Advent Season
What is Advent?
The word Advent is from the Latin adventus for "coming" and is associated with the four weeks of preparation for Christmas. Advent always contains four Sundays, beginning on the Sunday nearest the feast of St. Andrew the Apostle (November 30) and continuing until December 24.
In 2023, Advent begins on December 3 and ends on December 24 (Christmas Eve), as the Mass of the Lord’s Nativity begins. Christmas Day is December 25.
The Canadian Conference of Catholic Bishops presents Journey through Advent with the Most Rev. Bishop Jon Hansen, CSsR, Bishop of Mackenzie-Fort Smith. Join us as we reflect on the Scriptures for the Sundays of Advent 2023.
3 December 2023 – First Sunday of Advent – Year B
“Keep awake—for you do not know when the master of the house will come, in the evening, or at midnight, or at cockcrow, or at dawn, or else he may find you asleep when he comes suddenly. And what I say to you I say to all: Keep awake.” – Mark 13:35¬–37
10 December 2023 – Second Sunday of Advent – Year B
“A voice cries out: ‘In the wilderness prepare the way of the Lord, make straight in the desert a highway for our God.’” – Isaiah 40:3
The Canadian Conference of Catholic Bishops presents Journey through Advent with the Most Rev. Bishop Jon Hansen, CSsR, Bishop of Mackenzie-Fort Smith.
17 December 2023 – Third Sunday of Advent – Year B
“There was a man sent from God, whose name was John. He came as a witness to testify to the light, so that all might believe through him. He himself was not the light, but he came to testify to the light.” – John 1:6-8
The Canadian Conference of Catholic Bishops presents Journey through Advent with the Most Rev. Bishop Jon Hansen, CSsR, Bishop of Mackenzie-Fort Smith. Join us as we reflect on the Scriptures for the Sundays of Advent 2023.
24 December 2023 – Fourth Sunday of Advent – Year B
“Mary said, ‘Here am I, the servant of the Lord; let it be with me according to your word.’” — Luke 1:38a
The Canadian Conference of Catholic Bishops presents Journey through Advent with the Most Rev. Bishop Jon Hansen, CSsR, Bishop of Mackenzie-Fort Smith. Join us as we reflect on the Scriptures for the Sundays of Advent 2023.
Advent Reflections Loyola Press
ARTS AND FAITH ADVENT REFLECTIONS
EXPLORING SACRED ART DURING A SEASON OF HOPE
At the start of Advent, the Gospel calls us to vigilance—to watch and be ready for the Lord of the house, awaiting his return. William Holman Hunt’s The Light of the World offers us one image of what this arrival might look like.
The voice of John the Baptist crying out in the wilderness and gathering great crowds invites us into the Second Sunday of Advent. Pieter Brueghel the Younger’s St. John the Baptist Preaching captures this moment as he presents a wooded wilderness embracing a colorful crowd.
On this third Sunday of Advent, we witness the prophetic call of St. John the Baptist to prepare the way of the Lord. Anton Raphael Mengs’ Saint John the Baptist Preaching brings us face-to-face with John, as he addresses us with expressive gestures.
John Collier’s contemporary depiction of the Annunciation brings the story of Mary’s encounter with the angel Gabriel into our present reality. Collier’s The Annunciation stands on the shoulders of Tradition, depicting the encounter in such a way that includes the standard symbols of the past.
In his painting The Birth of Christ, Geertgen tot Sint Jans tells the story of the Nativity through faces surrounded by the play of light and dark.
