Since we are now in the season of Advent, I thought I would give you a very brief blog post today focusing on the four blog posts I have written in the past that focus on Mary within the season of Advent. However, instead of reading them at random, I am going to number them in the order they should be read. However, before we get to those four blog posts, let’s quickly read what the Catechism of the Catholic Church teaches on the season of Advent. In paragraph 524, it states,

When the Church celebrates the liturgy of Advent each year, she makes present this ancient expectancy of the Messiah, for by sharing in the long preparation for the Savior’s first coming, the faithful renew their ardent desire for his second coming. By celebrating the precursor’s birth and martyrdom, the Church unites herself to his desire: “He must increase, but I must decrease.”

As you see, Advent is a season of preparation and waiting for the coming of the Messiah, Jesus Christ. There is no one better in the Kingdom of God to assist us in waiting for Jesus than Mary herself. She waited and carried him in her womb for nine months. As she has done since the Resurrection, through many Marian apparitions across the world, She brings us to Jesus each and every time. In a sense, every time she appears we have another Advent upon us because each time renews our desire for Him and His second coming.

So with this being said, let’s read the previous blog posts focusing on Mary and Advent –

First read, Advent – A Penitential Season

Second, read, “Mondays with Mary” – The Star of the Sea that Shines Through Advent

Third, read, “Mondays with Mary” – “The Virgin Mary Perfectly Incarnates the Spirit of Advent

And lastly, read “Mondays with Mary – ‘Mary’s Nine-Month Advent’

As we conclude, let’s remember the words of Pope Francis from December 1, 2013, when he said,

“For the great human family it is necessary to renew always the common horizon toward which we are journeying. The horizon of hope! This is the horizon that makes a good journey…the time of Advent that we begin again today returns us to the horizon of hope, a hope that does not disappoint because it is founded on the Word of God. A hope that does not disappoint, simply because the Lord never disappoints! He is faithful!…[Advent is] a new journey of the People of God with Jesus Christ, our Shepherd, who guides us in history towards the completion of the Kingdom of God….a new journey of the People of God with Jesus Christ, our Shepherd, who guides us in history towards the completion of the Kingdom of God…[Mary is a] model of this spiritual attitude, to this way of being and of journeying in life…In her womb, the hope of God took flesh, became man, and made history: Jesus Christ.”

So as we begin this season of Advent, let us ask for Mary’s intercession that she would journey, and prepare with us, for coming of our Savior Jesus Christ at Christmas.