Advent is a time of preparation and waiting. We anticipate eagerly the birth of Our Lord at Christmas.
Here are several resources available to you as you travel through the season:
1 – Creating Your Nativity Scene with Pope Francis is a free Franciscan resource*, available in eighteen languages. It was created in honor of the 800th anniversary of the Christmas at Greccio. (Click here for the English version. All languages are available on our Resources Page.)
2 – Listen to the story of a man named Theophilus, who shares with us his grief of losing his son and the struggle of living through a time of violence in Rome. He returns to the Gospel of Luke, which was dedicated to him, as a source of comfort and finds himself being transformed by the story of Christ’s humble birth. What Theophilus soon discovers through Luke’s Gospel is ‘Emmanuel’ come to life in some unexpected encounters leading him to see this “Invisible Light”.
3 – A Video playlist for Advent – Waiting can be a time of great frustration. How many of us have been at an airport and experienced lots of negative emotions while waiting – to go through security, to board/disembark, to get our baggage…? Friar Manny reflects on how, like in Advent, we can turn the waiting into opportunity for prayer and fellowship.
4 – Litany of Mary of Nazareth – The Litany is available in English, Italian, and Spanish. 
*Creating Your Nativity Scene with Pope Francis is the contribution of Roman VI, the JPIC Representatives of the Franciscan Family, for the celebration of the 800th Anniversary of the Christmas at Greccio in 2023.
