2024 Advent Resources

Throughout the season of Advent, we will be adding resources for families in our churches. These resources provide prayers for you and your children to engage in a prayerful Advent season in order to prepare our hearts and minds for Christmas.

Check back each week for more resources!

First Week of Advent (Dec. 1-Dec. 7)

St. Nicholas of Bari (March 15, 270 – December 6, 343), the bishop of Myra in the fourth century, is the saint that Santa Claus is modeled after. Known for his kindness and generosity to the poor, the story has it that St. Nicholas once tossed bags of gold through the open window of a poor man’s house to help his daughters avoid a life of prostitution.

According to legend, the gold landed in stockings dangling on the corners of the beds, which is why many of us celebrate St. Nicholas Day by hanging stockings and filling them with candy, fruit, and small toys.

Not much else is known about this beloved saint, but regardless, his reputation as a generous man continues today.

Second Week of Advent (December 8-14)

Our Lady of Guadalupe- Feast Day December 12

Our Lady of Guadalupe first introduced herself as the Mother of God and the mother of all humanity when she appeared on the hill of Tepeyac in Mexico in 1531. An indigenous peasant, Juan Diego, saw a glowing figure on the hill. After she had identified herself to him, Our Lady asked that Juan build her a shrine in that same spot, in order for her to show and share her love and compassion with all those who believe.

Afterwards, Juan Diego visited Juan de Zumárraga, who was Archbishop of what is now Mexico City. Zumárraga dismissed him in disbelief and asked that the future Saint provide proof of his story and proof of the Lady’s identity.

Juan Diego returned to the hill and encountered Our Lady again. The Virgin told him to climb to the top of the hill and pick some flowers to present to the Archbishop.

Although it was winter and nothing should have been in bloom, Juan Diego found an abundance of flowers of a type he had never seen before. The Virgin bundled the flowers into Juan's cloak, known as a tilma. When Juan Diego presented the tilma of exotic flowers to Zumárraga, the flowers fell out and he recognized them as Castilian roses, which are not found in Mexico.

What was even more significant, however, was that the tilma had been miraculously imprinted with a colorful image of the Virgin herself.

This actual tilma, preserved since that date and showing the familiar image of the Virgin Mary with her head bowed and hands together in prayer, represents the Virgin of Guadalupe. It remains perhaps the most sacred object in all of Mexico.

The story is best known from a manuscript written in the Aztec’s native language Nahuatl by the scholar Antonio Valeriano. It was written sometime after 1556.



Over 20 million people visit the Basilica of Our Lady of Guadalupe each year, now situated on the very same hill on which she appeared.

Third Week of Advent (December 15-21)

What is the significance of the Third Sunday of Advent?

The third Sunday of Advent is traditionally called Gaudete Sunday. Gaudete is the Latin word meaning “rejoice.” This Sunday is so named because “Rejoice” is the first word in the entrance antiphon for today's Mass taken from Philippians 4:4,5: “Rejoice in the Lord always; again I say, rejoice! The Lord is near.” Some people mark this Sunday on their Advent wreath with a rose candle instead of a violet candle. This Sunday is a joyful reminder that our salvation is near.