First Tuesday of Advent



Mary the New Eve
Statue from Ecuador


I give you praise, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, for although you have hidden these things from the wise and the learned you have revealed them to the childlike. Yes, Father, such has been your gracious will. ~Luke 10:21

Advent has a twofold character, for it is a time of preparation for the Solemnities of Christmas, in which the First Coming of the son of God to humanity is remembered, and likewise a time when, by remembrance of this, minds and hearts are led to look forward to Christ's Second Coming at the end of time. For these two reasons, Advent is a period of devout and expectant delight.

~from The Roman Missal, Third Edition
"Universal Norms on the Liturgical Year and the Calendar"

Dear Mary, Virgin of Advent, teach me the devout and expectant delight of Advent that was yours as you sheltered in your womb the Divine Child, for whom you longed "with love beyond all telling."  Amen.