December 11
“Open to the Spirit, [Mary] consecrated herself totally as lowly handmaid to the person and work of the Savior. She received Christ in order to share Him with all the world whose hope He is. In her, we recognize the model of the Church’s faith and our own.”
-St. Eugène de Mazenod
Someone recently told me that “knocking on wood” was not really a superstition because it refers to knocking on the wood of the cross. Is this true? Curious, I decided to do some checking. Here’s what I found out.
December 10
“Next to that which directly concerns God, nothing is more precious for truly enlightened piety than that which concerns the honor of the Blessed Virgin Mary. Here we encounter all that exists in a son towards his mother. And what a Mother! To us she gave her Son, the world’s life and salvation; she engendered all of us spiritually at the foot of the Cross through the pangs of the passion and death of the God-Man, the blessed fruit of her womb. She is rightly called the new Eve and the co-redemptrix of the human race.”
-St. Eugène de Mazenod
December 9
“Mary is the attentive Virgin, who receives the word of God with faith, that faith which in her case was the gateway and path to divine motherhood, for, as St. Augustine realized, “Blessed Mary by believing conceived Him [Jesus] whom believing she brought forth.”
-Pope Paul VI
December 8
“The exhortation to be watchful resounds many times in the liturgy, especially in Advent, a season of preparation not only for Christmas, but also for Christ’s definitive and glorious coming at the end of time. It therefore has a distinctly eschatological meaning and invites the believer to spend every day and every moment in the presence of the One ‘who is and who was and who is come’ (Revelation 1:4), to whom the future of the world and of man belongs. This is Christian hope!”
-Pope St. John Paul II
December 7
“In Advent we await an event which occurs in history and at the same time transcends it... The exhortation that rings out in today’s liturgy: ‘Let us go joyfully to meet the Lord’ spreads to all countries, to all continents, among every people and nation.” -Pope St. John Paul II
December 6
"... But let us not think of that advent only whereby the Son of man has ‘come to seek and to save that which was lost,’ but also of that other by which He will come again and will take us to Himself."
-Bernard of Clairvaux
VV writes: "I'm a catholic school teacher and found out that some of my colleagues experienced yoga, Nia and QiGong. I informed them that this is new age and you can't call up the demonic in the name of Jesus and make it okay. The truth needs to be told. Your thoughts?"
In November 2024, St. Vincent Parish in Wildwood, Florida hosted an Advent retreat with Jonnette Benkovic Williams as their speaker. Many volunteers and staff members worked together to make this retreat a success. A special thank you goes out to Pastor Fr. Kenny, new parish Director of Faith Formation Maria Luz, and Nancy Elhajj (Regional Coordinator with Women of Grace).
Living His Life Abundantly International, Inc.® / Women of Grace® has provided inspiring and informational content for FREE through our blog for more than twenty years. To continue our mission, we need your help. We are seeking a one-time contribution or a monthly donation to support the continued growth and expansion of this free resource. We are abundantly grateful for your support.
