Advent Devotionals

Amidst the hustle and bustle of the secular pre-Christmas season, these Advent reflections invite you to slow down and reflect on the season's spiritual and liturgical themes. Shared over the years with grateful EWTN audiences by good priests and bishops from the United Kingdom and Ireland, they will help you do just that.

Covering the Sunday Advent readings and events leading up to the birth of Jesus, these meditations carry you back to Bethlehem but take you earlier as well: to ancient Israel, where prophets foretold the coming of the Messiah. For in Advent we look both backward and forward - but always toward that for which we are waiting: the Second Coming of Christ.

Let these holy bishops and priests take you on a refreshing spiritual journey through Advent, bring you the deeper reality of the season, cut through the secular distractions and anxieties, and deliver you to the Christ child.

Each Advent, you adorn your tree and home with sparkling ornaments

Amid the hustle and bustle of the secular pre-Christmas season, these Advent reflections invite you to slow down and reflect on the season's spiritual and liturgical themes. Shared over the years with grateful EWTN audiences by good priests and bishops, they will help you do just that.

Covering the Sunday Advent readings and events leading up to the birth of Jesus, these meditations carry you back to Bethlehem but take you earlier as well to ancient Israel, where prophets foretold the coming of the Messiah. For in Advent we look both backward and forward – but always toward that for which we are awaiting: the second coming of Christ.

Let these holy bishops and priests take you on a refreshing spiritual journey through Advent and bring you to the deeper reality of the season, cutting through the secular distractions and anxieties, and deliver you to the Christ Child.

Each Advent, you adorn your tree and home with sparkling ornaments – this year, with the help of these Advent Reflections, adorn your spirit with the Word of God!

"Beautiful, beckoning, and brimming with hope and promise, wonder and love!" --Sy Montgomery, New York Times bestselling author of How to Be a Good Creature

From bestselling author Gayle Boss, a stunningly illustrated picture book edition of her beloved Advent book, All Creation Waits. Now young readers too will be caught up in the wonder of 24 woodland animals adapting to the season of dark and cold.

Each day of Advent a different animal shows children its own amazing way to meet the dark and cold. Wood Frog freezes into a frog-shaped cube of ice! For six months Painted Turtle doesn't breathe! Woodchuck can't be wakened, even if shaken! With each creature, children hear the refrain: The dark is not an end. It's a door. It's the way a new beginning comes.

Here is the ancient truth of Advent enacted in the lives of 24 common woodland animals and culminating in the birth of the Human One who perfectly lived that truth.

Children open the book's double-page spreads as they would the doors on an Advent calendar--one, and only one, each day. "Animal wonderment" reflection questions at the back of the book help children stay with just one animal, one page spread, each day. In an often chaotic "holiday season," children learn to slow down and wait with all creation.

Written in lilting poetic lines, children ages 5 to 10 will delight in the sounds of the words as well as the vivid descriptions of animals' winter lives. They'll learn the elegant intricacies of creatures as small as honeybees, as large as black bears.

Original watercolor paintings by award-winning artist Sharon Spitz convey the radiance of each creature.

With this beautiful picture book, adults and families who have loved the original edition of All Creation Waits can now welcome younger children into the practice of reflective waiting-with-creation through Advent. Perfect for grounding young ones in the wonder of wild things.

Learn more about All Creation Waits--Children's Edition and find free resources at AllCreationWaits.com

For many families, the four weeks leading up to Christmas can be a time of great stress, unrealized dreams, a commercial blur, and a financial burden. Susan Hines-Brigger, the mother of four children, knows well that the days counting down to Christmas can easily become for parents and grandparents a nightmare of whiny behavior, crowded to-do lists, and a less-than-spiritual experience. That's why this mother who has seen and heard it all in her own home during Advent created this resource with prayers and activities: She wants to put Christ back into the family holiday celebration and help families--even hers--become holier. Using A Catholic Family Advent on a daily basis will give Catholic families time together to pray, reflect on Scripture, and do a simple activity together. This daily source of inspiration can be used in the family setting as prayer before or after meals, as morning and evening prayer, or as family time in front of the Advent wreath or Christmas crèche.

This Christmas coloring book includes seasonal and devotional images to color and will help kids remember the true meaning of Christmas!

• Features Advent and Christmas season themed illustrations to color on each page
• Includes a short story, biography, Bible verse or prayer for each illustration
• A great coloring activity for kids in religious education, school or church gatherings during the Christmas season

Here's a treasure trove of exciting ideas that will enable your family to focus anew on preparing for the holy time of Advent and Christmas! With a fresh, lively set of suggestions that will attract young and old alike, Joy to the World will help lay the foundation for long-lasting family memories.

Joy to the World takes a three-pronged approach to the season:

The Advent calendar, where daily activities are organized into four categories of Service, Spiritual Growth, "Homebody," and Pure Fun

The Evening Ritual, incorporating the Advent wreath and the Jesse tree, and featuring simplified Scriptures that young children can readily understand

The "Good Deeds Manger," which puts the family's focus on preparing their hearts for the coming of Christ