The Advent Novena
[As is our yearly tradition, we’re posting this novena again so it can be handy for anyone who wants to do it this year. The daily meditations will also be posted daily through Christmas Eve.]
Catholics who wish to celebrate Advent as a time to prepare spiritually for Christmas often find themselves at a loss about how to do it. After setting up an Advent wreath and singing a couple of stanzas from "O Come, O Come, Emmanuel," what is one supposed to do? In order to help fill that void, during the past few years I've been making available to our readers the Advent novena that I grew up with as a child in Colombia, and which is practically ubiquitous there. If you'd like to know more about what the novena is all about, I invite you to read the post in which I originally introduced it and then come back. On the other hand, if you're already convinced that you want to adopt this tradition, you'll find everything you need on this page. To begin, let me give you a brief outline of the order of the prayers:
Timeline: the novena runs from December 16th to December 24th. It is usually said in the evening by family, friends, and neighbors who gather nightly during this period.
Prayers: The host usually does the first reading/prayer, but the text gets passed along among the people gathered so that as many people as possible get to lead one of the prayers.
Begin with the Sign of the Cross.
Read the daily Opening Prayer
Read the Prayer to the Blessed Virgin Mary
Read the Prayer to Saint Joseph
Read the Day's Meditation
Jubilations: the text gets passed along so that a different person reads each stanza. Snippets of "O come, O come, Emmanuel" are sung between each stanza.
Read the Prayer to the Christ Child
Caroling
Now that the prayers are over, enjoy some time singing your favorite Advent and Christmas carols. Don't be a wimp. Sing at least three before moving on the next stage.
Food & Fellowship
As explained in the introductory post, the novena is all about family and friendship. You should really spread the word to your family and friends, and get together with them to celebrate and pray it together. The hosts for each night can provide some of their favorite treats for this time of year (or it can be a potluck), but make sure there is food! Chat, sing some more, dance if the mood strikes, and just enjoy the evening with your loved ones until it's time to go to bed. And now, without further ado, here is the main text of the Advent Novena.
Advent Novena to the Child Jesus
The Nativity - Matthew Alderman
Opening Prayer
Most gracious God of infinite charity, You gave your only begotten Son as an unparalleled sign of your love for man. By this love He was made flesh within a Virgin Mother’s womb, and was born in a manger for our salvation. Let our prayer come before you as a song of thanksgiving, uttered on behalf of every mortal man, for this wonder of your grace.Loving Father, there is nothing with which we can repay you, other than the poverty, humility, and other virtues of your Incarnate Son; I pray that for the sake of his divine merits, of every hardship that surrounded his birth, and of every tear that He shed at the manger, You may bring our hearts to such deep humility, such zealous love, and such perfect disregard for every worldly thing, that the newborn Christ may find in them his cradle and abide there forever. Amen.
Glory to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit, As it was in the beginning, is now, ever shall be, world without end. Amen. (Said three times.)
Prayer to the Blessed Virgin
O Blessed Virgin Mary, spotless mirror of virtue and humility whom the God of Heaven and Earth elected for a mother, I pray that you may prepare my soul, and that of everyone who at this time might pray this novena, for the spiritual birth of your beloved Son. O Dearest of Mothers! Let me know something of that profound contemplation and devout tenderness with which you awaited Him, that I may be made less unworthy to see, love, and adore Him for all eternity. Amen.
(Pray the Hail Mary nine times—three is acceptable when appropriate—meditating on the birth of Jesus.)
Prayer to Saint Joseph
Dearest Saint Joseph, husband of Mary and adoptive father of Jesus Christ, I praise God for electing you to such an exalted task and adorning you with every grace befitting so high a ministry. I pray that through the love with which you cared for the Infant Christ, you may embrace my heart with a fervent desire to behold and receive Him in the Blessed Sacrament, until in His Divine Essence I may one day gaze upon Him and rejoice with Him in Heaven. Amen.
(Pray once the Our Father, the Hail Mary, and the Glory Be.)
Meditation for the Day
(Meditations for each day will be posted individually on Deep Down Things. We will post the first day’s meditation below, and then provide links from this post to other days as each meditation is posted.)
Day 1 (December 16th):
In the beginning, the Word rested within the bosom of the Father in the highest Heaven, being at once the cause and the model of all Creation. Within the depths of that unfathomable eternity, the Child of Bethlehem existed before time itself, awaiting the moment in which he was to descend and take visible possession of his earthy palace—a cattle shed on the outskirts of David’s City. It is within that infinity that we must look for his origins that had no beginning, that we must commence the genealogy of the Eternal, which has no ancestors, and contemplate the life of infinite bliss that he possessed within the Godhead.The life of the Word in the bosom of his Father was perfection itself, and yet—O sublime mystery!—He sought a new abode, a created dwelling place. Nothing that could have added to his infinite bliss was lacking within his eternal mansion, but in his boundless mercy He nevertheless desired the redemption of the human race, which without Him could never come to fruition. In the sin of Adam mankind had rejected God’s friendship, and the guilt of that infinite offense could not be remitted save by the infinite merits of God Himself. In disobeying, Adam’s race had turned away from Goodness itself, meriting an eternal punishment. For man to be saved, it was therefore necessary that God, without leaving Heaven, should take on human flesh on Earth, so that through the Word’s obedience to the will of the Father, He should atone for our former disobedience, ingratitude, and rebellion. It was necessary, in consequence of his love, that He should take on the form, the weaknesses, and the limitations of man; that He should subject himself to physical growth in order to give man growth in the Spirit; that He should suffer in order to teach man how to die to his passions and pride. Hence, the Eternal Word, alight with a desire for man’s salvation, willed to make Himself also a man, and thus redeem the guilty.
Click for Day 2 (December 17th)
Click for Day 3 (December 18th)
Click for Day 4 (December 19th)
Click for Day 5 (December 20th)
Click for Day 6 (December 21st)
Click for Day 7 (December 22nd)
Click for Day 8 (December 23rd)
Click for Day 9 (Christmas Eve)
Jubilations
(Everyone sings the refrains to the tune of “O Come, O Come, Emmanuel.” Take turns reading the intermediate stanzas.)
O come, O come, Emmanuel, And ransom captive Israel.
O infinite wisdom
of the Sacred Godhead,
to an infant’s limits
You humble your powers!
O Child Uncreated,
come to teach the blinded
the prudence that fashions
wise men from the humble!
Rejoice! Rejoice! Emmanuel, Shall come to thee, O Israel.
O Adonai, strong one,
Once on Sinai’s mountain
You spoke unto Moses
giving your Commandments!
Come in haste to save us
from our sinful darkness
as a child whose meekness
topples every power.
O come, O come, Emmanuel, And ransom captive Israel.
O blest root of Jesse,
from the fields eternal
you shower Creation
with the nard’s aroma.
O Sweetest of Children,
Long-awaited blossom,
Lily of the valley,
Flower of the meadow!
Rejoice! Rejoice! Emmanuel, Shall come to thee, O Israel.
O great Key of David,
to mankind in exile
you open the gateway
of your royal palace!
With a hand most gentle
do, good Child, release us,
from the dismal dungeon
that our crimes erected.
O come, O come, Emmanuel, And ransom captive Israel.
O lamp of the Orient!
O Sun everlasting!
Let us see your splendor
in the midst of darkness!
Most precious of children,
joy of all the faithful,
the light of your laughter
banishes all shadows.
Rejoice! Rejoice! Emmanuel, Shall come to thee, O Israel.
Mirror without blemish,
You alone are holy—
O perfect reflection
of the Father’s mercy!
Wash away our evil,
save the exiled sinner,
and shelter the homeless
in your lowly manger.
O come, O come, Emmanuel, And ransom captive Israel.
O King of the nations,
O radiant Emmanuel,
Israel’s deep yearning,
seeker of the lost ones!
Child who soothes the restless
with kind staff—Good Shepherd!
Wild rams, at your calling,
Come as lambs to praise you.
Rejoice! Rejoice! Emmanuel, Shall come to thee, O Israel.
Let the heavens open!
Rain down from on highest!
Beneficent shower,
like a holy downpour!
Come, beautiful Child!
Come, O God Incarnate!
Shine, O brilliant lodestar!
Bloom, O sacred flower!
O come, O come, Emmanuel, And ransom captive Israel.
Come! that Mother Mary,
joyfully awaiting,
longingly devices
in her arms a cradle.
Come! that good Saint Joseph,
for your love to safeguard,
has his heart refashioned
as a Tabernacle.
Rejoice! Rejoice! Emmanuel, Shall come to thee, O Israel.
Comfort of the mournful!
Champion of the humble!
Refuge of the outcast!
Light of the benighted!
You, the life within me,
my beloved master;
Friend forever faithful—
Brother in the highest!
O come, O come, Emmanuel, And ransom captive Israel.
Let my eyes enraptured
by your love behold You!
Let me press my lips, Lord,
to the wounds that saved me.
Prostrate now before you,
I reach out in worship—
and my tears you treasure
like a loving prayer.
Rejoice! Rejoice! Emmanuel, Shall come to thee, O Israel.
Come, beloved Savior,
every heart’s deep longing!
Recreate our spiritand do not delay, Lord!
Prayer to the Christ Child
Remember, O beloved Infant Jesus, the words you spoke unto Venerable Margaret of the Blessed Sacrament as a promise of comfort to all the suffering and afflicted: “Everything that you would ask, ask it through the merits of my infancy, and nothing shall be denied you.” We thus come full of trust in you, O Christ—you who are Truth Incarnate—to offer up our every sadness.
Help us to lead a holy life, that we may receive the gift of a blessed eternity. Grant us, through the merits of your incarnation and infancy, the grace that we now request of You. (Pause for a brief moment to silently make your prayer to God.)We give ourselves to You, O Omnipotent Child, certain that our hope shall not be frustrated, and that by virtue of your divine promise, You will hear and answer our supplication. Amen.
