Advent
Advent begins on Sunday, November 29. Four weeks of waiting before Christmas: the church year starts here, in the dark, with a promise.
The four Sundays
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First Sunday of Advent
Sunday, November 29
Mark 13:24-37 — Jesus describes the Son of Man coming in the clouds, gives the lesson of the fig tree, and tells all to keep watch.
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Second Sunday of Advent
Sunday, December 6
Mark 1:1-8 — The Good News of Jesus Christ begins with John baptizing in the wilderness by the Jordan and announcing that one mightier than he is coming.
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Third Sunday of Advent
Sunday, December 13
John 1:6-8, 19-28 — John, sent to testify about the light, tells priests and Levites from Jerusalem that he is not the Christ, and speaks of one coming after him.
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Fourth Sunday of Advent
Sunday, December 20
Luke 1:26-38 — The angel Gabriel tells Mary in Nazareth that she will bear a son named Jesus, and Mary answers that she is the servant of the Lord.
Many households keep a wreath with four candles and light one more each Sunday: one the first week, two the second, and so on to four. It needs no special words. Lighting it before a meal, with Luther’s table prayer, is enough.
This Sunday’s readings in full →
Hymns for Advent
- Savior of the Nations, ComeELW 263The oldest Advent hymn most Lutherans still sing, and it sounds nothing like Christmas.
- Comfort, Comfort Now My PeopleELW 256Isaiah 40 set to a dance tune, which is stranger and better than it sounds.
- Wake, Awake, for Night Is FlyingELW 436The king of chorales, written in a plague year by a pastor burying his own parish.
- O Come, O Come, EmmanuelELW 257An Advent prayer built from old titles for Christ, each asking God to come and save.
- Lo, How a Rose E'er BloomingELW 272A German carol that pictures Jesus as a rose growing from the old root of Jesse.
- On Jordan's Bank the Baptist's CryELW 249John the Baptist's call to get ready, sung as a prayer for clean hearts to welcome Christ.
- Canticle of the TurningELW 723Rory Cooney's paraphrase of Mary's song (the Magnificat) set to an Irish folk tune.
- O Come, O Come, EmmanuelELW 257The seven O Antiphons below, turned into verses. We do not have a page for it yet; this goes to Hymnary.
December 17 to 23: the O Antiphons
For more than a thousand years the church has sung one of these each evening in the last week before Christmas, before the Song of Mary. Each calls Christ by a name from the Hebrew scriptures and ends with the same word: come. Pray the day’s antiphon with Evening Prayer, just before the Song of Mary, or on its own.
December 17
O Wisdom
O Wisdom, who came from the mouth of the Most High, reaching from one end to the other, ordering all things with strength and gentleness: come and teach us the way of understanding.
O Sapientia, quae ex ore Altissimi prodiisti, attingens a fine usque ad finem, fortiter suaviterque disponens omnia: veni ad docendum nos viam prudentiae.
December 18
O Lord of Israel
O Lord and ruler of the house of Israel, who appeared to Moses in the flame of the burning bush and gave him the law on Sinai: come and redeem us with your outstretched arm.
O Adonai, et Dux domus Israel, qui Moysi in igne flammae rubi apparuisti, et ei in Sina legem dedisti: veni ad redimendum nos in brachio extento.
December 19
O Root of Jesse
O Root of Jesse, standing as a sign to the peoples, before whom kings fall silent and to whom the nations pray: come and set us free, and do not delay.
O Radix Jesse, qui stas in signum populorum, super quem continebunt reges os suum, quem Gentes deprecabuntur: veni ad liberandum nos, jam noli tardare.
December 20
O Key of David
O Key of David and scepter of the house of Israel, you open and no one shuts, you shut and no one opens: come and lead the prisoner out of the prison, who sits in darkness and the shadow of death.
O Clavis David, et sceptrum domus Israel; qui aperis, et nemo claudit; claudis, et nemo aperit: veni, et educ vinctum de domo carceris, sedentem in tenebris, et umbra mortis.
December 21
O Dayspring
O Dawn from on high, brightness of the light eternal and sun of justice: come and shine on those who sit in darkness and the shadow of death.
O Oriens, splendor lucis aeternae, et sol justitiae: veni, et illumina sedentes in tenebris, et umbra mortis.
December 22
O King of the Nations
O King of the nations and the one they long for, the cornerstone who makes the two into one: come and save the human creature you formed from the dust.
O Rex Gentium, et desideratus earum, lapisque angularis, qui facis utraque unum: veni, et salva hominem, quem de limo formasti.
December 23
O Emmanuel
O Emmanuel, our king and lawgiver, the hope of the nations and their Savior: come and save us, O Lord our God.
O Emmanuel, Rex et legifer noster, exspectatio Gentium, et Salvator earum: veni ad salvandum nos, Domine, Deus noster.
Latin: the traditional text. English: this site’s own translation from the Latin; free to use.
Revised Common Lectionary copyright © 1992 Consultation on Common Texts. www.commontexts.org Used by permission.