In her usual inspirational and gentle fashion Meredith has written of her love and devotion to the communion of saints and how she incoporates their wisdom and holiness into her life and into her family's day.
As Advent approaches it is an excellent time to think of the saints of Advent and how we might make them part of our preparation for the coming of Christ. In the sidebar is a list of feast days during the season of Advent. Why not look it over and prepare now for a lesson, craft, recipe or book to share with your family and really make that saint part of your Advent life.
Above things, I want to encourage everyone who reads this blog to make prayer the most important part of your Advent season. Speak to God everyday and ask him to help you make ready for his Son in both your home and your heart. Teach your children to specially ask God for graces during this season. It is an excellent opportunity to help them focus on the reason we celebrate rather than a gift list. EWTN has a beautiful Christmas Novena that is both deeply prayerful and concise. This can be important when praying with small children. :)
In this prayerful preparation the holy saints can serve as an example and as partners in prayer. A novena to a favorite saint is a perfectly appropriate way to prepare for Christmas. Lent is a time which we are prayerfully preparing for the Passion of Our Lord. The Advent season has unfortunately given way to a more secular preparation and many people do not realize the enormous graces that can be had by merely focusing your Advent on Christ.
Toward that end I am delighted to have persuaded Meredith to post here on O Night Divine some of her ideas and traditions with regard to the saints of Advent with a particular focus on Our Lady. As many of you know Meredith started a beautiful Mondays with Mary tradition with her children and I am so happy to have her here at O Night Divine. I was delighted to meet her in August at the Real Learning Conference and to discover she is as charming and beautiful in person as she is on her blog. It's lovely to discover a kindred spirit.
Have a blessed day.
Oh MaryEllen, I am so honored and choked up at this beautiful and thoughtful introduction! Thank you from the bottom of my heart, It will be an joy and a pleasure to contribute to this lovely blog along with all the lovely ladies who already grace us with their words. Thank you again so much!
Posted by: Meredith | October 28, 2007 at 03:08 PM
How wonderful! Welcome Meredith :-)
Posted by: Gwen | October 29, 2007 at 09:34 PM
Beautiful post! And yes! It is time to prepare for Advent already! We have lots of ideas we're hoping to try this year, and prayer is a big part of it. I will be looking through your links and finding more I am sure.
One thing we do is buy our Christmas tree on the first Sunday of Advent, but we decorate it with purple lights and either Jesse Tree ornaments or Nativity figures, leading up to baby Jesus on Christmas Eve, with scripture readings and prayer every night of Advent. Then, once it is the ACTUAL Christmas Season, we spend family evenings together decorating the tree with more colorful lights and decorations.
Posted by: Kitty | November 07, 2007 at 10:09 AM