The Feast of St. Nicholas

St. Nicholas Prayer

O good holy Nicholas,
you who brought joy to children,
put in my heart the spirit of childhood
about which the Gospel speaks.
Teach me how to sow
happiness around me. Amen.

A Prayer for Children

God, we pray that through the
intercessions of St. Nicholas
you will guide and protect our children.
Keep them safe from all harm
and help them grow to become
loving disciples of Jesus in your sight.
Give them strength to always mature
into deeper faith in you,
and to keep alive joy in your creation.
Through Jesus Christ Our Lord. Amen.

by Father David R. Engbarth, St. Nicholas Church, Aurora, Illinois
http://www.catholicgreetings.org/

Knowing about St. Nicholas will help your children better understand Santa Claus and the Christmas Eve traditions we have today. As they grow and learn that Christmas isn’t really about the gifts they receive from Santa, they won’t be disappointed to learn that Santa isn’t real. Instead, they will know that he is real in the sense that he is a saint in heaven and we use his example of generosity to bestow gifts onto others in celebration of Christ. The true meaning of Christmas comes to life when we understand that St. Nicholas was a man devoted to living like Christ. 

Pray a Novena to the Patron Saint of Hope: St. Jude

Most holy apostle, St. Jude, faithful servant and friend of Jesus, the Church honors and invokes you universally as the patron of hope. Please intercede on my behalf. Make use of that particular privilege given to you to bring hope, comfort, and help where they are needed most. Come to my assistance in this great need that I may receive the consolation and help of heaven as I work with my challenges, particularly (here make your request). I praise God with you and all the saints forever. I promise, blessed St. Jude, to be ever mindful of this great favor, to always honor you as my special and powerful patron and to gratefully encourage devotion to you. Amen.

Our Father… Hail Mary… Glory Be…

https://www.catholiccompany.com/magazine/novena-st-jude-5909

Pray a Novena to the Patron Saint of Hope: St. Jude

Most holy apostle, St. Jude, faithful servant and friend of Jesus, the Church honors and invokes you universally as the patron of hope. Please intercede on my behalf. Make use of that particular privilege given to you to bring hope, comfort, and help where they are needed most. Come to my assistance in this great need that I may receive the consolation and help of heaven as I work with my challenges, particularly (here make your request). I praise God with you and all the saints forever. I promise, blessed St. Jude, to be ever mindful of this great favor, to always honor you as my special and powerful patron and to gratefully encourage devotion to you. Amen.

Our Father… Hail Mary… Glory Be…

https://www.catholiccompany.com/magazine/novena-st-jude-5909

Prayer of Hope

Heavenly father, I am your humble servant,
I come before you today in need of hope.
There are times when I feel helpless,
There are times when I feel weak.
I pray for hope.
I need hope for a better future.
I need hope for a better life.
I need hope for love and kindness.
Some say that the sky is at it’s
darkest just before the light.
I pray that this is true, for all seems dark.
I need your light, Lord, in every way.
I pray to be filled with your light from
head to toe. To bask in your glory.
To know that all is right in the world,
as you have planned, and as you want
it to be.
Help me to walk in your light, and live
my life in faith and glory.
In your name I pray,

https://www.catholic.org/prayers/prayer.php?p=2986

The thing about the Christian year is that it keeps coming around. Over and over again, we get to try our hearts and minds and hands at Advent, Christmas, Lent, Easter, Pentecost, and Ordinary Time. We get to dust off the liturgies and speak or sing them again. We get to try old prayers in new ways—or try new prayers on old themes. We get to pick up our symbols and phrases and turn them slowly and look at them and listen to them repeatedly and allow their many layers and nuances to speak to us.

This is called spiritual practice. So, yes, it’s Advent again. But that is how it should be. We have a season ahead of us in which to rehearse and reenact the sacred story of God Is on the Way! God Will Soon Be with Us in the Most Extraordinary Way! Hope is coming; love is coming. A shining realm of peace and wholeness is, truly, coming.

We have a season in which to give our faith a workout, in which to exercise our hope muscles. Some years make that exercise more difficult than others. But it’s Advent now, and, as people of faith, we are called upon to exercise our hope.

If hope isn’t created for times such as these—when countries are divided, when civil war annihilates whole communities and sends refugees fleeing, when hungry children are ignored because their interests are of no interest to powerful entities, when human beings are trafficked by the thousands to be used for sex or cheap labor, when industry and wealth win over the health of the planet and all its creatures and the global community—if hope isn’t created for times such as these, then why have hope at all?

So let’s try Advent once again. Let’s practice a hopeful way of being in the world.

• Sing the songs.
• Ring the bells.
• Put up the decorations.
• Tell the stories.
• Give lots and lots to all sorts of worthy charities.
• Open your home to those who need welcome; pretend that each one of them is the baby Jesus, born on the road and needing help.
• Use your creative gifts: to write, bake, paint, act, make quilts or sound financial plans.
• Go to church.
• Go to the neighborhood hang-out or the family party.
• Pay attention to the kids and welcome their very selves.
• Don’t leave pets out in the snow.
• Don’t give up prayer because life feels raw and scary.
• Don’t hurry through Advent because you’re not terribly good at living it; just let it live in the real life you have.
• Don’t forget that God loves you.
• And please don’t forget that God loves everybody else too.

He came for us all. Together, we wait for the holy child.
https://www.ignatianspirituality.com/advent-again-a-time-for-practicing-hope/

For Catholics, the real new year begins not on January 1, but on the First Sunday of Advent, the day when the Church begins her annual new cycle of Scripture readings and worship. The season of Advent, deriving from the Latin verb advenire, meaning “to come” or “to arrive,” has a two-fold purpose: first, to remind us of the birth of Jesus in Bethlehem and all that it implied for the salvation of the world; and second, to ready us for Christ’s Second Coming at the end of time as King and Judge of creation. Like Lent, Advent is a time of preparation. Also like Lent, Advent is a penitential season — but not in the same strict way. Rather, Advent embodies the words of the liturgy, which remind us that “we wait in joyful hope for the coming of our savior, Jesus Christ.”

https://www.catholicnewsagency.com/resources/advent/bishops-previous-advent-teachings/on-christian-hope-and-advent

Putting your hope in Jesus will give you these four things.

HOPE FOR HELP
We are invited to come to Him and confidently ask for help. Hebrews 4:16 tells us, “to come boldly unto the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy, and find grace to help in our time of need” (Hebrews 4:16).

HOPE TO OVERCOME
Things that leave one feeling powerless and hopeless come in many forms. With Christ’s strength you can overcome great obstacles, and faith in Jesus gives hope and help to overcome: “and this is the victory that overcomes the world, even our faith” (1 John 5:4).

HOPE FOR POWER
Sometimes in life we find ourselves with a task that simply looks too big for us. We do not just need a cup of God’s strength added to our own; rather, we need His strength in us to do what we need to do. He will give it! 2 Corinthians 12:9 says, “My grace is sufficient for you: for my strength is made perfect in weakness.” Seeing our weakness as the entry point of God’s strength gives access to His power.

HOPE FOR ETERNITY
When we put our faith and hope in Jesus, it not only gives us help, strength, and power for where we walk today, but it also gives us hope for life after death. It is a confident expectation of the ultimate “tomorrow.”

The God of Hope sent His son to be our Savior. He is only one prayer away. If you want the confident expectation of His strength and wisdom in you today and His help and hope for your tomorrow, you need only ask so that you may overflow with hope.

“May the God of Hope fill you with all joy and peace, as you trust in Him, so that you may overflow with hope by the power of the Holy Spirit” (Romans 15:13).

https://thelife.com/advent-week-1-the-candle-of-hope

The Advent season is a time of preparation for our hearts and minds for the anniversary of the Lord’s birth on Christmas.

The use of the wreath and candles during Advent are a longstanding Catholic tradition that was originally adopted by Christians in the Middle Ages as part of their spiritual preparation for Christmas.
The wreath and candles are full of symbolism tied to the Christmas season. The wreath itself, which is made of various evergreens, signifies continuous life. The circle of the wreath, which has no beginning or end, symbolizes the eternity of God, the immortality of the soul, and the everlasting life we find in Christ.

Even the individual evergreens that make up the wreath have their own meanings that can be adapted to our faith. The laurel signifies victory over persecution and suffering. The pine, holly, and yew signify immortality and the cedar signifies strength and healing. The pine cones that decorate the wreath symbolize life and resurrection. The wreath as a whole is meant to remind us of both the immortality of our souls and God’s promise of everlasting life to us through Christ.

The candles also have their own special significance. The four candles represent the four weeks of Advent, and one candle is lit each Sunday. Three of the candles are purple because the color violet is a liturgical color that signifies a time of prayer, penance, and sacrifice.
The first candle, which is purple, symbolizes hope. It is sometimes called the “Prophecy Candle” in remembrance of the prophets, especially Isaiah, who foretold the birth of Christ. It represents the expectation felt in anticipation of the coming Messiah.

The second candle, also purple, represents faith. It is called the “Bethlehem Candle” as a reminder of Mary and Joseph’s journey to Bethlehem.
The third candle is pink and symbolizes joy. It is called the “Shepard’s Candle,” and is pink because rose is a liturgical color for joy. The third Sunday of Advent is Gaudete Sunday and is meant to remind us of the joy that the world experienced at the birth of Jesus, as well as the joy that the faithful have reached the midpoint of Advent.

On the fourth week of Advent, we light the final purple candle to mark the final week of prayer and penance as we wait for the birth of our Savior. This final candle, the “Angel’s Candle,” symbolizes peace. It reminds us of the message of the angels: “Peace on Earth, Good Will Toward Men.”
Though the Mercy Home Advent wreath does not include a white candle, this is a tradition that has become popular in modern day adaptations.
The white candle is placed in the middle of the wreath and lit on Christmas Eve. This candle is called the “Christ Candle” and represents the life of Christ. The color white is for purity—because Christ is our sinless, pure Savior.

Celebrating Advent is an excellent way to prepare your mind and heart for Christmas.
https://www.mercyhome.org/blog/sunday-mass/advent-wreath/