This document provides notes about the liturgical season of Advent, including that it lasts 4 weeks as a time of preparation for Christmas. It discusses the Advent wreath and candles as symbols of expectation for Christ's coming. Key figures celebrated in Advent include St. Nicholas, St. Juan Diego, Our Lady of Guadalupe, St. Lucy, and St. John of the Cross.

1. Advent and Christmas
Information
St. Mary Magdalen School
Grades 5-7

2. Advent Notes
The liturgical season of Advent
extends for 4 weeks.
Advent is a time of preparation for
Christmas.
The word messiah means anointed
one.
The advent wreath is a symbol of the
expectation for the coming of Christ.

3. Advent Notes
The colors of the Advent candles are
3 purple and 1 pink.
The church celebrates Jesus’ first
coming, the Incarnation, at
Christmas.
God’s chosen people were the
Israelites.
The prayer, the Gloria, that we
usually sing on Sunday is omitted on
the Sundays of Advent.

4. Advent Notes
From December 17 to December 24, we
pray the psalms called the O Antiphons.
The name “Lucy” means light.
The word “Christmas” originated from the
Old English phrase meaning Christ’s
Mass.
Jesus came to be a model of holiness for
us so that we might someday be with him
forever.

5. Advent Notes
The accounts of Jesus’ birth and
childhood found in the first two
chapters of the Gospels of Matthew
and Luke are called the Infancy
narratives.
On December 8, we celebrate the
feast of Mary, the Immaculate
Conception, patron of the United
States and a holyday of obligation.

6. Saints of Advent
December 6- St. Nicholas, patron saint of
children.
December 9- St. Juan Diego, a visionary
who saw Our Lady of Guadalupe.
December 12- Our Lady of Guadalupe,
patron of the Americas.
December 13- St. Lucy, patron of Sweden,
eyes and light.
December 14- St. John of the Cross,
doctor of the Church.