Advent is a season of preparation and prayer. We are happy to share Fr. Peter Cameron's day-by-day blessing for Advent, which we will publish on a weekly basis on each Sunday of the season.
Each brief daily Advent blessing focuses on a particular aspect of our spiritual preparation for Christ's coming at Christmas and at the end of time, as reflected in the Scriptures of the day. You may use the opening prayer on Sunday or pray it each day.
Opening Prayer
Most merciful Father, this Advent I desire to rededicate myself to the pursuit of holiness. May I live these days of grace united with the Blessed Virgin Mary in loving awareness of the presence of the One who changes us – Jesus your Son. In my vigilant expectation of Christ’s coming, make me especially attentive to the wisdom of Sacred Scripture proclaimed in the liturgies of this holy season. May this blessed time of preparation be for me an occasion of conversion and spiritual rebirth. May each moment of my Advent bring me closer to you in faith, hope, and love through Emmanuel – Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.
Day-by-day blessing for Advent Week 2
December 4
Father, endow me with generous compassion for the poor, and make me your instrument to wipe the tears away from all the faces of those who suffer in solitude.
December 5
Father, may I empty my life of all defiance, respond to the words your Son speaks to me, and trust your divine will with humble obedience and confidence.
December 6
Father, out of the gloom and darkness of my willfulness and arrogance, bless me with new hope to call upon the healing touch of Jesus your Son and our Savior.
December 7
Father, when the stranger of sin schemes to lead me astray, leaving me troubled and abandoned, show me Jesus the Way so that I may walk only in him.
December 8
Father, as I prepare for the birth of your Son, may I delight in the conception of his Blessed Mother and know in the miracle of Mary’s immaculate flesh the promise of my own perfection.
December 9
Father, envelop my life with your tenderness and comfort, so that I can conduct myself with holiness and devotion, awaiting the coming of your Christ in security and peace.
December 10
Father, strengthen me to fill in the valleys of my neglectfulness and to make low the mountains of my self-exaltation, so as to prepare a straight highway for the Good Shepherd to find this lost sheep.
From
Blessing Prayers, by Fr. Peter Cameron, O.P.
Available in print and eBooks at www.magnificat.com
© Magnificat – Used with permission.