so that the life and voice of prayer grew faint. Faith, too, was weakened; rationalism became fearfully developed; and now our own age seems threatened with what is the result of these evils - the subversion of all social order.

For, when the reformation had abated the violence of its persecution, it had other weapons wherewith to attack the Church. By these several countries which continued to be Catholic were infected with that spirit of pride which is the enemy of prayer. The modern spirit would have it that prayer is not action; as though every good action done by man were not a gift of God: a gift which implies two prayers, one of petition that it may be granted, and another of thanksgiving because it is granted. There were found men who said: ‘Let us abolish all the festival days of God from the earth’ [Ps. lxxiii. 8]; and then came upon us that calamity which brings all others with it, and which the good Mardochai besought God to avert from his nation, when he said: ‘Shut not, O Lord, the mouths of them that sing to Thee!’ [2 Esther xiii. 17].

Although Advent has not started yet, there are Christmas decorations, advertisements and music in all of the stores. It seems every year that this situation comes earlier and earlier. This year I heard Christmas music before All Saint's Day.

In the explanation of the Mass last Sunday, the 23rd After Pentecost, in Dom Gueranger's Liturgical Year that Advent use to be more than 4 weeks. Being as such, the world seems to know that it is time to prepare the way for Our Lord's birthday but without Holy Mother church it celebrates without and before preparation for the great feast.

Holy Mother Church, being the teacher of the faithful, is ever wise in giving us a time to prepare for such a holy season as Christmas. Giving us ample time to make ready our souls and also a time for celebration and rejoicing. "By Advent is meant the four weeks before Christmas,' so it says in the book Catholic life, 'appointed by the Church to prepare us for the worthy celebration of our Saviour's birth. We should endeavor by prayer, the practice of virtues, fasting, and a good confession, to have Jesus formed anew in our hearts at this holy season."

Let us follow our guide, Holy Mother Church, and spend Advent as a time of preparation instead of celebration before the grand day of the Birth of Our Lord has come. The next six Monday's will be dedicated to various parts of the Advent season along with the Church's Liturgical Year. Not only is Advent upon us but the start of a new year within the Church. As the beginning of Our Lord's life comes on Christmas Day the beginning of the Church year also comes. After all, the Church Year follows the life of Our Lord. 

Several Catholic authors of past suggest that Catholics who follow the Church's Year can not but profit from all the grand lessons it teaches in its midst. As Dom Gueranger says, " Those who have gone bravely forward in the path which, a year since, has opened out to them by holy Church, no, by a happy experience, know that the path most surely leads them to the life of union, where divine charity reigns supreme. Who is there that, with anything like earnestness, has allowed his mind and heart to take an interest in the several liturgical seasons which have been brought before us, and been celebrated by the Church during the past twelve months, has not also felt an immense increase of light imparted to him? Now, light is that indispensable element, which delivers us from the power of darkness, and translates us, by the help of God, into the kingdom of the Son of His love. The work of redemption, which this His beloved Son came down upon earth to accomplish for His Father's glory, could not do otherwise than make progress in those who have, with more or less fervour, entered into the spirit of His Church, during the whole year, that is, from the opening of Advent right up to these the closing days of the sacred cycle. All of us, then, whosoever we may be, should give thanks to this Father of lights, who hath thus made us worthy to be partakers, somewhat at least, of the lot of saints. So, then, all of us, be the share of our participation what it may, must pray that the excellent gift, which has been put into our hearts, may fervently yield itself to the still richer development, which the coming new cycle is intended to produce within us."

Please join us every Monday until Christmas on our little path through Advent and the start of the Liturgical Year. May we all fast well so when Christmas does arrive on December 25th we may all FEAST well! And Feast for the whole season of Christmas as the Church gives it to us.

O Antiphons & Christmas Vigil

Exposition of Christian Doctrine - Worship
By: A Seminary Professor
Imprimatur 1919


2. Division of the Ecclesiastical Year
12. What is the ecclesiastical year?
It is the civil year as adapted to the liturgical cycle.
13. Wherein does the ecclesiastical year differ from the civil year?
Like the civil year, the ecclesiastical year comprises 365 days, divided into 52 weeks; but in place of beginning on January 1 and ending with December 31, the ecclesiastical year begins with the first Sunday of Advent and ends with the week following the last Sunday after Pentecost.

14.  What is the reason for this difference?
Since Jesus Christ is the universal center of Catholic worship, the Church has desired to make successive events of the Christian year, so many representations of the mysteries referring to our Saviour.  Now, Christ was born December 25, and this even had been looked forward to for many ages; His reign will be complete only when on the last day He will solemnly judge the living and the dead. This is why the Church begins the Christian year with the four weeks preceding Christmas, reminding us thereby of the four thousand years, according to the ordinary computation, that preceded the coming of the Savior; and this is why she terminates the year with the last Sunday after Pentecost, on which she reads the Gospel of the general judgement.

15. How may the Christian year be divided?
It may be divided into six parts or seasons: 1st, The season of Advent; 2d, Christmastide: 3d, The season of Septuagesima; 4th, The Lenten season; 5th, the Paschal season; 6th, The season of Pentecost.

3. The Season of Advent
16. What is Advent?
Advent is the time during which the Church prepares for the coming of Jesus Christ, that is, for His birth. Footnote- Advent, from the Latin adventus, coming, arrival. We find a record of the observance of Advent as far back as 380 in canon of the Council of Saragossa but this observance may have been introduced from Rome. In the fifth century, Advent was commonly a period of forty days, like Lent, or even longer, beginning on St. Martin's day, Nov. 11; but Rome subsequently reduced the time to four weeks. "We may therefore consider the present discipline of the observance of Advent," says Dom Gueranger, "as having lasted a thousand years, at least as far as the Church of Rome is concerned."

17. How did the observance of this season originate?
It began officially at Rome, and from Rome was introduced into France in the eighth or ninth century, at the same time with the Roman rite. 

18. How long does Advent last?
It begins with the Sunday nearest the feast of St. Andrew (November 30), and includes four Sundays, but not always four complete weeks. These four weeks are symbolical of the four thousand years during which man awaited the coming of the Messiah.

19. What is the spirit animating the Church during the season of Advent?
It is a spirit of penance and of holy longing: of penance, to prepare the way of the Lord in the souls of the faithful; of holy longing to obtain for them the grace of receiving Him worthily.

20. How does the Church manifest her spirit of penance during Advent?
1st. From documents of the sixth century we learn that in France it was customary to prepare for the feast of Christmas by several days' fast. Later on, this practice was extended to the Wednesday, Friday, and Saturday of each week in Advent, a practice that is still observed in some religious orders. To-day the only fast days of obligation in Advent throughout the Church of the Latin rite are the three Ember days and the Vigil of Christmas.2d. During Advent, except on feasts, violet vestments are used; the Te Deum is omitted from the office of the Matins and the Gloria in excels from the Mass. No flowers are placed on the altar, and the organ is not played, except on the feast days, on the third Sunday of Advent, on the Vigil of Christmas. The solemnizing of marriage during this season is forbidden.
3d. On the first Sunday of Advent, the Church puts before us the though of the last judgment, and on the following Sundays she repeats the exhortations to penance which St. John Baptist addressed to the JEws on the banks of the Jordan.

21. How does the Church manifest her holy longing for the Savior during Advent?
She manifests it, principally during the eight days preceding Christmas, by the antiphons known as the Great O's. They are sung both before and after the Magnificat on these days, and express the desire and the expectation of the just who lived before the coming of the Messiah.

22. Why does the church retain the Alleluia during Advent?
She preserves it as a sign and cry of hope.
23. How many comings of Our Lord does the Church speak of?
She speaks of three; 1st, An historical coming, His birth in the manger; 2d, A spiritual and mystical coming, His coming into our souls either by grace or in holy communion; 3d, His coming in glory, when He will appear at the end of time to judge the living and the dead.
24. What should the though of these three comings inspire us to do?
It should move us to thank Our Lord for His feast coming; to beseech Him to effect the second in our souls, and to prepare us for the last by a life of faith and good works.

There have been so many wonderful Catholic resources to share lately! Today we are sharing yet another! E'clares Floral Design has come up with a most beautiful Advent wreath just in time for ordering before the Advent season is soon upon us! Believe it or not there are only 5 more weeks until Advent!

This wonderfully designed faux greenery wreath will be reusable every year and features hints of lavender and white amongst the snow covered pine cones. It measure's approx. 15 inches in size and also has a lovely scent of cinnamon coming from the mini cinnamon sticks attached to the wreath. It is available both with and without candles. Please visit E'clares Floral Design today for more details. Hurry and get your order in as Advent is approaching very quickly!