O Come, O Come...

Advent is finally (or should I say suddenly?) here!  It kind of snuck up on me as I have spent the last few weeks making Christmas crafts and counting down the days to the most wonderful holiday of the year.   But here it is, and I cannot be happier.  It really is such a blissful time, chock full of Saint's feast days, Christmas baking and crafting, decorating, and prayer. 

In Phoenix, Al's Mom had bought a bunch of fresh greens for wreath making, and I brought my wreath back to Chicago so that it could serve as our Advent wreath.  I've never really liked the purple and pink tapers.  I really wanted just to have white tapers with pink and purple ribbons, but I saw that Al's Mom had put up white pillar candles with ribbons and I just about died at how beautiful it was, so I dashed to the store the day after we returned home and grabbed some ribbons and candles.  I am so happy with how my first wreath turned out.  (The photographs make the purple ribbon look burgundy...It's more of an aubergine, and so beautiful...)  

O Lord, stir up Thy might, we beg Thee, and come that by Thy protection we may deserve to be rescued from the threatening dangers of our sins and saved by Thy deliverance. Through Christ our Lord. Amen.