Season of Advent

As schools and parishes prepare for the Season of Advent, beginning with Evening Prayer on Saturday 30 November 2024, you will find some helpful Pastoral Notes from the Liturgy Office of the Catholic Bishops Conference of England and Wales, including the following guidance:

“In the course of the year, the Church unfolds the whole mystery of Christ from the incarnation and nativity to the Ascension, Pentecost, and the expectation of the blessed hope of the coming of the Lord. The season of Advent, at the conclusion of the calendar year and the beginning of the Church’s year, embraces both ends of this cycle. Advent begins with Evening Prayer I of the First Sunday of Advent and ends on 24 December, before Evening Prayer I of Christmas.

In some parts of the Church where baptism was once celebrated at Epiphany, the forty days prior to it were devoted to ascetical preparation, and Advent took on several of the liturgical features of Lent. Now, however, “it is no longer considered a penitential season but a time of joyful expectation.”

Advent has a twofold character. It is the season to prepare for Christmas, when Christ’s first coming is remembered, and it is the “season when that remembrance directs the mind and heart to await Christ’s Second Coming at the end of time. For these two reasons, the season of Advent is thus a period for devout and joyful expectation.”

This twofold character is reflected in the two stages of Advent, each with its own special focus expressed in the corresponding preface of the eucharistic prayer. From the first Sunday to 16 December, the liturgy expresses the eschatological expectation of Advent, the watchfulness of God’s people looking forward to the time when Christ will come again in glory and majesty, and “the salvation promised us will be ours.” From 17 December until Christmas eve, the texts proper to each day prepare us more directly to celebrate the Lord’s birth, “our hearts filled with wonder and praise.”

https://www.liturgyoffice.org.uk/Calendar/Seasons/Advent.pdf

You’ll find more Advent resources for primary and secondary aged children and young people on the CAFOD website at:

https://cafod.org.uk/education/primary-teaching-resources/advent-for-children

You can view the Advent and Christmas 2024 catalogue from Redemptorist Publications here:

https://www.rpbooks.co.uk/redemptorist-publications-catalogues