# Advent 2026, Day by Day: Giving Christmas Back Its Meaning

Advent begins on the evening of Saturday 28 November and runs to Christmas Eve. Here is every day of it, what each day means, how the rosary changes, what parishes hold, and why its traditions give Christmas back its meaning and its joy.

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Last modified: 2026-11-09

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By Shayne Heffernan · 2026-11-09
Tags: Advent, Advent 2026, Catholic, Christmas, rosary, Joyful Mysteries, O Antiphons, St Andrew Christmas Novena, Advent wreath, Jesse tree, Rorate Mass, Simbang Gabi, Immaculate Conception, Gaudete Sunday, liturgical year, Shayne Heffernan
Signed: ML-DSA-87, anchored on Armature L1.
Nothing in this article is investment advice.

Advent 2026 begins on the evening of Saturday 28 November and ends on the evening of Thursday 24 December. The Church's rule is exact. Advent "begins with First Vespers (Evening Prayer I) of the Sunday that falls on or closest to 30 November", and "it ends before First Vespers (Evening Prayer I) of Christmas" ([General Norms, 40](https://www.liturgyoffice.org/Calendar/Seasons/Advent.pdf)). This year that Sunday is 29 November ([Liturgy Office calendar](https://www.liturgyoffice.org.uk/Calendar/2026/Nov.shtml)), and Christmas falls on a Friday ([Ordo 2027](https://www.liturgyoffice.org.uk/Calendar/2026/Ordo-2027.pdf)). Counted from the First Sunday, Advent runs 26 days to Christmas Eve, with four Sundays. The First Sunday also opens the Church's new year, Liturgical Year 2027 ([Diocese of Charleston](https://charlestondiocese.org/divine-worship-and-sacraments/holy-days-of-obligation/)). The Sunday readings move to Year B of the three-year cycle ([December 2026 calendar](https://www.liturgyoffice.org.uk/Calendar/2026/Dec.shtml)).

I write this for my fellow Catholics, and my message is simple. Keep Advent, and keep all of it: the wreath, the novena, the rosary, confession, the dawn Masses and the quiet evenings. Keep every Catholic tradition you were given. These traditions give Christmas back the meaning that the shops have taken from it, and they bring back the joy that Christmas is about.

## Why Advent matters to Catholics

The Church gives Advent two purposes at once. "Advent has a twofold character," say the General Norms ([General Norms, 39](https://www.liturgyoffice.org/Calendar/Seasons/Advent.pdf)). It is a time of preparation for Christmas, "in which the First Coming of the Son of God to humanity is remembered". It is also a time when "minds and hearts are led to look forward to Christ's Second Coming at the end of time". We look back to Bethlehem and forward to his return, in the same four weeks.

The Catechism explains what Advent does. In Advent the Church "makes present this ancient expectancy of the Messiah" ([Catechism of the Catholic Church, 524](https://www.vatican.va/archive/ENG0015/__P1L.HTM)). "By sharing in the long preparation for the Saviour's first coming, the faithful renew their ardent desire for his second coming." Israel waited centuries for the Messiah. In Advent we stand inside that waiting, and the waiting changes us.

Advent is not Lent. The Liturgy Office of the bishops of England and Wales notes that Advent "is no longer considered a penitential season but a time of joyful expectation" ([Liturgy Office](https://www.liturgyoffice.org/Calendar/Seasons/Advent.pdf)). The violet "suggests a state of unfulfilled readiness". The Gloria is left out of the Sunday Masses "so that the Gloria, the hymn of the angels may resound with greater freshness on Christmas night". The restraint makes the feast brighter. The same reason governs the altar. Its flowers in Advent "should be marked by a moderation suited to the character of this season, without expressing prematurely the full joy of the Nativity of the Lord" ([General Instruction of the Roman Missal, 305](https://www.vatican.va/roman_curia/congregations/ccdds/documents/rc_con_ccdds_doc_20030317_ordinamento-messale_en.html)).

## The shops' Christmas and the Church's Christmas

The commercial season runs on a different calendar. In the United States, the National Retail Federation forecasts that sales in November and December 2026 will grow 4.2 per cent over 2025, to $1.013 trillion ([National Retail Federation](https://nrf.com/media-center/press-releases/nrf-forecasts-2026-holiday-sales-growth-as-consumers-remain-resilient)). Gifts are good, and nobody is asking Catholics to stop giving them. The trouble starts when the buying becomes the season.

Popes have said so for years. On Gaudete Sunday in 2005, Pope Benedict XVI said: "In today's consumer society, this period has unfortunately suffered a sort of commercial 'pollution' that risks changing its authentic spirit" ([Angelus, 11 December 2005](https://www.vatican.va/content/benedict-xvi/en/angelus/2005/documents/hf_ben-xvi_ang_20051211.html)). That spirit, he said, is "marked by recollection, moderation and joy, which is not external but intimate". In December 2025, answering a reader's letter in the Vatican magazine Piazza San Pietro, Pope Leo XIV warned against what he called "dopamine shopping" ([Aleteia](https://aleteia.org/2025/12/15/pope-leos-mailbox-can-christmas-still-teach-us-hope/)). He proposed that Christmas become an occasion to open our homes to a family in difficulty, or to someone who lives alone.

The Vatican's directory on popular piety names the remedy. Popular piety, it says, "can contribute effectively to the conservation of many of the values of Advent, which are not infrequently threatened by the commercialization of Christmas and consumer superficiality" ([Directory on Popular Piety and the Liturgy, 105](https://www.vatican.va/roman_curia/congregations/ccdds/documents/rc_con_ccdds_doc_20020513_vers-direttorio_en.html)). It goes on: "Popular piety perceives that it is impossible to celebrate the Lord's birth except in an atmosphere of sobriety and joyous simplicity and of concern for the poor". The traditions are how we keep the season. The Liturgy Office adds that Advent is "closely related to, yet distinct from, the feast of Christmas", and that this "can create a certain tension if the weeks before Christmas are exploited for commercial purposes" ([Liturgy Office](https://www.liturgyoffice.org/Calendar/Seasons/Advent.pdf)).

The Church's Christmas begins on the evening of Christmas Eve. "Christmas Time runs from First Vespers (Evening Prayer I) of the Nativity of the Lord up to and including the Sunday after Epiphany or after 6 January" ([General Norms, 33](https://www.liturgyoffice.org.uk/Calendar/Info/GNLY.pdf)). This season, that Sunday is the Baptism of the Lord on 10 January 2027 ([Liturgy Office, Ordo 2027](https://www.liturgyoffice.org.uk/Calendar/2026/Ordo-2027.pdf)). Christmas Time then runs 17 days, from 25 December to 10 January. Keep Advent, and you arrive at all 17 of them ready to feast.

Exhibit 1 shows what each Advent tradition keeps in view.

![Exhibit 1, knowledge graph: what each Advent tradition keeps in view, from the prophets and Mary's expectation to Christ's birth and his return](https://livetradingnews-media.nyc3.digitaloceanspaces.com/media/2026/11/09/cmpgg3-9c15c2741016cc07.svg)

## Four Sundays, two halves

Advent has two halves. From the First Sunday to 16 December, the liturgy looks to the Lord's return; from 17 December, "the texts proper to each day prepare us more directly to celebrate the Lord's birth" ([Liturgy Office](https://www.liturgyoffice.org/Calendar/Seasons/Advent.pdf)). The Church's norms say the same: "The weekdays from 17 December up to and including 24 December are ordered in a more direct way to preparing for the Nativity of the Lord" ([General Norms, 42](https://www.liturgyoffice.org/Calendar/Seasons/Advent.pdf)).

Each Sunday Gospel has its own theme ([Introduction to the Lectionary, 93](https://www.liturgyoffice.org/Calendar/Seasons/Advent.pdf)). The First Sunday looks to "the Lord's coming at the end of time". The Second and Third Sundays belong to John the Baptist. The Fourth Sunday tells "the events that prepared immediately for the Lord's birth". The vestments are violet, and for the Third Sunday, Gaudete Sunday, "Rose may be used, where it is the practice" ([General Instruction of the Roman Missal, 346](https://www.vatican.va/roman_curia/congregations/ccdds/documents/rc_con_ccdds_doc_20030317_ordinamento-messale_en.html)).

## Advent 2026, day by day

The readings below are those Catholic Online publishes for each date, and the saints are from the calendar of England and Wales ([December 2026](https://www.liturgyoffice.org.uk/Calendar/2026/Dec.shtml)). Your own diocese may add a saint or move a feast. The quotations from the readings are Catholic Online's translation, which can differ from the wording you hear at Mass.

### Week one: stay awake

- **Saturday 28 November, evening.** Advent begins with Evening Prayer I of the First Sunday ([General Norms, 40](https://www.liturgyoffice.org/Calendar/Seasons/Advent.pdf)). The Advent wreath "can be blessed on the First Sunday of Advent" ([Liturgy Office](https://www.liturgyoffice.org/Calendar/Seasons/Advent.pdf)).
- **Sunday 29 November, First Sunday of Advent.** Isaiah cries, "Oh, that you would tear the heavens open and come down", and Jesus says, "Stay awake!" in Mark 13:33-37 ([readings](https://www.catholic.org/bible/daily_reading/?select_date=2026-11-29)). The first candle of the wreath is lit ([Directory, 98](https://www.vatican.va/roman_curia/congregations/ccdds/documents/rc_con_ccdds_doc_20020513_vers-direttorio_en.html)).
- **Monday 30 November, St Andrew, Apostle.** The day is a feast ([calendar](https://www.liturgyoffice.org.uk/Calendar/2026/Nov.shtml)). Jesus calls Peter and Andrew: "Come after me and I will make you fishers of people" ([readings](https://www.catholic.org/bible/daily_reading/?select_date=2026-11-30)). The St Andrew Christmas Novena starts today ([Archdiocese of Los Angeles](https://lacatholics.org/how-to-pray-the-st-andrew-christmas-novena/)).
- **Tuesday 1 December.** "A shoot will spring from the stock of Jesse" in Isaiah 11, the text behind the Jesse tree ([readings](https://www.catholic.org/bible/daily_reading/?select_date=2026-12-01)).
- **Wednesday 2 December.** Isaiah's banquet "for all peoples", and Jesus feeds the crowd with seven loaves and a few small fish ([readings](https://www.catholic.org/bible/daily_reading/?select_date=2026-12-02)).
- **Thursday 3 December, St Francis Xavier.** The Church keeps his memorial ([calendar](https://www.liturgyoffice.org.uk/Calendar/2026/Dec.shtml)). The wise man "built his house on rock" in Matthew 7 ([readings](https://www.catholic.org/bible/daily_reading/?select_date=2026-12-03)).
- **Friday 4 December.** Two blind men follow Jesus, "shouting, 'Take pity on us, son of David'" ([readings](https://www.catholic.org/bible/daily_reading/?select_date=2026-12-04)). The Church also remembers St John Damascene ([calendar](https://www.liturgyoffice.org.uk/Calendar/2026/Dec.shtml)).
- **Saturday 5 December.** Jesus sees the crowds "like sheep without a shepherd" and sends out the Twelve ([readings](https://www.catholic.org/bible/daily_reading/?select_date=2026-12-05)). This is St Nicholas's Eve, when some children in the United States leave their shoes out in the hope that he will put coins on the soles ([Saint Nicholas Day](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Saint_Nicholas_Day)).

### Week two: prepare the way

- **Sunday 6 December, Second Sunday of Advent.** "Console my people, console them" in Isaiah 40, and John the Baptist appears in Mark 1:1-8 ([readings](https://www.catholic.org/bible/daily_reading/?select_date=2026-12-06)). St Nicholas's day, 6 December, falls on this Sunday. In the Netherlands and Belgium, children put out a shoe filled with hay and a carrot for his horse ([Saint Nicholas Day](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Saint_Nicholas_Day)).
- **Monday 7 December, St Ambrose.** Jesus tells a paralysed man, "My friend, your sins are forgiven you", then sends him home on his own feet ([readings](https://www.catholic.org/bible/daily_reading/?select_date=2026-12-07)).
- **Tuesday 8 December, the Immaculate Conception.** The day is a solemnity ([calendar](https://www.liturgyoffice.org.uk/Calendar/2026/Dec.shtml)), and a holy day of obligation in the United States this year ([Diocese of Charleston](https://charlestondiocese.org/divine-worship-and-sacraments/holy-days-of-obligation/)). Canon law lists the Immaculate Conception among the holy days of obligation, and a bishops' conference may suppress it or move it to a Sunday, so check with yours ([Code of Canon Law, 1246](https://www.vatican.va/archive/cod-iuris-canonici/eng/documents/cic_lib4-cann1244-1253_en.html)). The Gospel is the Annunciation, Luke 1:26-38 ([readings](https://www.catholic.org/bible/daily_reading/?select_date=2026-12-08)). The Vatican's Directory calls the Immaculate Conception "a fundamental preparation for the Lord's coming into the world" ([Directory, 102](https://www.vatican.va/roman_curia/congregations/ccdds/documents/rc_con_ccdds_doc_20020513_vers-direttorio_en.html)). Many families set up their crib straight after this feast ([Angelus, 11 December 2005](https://www.vatican.va/content/benedict-xvi/en/angelus/2005/documents/hf_ben-xvi_ang_20051211.html)).
- **Wednesday 9 December.** Jesus says, "Come to me, all you who labour and are overburdened, and I will give you rest" ([readings](https://www.catholic.org/bible/daily_reading/?select_date=2026-12-09)). The Church also remembers St Juan Diego ([calendar](https://www.liturgyoffice.org.uk/Calendar/2026/Dec.shtml)).
- **Thursday 10 December.** Jesus says of John the Baptist that "of all the children born to women, there has never been anyone greater" ([readings](https://www.catholic.org/bible/daily_reading/?select_date=2026-12-10)). The Church also remembers Our Lady of Loreto ([calendar](https://www.liturgyoffice.org.uk/Calendar/2026/Dec.shtml)).
- **Friday 11 December.** Jesus compares his generation to children who complain, "We played the pipes for you, and you wouldn't dance" ([readings](https://www.catholic.org/bible/daily_reading/?select_date=2026-12-11)). The Church also remembers St Damasus I, Pope ([calendar](https://www.liturgyoffice.org.uk/Calendar/2026/Dec.shtml)).
- **Saturday 12 December, Our Lady of Guadalupe.** Throughout the Americas, the Directory says, the approach of Christmas is celebrated with popular devotions centred on her feast ([Directory, 102](https://www.vatican.va/roman_curia/congregations/ccdds/documents/rc_con_ccdds_doc_20020513_vers-direttorio_en.html)). The calendar of England and Wales lists her beside the Advent weekday ([calendar](https://www.liturgyoffice.org.uk/Calendar/2026/Dec.shtml)). Catholic Online's readings for the day are Isaiah 7:10-14 and the Visitation, Luke 1:39-47 ([readings](https://www.catholic.org/bible/daily_reading/?select_date=2026-12-12)).

### Week three: rejoice

- **Sunday 13 December, Gaudete Sunday.** The entrance antiphon gives the day its name: "Rejoice in the Lord always; again I say, rejoice. Indeed, the Lord is near" ([Liturgy Office](https://www.liturgyoffice.org/Calendar/Seasons/Advent.pdf)). Isaiah sings, "my soul rejoices in my God", and John "came as a witness, to bear witness to the light" ([readings](https://www.catholic.org/bible/daily_reading/?select_date=2026-12-13)).
- **Monday 14 December, St John of the Cross.** Balaam foresees that "a star is emerging from Jacob" ([readings](https://www.catholic.org/bible/daily_reading/?select_date=2026-12-14)).
- **Tuesday 15 December.** The parable of the two sons: one refuses to work in the vineyard, then thinks better of it and goes ([readings](https://www.catholic.org/bible/daily_reading/?select_date=2026-12-15)). Where Simbang Gabi is held in the evening, it begins tonight ([Diocese of Brooklyn](https://dioceseofbrooklyn.org/ethnic-apostolates/filipino/simbang-gabi/)).
- **Wednesday 16 December.** John's disciples ask, "Are you the one who is to come, or are we to expect someone else?" ([readings](https://www.catholic.org/bible/daily_reading/?select_date=2026-12-16)). Simbang Gabi, the nine Masses of the Filipino tradition, begins at dawn today ([Diocese of Brooklyn](https://dioceseofbrooklyn.org/ethnic-apostolates/filipino/simbang-gabi/)).
- **Thursday 17 December.** The second half of Advent begins ([General Norms, 42](https://www.liturgyoffice.org/Calendar/Seasons/Advent.pdf)). The Gospel is the "genealogy of Jesus Christ, son of David, son of Abraham" ([readings](https://www.catholic.org/bible/daily_reading/?select_date=2026-12-17)). At Evening Prayer, the first O Antiphon is sung: "O Wisdom, O holy Word of God" ([O Antiphons](https://1981.catholic-resources.org/Lectionary/Advent-O-Antiphons.htm)).
- **Friday 18 December.** The antiphon is O Adonai: "O Sacred Lord of ancient Israel" ([O Antiphons](https://1981.catholic-resources.org/Lectionary/Advent-O-Antiphons.htm)). An angel tells Joseph in a dream, "do not be afraid to take Mary home as your wife" ([readings](https://www.catholic.org/bible/daily_reading/?select_date=2026-12-18)).
- **Saturday 19 December.** The antiphon is "O Flower of Jesse's stem" ([O Antiphons](https://1981.catholic-resources.org/Lectionary/Advent-O-Antiphons.htm)). Gabriel tells Zechariah, "Your wife Elizabeth is to bear you a son and you shall name him John" ([readings](https://www.catholic.org/bible/daily_reading/?select_date=2026-12-19)).

### Week four: the Lord is near

- **Sunday 20 December, Fourth Sunday of Advent.** The antiphon is "O Key of David" ([O Antiphons](https://1981.catholic-resources.org/Lectionary/Advent-O-Antiphons.htm)). Nathan promises David a dynasty that "will ever stand firm", and the Gospel is the Annunciation, Luke 1:26-38 ([readings](https://www.catholic.org/bible/daily_reading/?select_date=2026-12-20)). The fourth candle is lit.
- **Monday 21 December.** The antiphon is "O Radiant Dawn" ([O Antiphons](https://1981.catholic-resources.org/Lectionary/Advent-O-Antiphons.htm)). Mary visits Elizabeth, and "the child leapt in her womb" ([readings](https://www.catholic.org/bible/daily_reading/?select_date=2026-12-21)).
- **Tuesday 22 December.** The antiphon is "O King of all the nations" ([O Antiphons](https://1981.catholic-resources.org/Lectionary/Advent-O-Antiphons.htm)). Mary sings the Magnificat: "My soul proclaims the greatness of the Lord" ([readings](https://www.catholic.org/bible/daily_reading/?select_date=2026-12-22)).
- **Wednesday 23 December.** The antiphon is "O Emmanuel" ([O Antiphons](https://1981.catholic-resources.org/Lectionary/Advent-O-Antiphons.htm)). Elizabeth's son is born, and Zechariah writes, "His name is John" ([readings](https://www.catholic.org/bible/daily_reading/?select_date=2026-12-23)). Read from the last antiphon back to the first, the Latin initials spell ero cras, "I come tomorrow" ([O Antiphons](https://1981.catholic-resources.org/Lectionary/Advent-O-Antiphons.htm)).
- **Thursday 24 December, Christmas Eve.** The morning Mass is still Advent, and its collect prays, "Come quickly, we pray, Lord Jesus, and do not delay" ([Liturgy Office](https://www.liturgyoffice.org/Calendar/Seasons/Advent.pdf)). Simbang Gabi culminates this morning, and the St Andrew novena ends today. In the evening the Vigil Mass of the Nativity is celebrated ([General Norms, 34](https://www.liturgyoffice.org.uk/Calendar/Info/GNLY.pdf)), with the genealogy and birth of Jesus from Matthew 1:1-25 ([readings](https://www.catholic.org/bible/daily_reading/?select_date=2026-12-24)).
- **Friday 25 December, Christmas.** "Mass may be celebrated three times, that is, in the night, at dawn and during the day" ([General Norms, 34](https://www.liturgyoffice.org.uk/Calendar/Info/GNLY.pdf)). Canon law lists Christmas first among the holy days of obligation after Sunday ([Code of Canon Law, 1246](https://www.vatican.va/archive/cod-iuris-canonici/eng/documents/cic_lib4-cann1244-1253_en.html)). In the night the Gospel is Luke 2:1-14, the birth at Bethlehem, announced to the shepherds as "news of great joy" ([Liturgy Office, Christmas](https://www.liturgyoffice.org/Calendar/Seasons/Christmas.pdf)).

## How the rosary changes in Advent

The rosary has a weekly order. In 2002, St John Paul II proposed moving the second weekly meditation on the Joyful Mysteries from Thursday to Saturday, so that Thursday could hold the new Mysteries of Light ([Rosarium Virginis Mariae, 38](https://www.vatican.va/content/john-paul-ii/en/apost_letters/2002/documents/hf_jp-ii_apl_20021016_rosarium-virginis-mariae.html)). His proposal gives the Joyful Mysteries on Monday and Saturday, the Sorrowful on Tuesday and Friday, the Glorious on Wednesday and Sunday, and the Mysteries of Light on Thursday. He wrote that this indication "is not intended to limit a rightful freedom in personal and community prayer". It allows for "particular liturgical celebrations which might call for suitable adaptations".

Advent is a season for that freedom. The older custom set the Joyful Mysteries for the Sundays of Advent ([Mysteries of the Rosary](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mysteries_of_the_Rosary)). George Hay's Devout Christian of 1789 directs that "the first part of the Rosary of Jesus" be said "on the Sundays in Advent" as well as on Mondays and Thursdays. No decree settles it either way. Catholic Answers writes that "There is no formal Church decree on this matter" and argues that the Glorious Mysteries suit Sunday as the Lord's Day ([Catholic Answers](https://www.catholic.com/qa/which-rosary-mysteries-on-advent-sundays)). It also argues that, apart from Sundays, the Joyful Mysteries are "most fitting during the Christmas Octave". My encouragement is the older custom: pray the Joyful Mysteries on the Sundays of Advent, and on any other day you can.

The reason is in the Mass readings. The Annunciation is the Gospel on 8 December and again on 20 December ([readings](https://www.catholic.org/bible/daily_reading/?select_date=2026-12-20)). The Visitation is the Gospel on 21 December, and in Catholic Online's readings on 12 December as well ([readings](https://www.catholic.org/bible/daily_reading/?select_date=2026-12-21)). The Nativity is the Gospel of the Mass in the night at Christmas, and the Presentation is the Gospel for the Holy Family on Sunday 27 December ([readings](https://www.catholic.org/bible/daily_reading/?select_date=2026-12-27)). The Finding in the Temple, Luke 2:41-52, is read on the Holy Family feast in another year of the cycle ([Liturgy Office, Christmas](https://www.liturgyoffice.org/Calendar/Seasons/Christmas.pdf)). St John Paul II described the Joyful Mysteries as "marked by the joy radiating from the event of the Incarnation" ([Rosarium Virginis Mariae, 20](https://www.vatican.va/content/john-paul-ii/en/apost_letters/2002/documents/hf_jp-ii_apl_20021016_rosarium-virginis-mariae.html)). From Advent into Christmas, the beads and the Gospels tell the same story in the same weeks, as Exhibit 2 shows.

![Exhibit 2, knowledge graph: the five Joyful Mysteries of the rosary and the Gospel passages that tell them, read at Mass in Advent and Christmas 2026](https://livetradingnews-media.nyc3.digitaloceanspaces.com/media/2026/11/09/cmpgg3-7d62b3e2c4581f82.svg)

Pray the St Andrew novena beside the beads. Its prayer begins, "Hail and blessed be the hour and moment in which the Son of God was born of the most pure Virgin Mary, at midnight, in Bethlehem, in the piercing cold" ([Archdiocese of Los Angeles](https://lacatholics.org/how-to-pray-the-st-andrew-christmas-novena/)). It is "traditionally prayed fifteen times each day", from the feast of St Andrew to Christmas Eve.

## What parishes hold in Advent

Every parish sets its own timetable, so read your bulletin. These are the celebrations to look for.

- **The blessing of the Advent wreath.** The wreath can be blessed on the First Sunday ([Liturgy Office](https://www.liturgyoffice.org/Calendar/Seasons/Advent.pdf)).
- **A celebration of reconciliation.** The Liturgy Office says that "celebrations of reconciliation may be very effective" in helping a parish keep watch and pray ([Liturgy Office](https://www.liturgyoffice.org/Calendar/Seasons/Advent.pdf)). Go to confession before Christmas.
- **The Immaculate Conception on 8 December.** The Directory singles out the novena of the Immaculate Conception among the devotions that surround the feast ([Directory, 102](https://www.vatican.va/roman_curia/congregations/ccdds/documents/rc_con_ccdds_doc_20020513_vers-direttorio_en.html)).
- **Rorate Masses.** A Rorate Mass is a votive Mass of Our Lady "celebrated by candlelight before dawn during the Advent Season" ([Diocese of Lake Charles](https://catholiclife.diolc.org/2025/12/16/the-beauty-and-history-of-the-rorate-mass/)). It takes its name from its opening words in Latin, Rorate caeli desuper: "Drop down dew from above, you heavens". "If timed correctly, by the end of Mass the entire church is filled with light by the sun" ([Aleteia](https://aleteia.org/2022/12/15/when-is-the-rorate-mass-celebrated-during-advent/)). On the weekdays of Advent up to 16 December, the Roman Missal says, votive Masses "are as such forbidden" ([General Instruction of the Roman Missal, 376](https://www.vatican.va/roman_curia/congregations/ccdds/documents/rc_con_ccdds_doc_20030317_ordinamento-messale_en.html)). One may be used for a real need or pastoral advantage, "according to the judgment of the rector of the church or the priest celebrant himself". Ask your parish whether it holds one.
- **Simbang Gabi.** It is "a cherished nine-day novena dedicated to the Blessed Virgin Mary, the Expectant Mother of God" ([Diocese of Brooklyn](https://dioceseofbrooklyn.org/ethnic-apostolates/filipino/simbang-gabi/)). It runs from dawn on 16 December, or from the evening of 15 December where it is held in the evening, and culminates on the morning of 24 December. Parishes in cold climates hold it in the evening.
- **Las Posadas.** In the Hispanic and Latin American tradition, the posadas are processions that represent "the journey to Bethlehem of Joseph and Mary and their search for a place in which Jesus would be born" ([Directory, 99](https://www.vatican.va/roman_curia/congregations/ccdds/documents/rc_con_ccdds_doc_20020513_vers-direttorio_en.html)).
- **Evening Prayer with the O Antiphons.** The Directory recommends solemn Evening Prayer with the O Antiphons from 17 to 23 December as an ideal "Christmas novena" ([Directory, 103](https://www.vatican.va/roman_curia/congregations/ccdds/documents/rc_con_ccdds_doc_20020513_vers-direttorio_en.html)).
- **The Christmas Masses.** The Vigil Mass is celebrated on the evening of 24 December, and Christmas Day has Masses in the night, at dawn and during the day ([General Norms, 34](https://www.liturgyoffice.org.uk/Calendar/Info/GNLY.pdf)).

## Traditions to keep at home

Start with the wreath. The Directory describes four candles on green fronds, lit "Sunday after Sunday, until the Solemnity of Christmas" ([Directory, 98](https://www.vatican.va/roman_curia/congregations/ccdds/documents/rc_con_ccdds_doc_20020513_vers-direttorio_en.html)). They are "a symbol of the prophetic light gradually illuminating the long night prior to the rising of the Sun of justice". Add a Jesse tree, whose ornaments "tell the story of God in the Old Testament" ([Loyola Press](https://www.loyolapress.com/catholic-resources/liturgical-year/advent/the-jesse-tree/the-jesse-tree-for-the-first-week-of-advent/)).

Set up the crib. Home cribs spread from the thirteenth century, "influenced undoubtedly by St. Francis of Assisi's crib in Greccio" ([Directory, 104](https://www.vatican.va/roman_curia/congregations/ccdds/documents/rc_con_ccdds_doc_20020513_vers-direttorio_en.html)). Building one is a time for the family "to read the biblical accounts of the Lord's birth". Pope Benedict XVI noted that "many families set up their Crib immediately after the Feast of the Immaculate Conception", and said the crib "can help us understand the secret of the true Christmas" ([Angelus, 11 December 2005](https://www.vatican.va/content/benedict-xvi/en/angelus/2005/documents/hf_ben-xvi_ang_20051211.html)). Of the sign of the child in the manger, he said: "There is no other Christmas."

Keep the nativity carols for Christmas itself. The Liturgy Office says that "Songs, carols, and devotions which focus on the nativity itself are out of place in Advent, especially before 17 December" ([Liturgy Office](https://www.liturgyoffice.org/Calendar/Seasons/Advent.pdf)). Where a school or other community cannot gather on Christmas Day, it asks for the Christmas celebration to be held in the Christmas season, between Christmas Day and the Baptism of the Lord.

## Embrace Advent

This year Advent gives us 26 days from the First Sunday to Christmas Eve ([General Norms, 40](https://www.liturgyoffice.org/Calendar/Seasons/Advent.pdf)). Use every one of them. Light the wreath at dinner. Pray the St Andrew novena. Pray the Joyful Mysteries. Go to confession. Get up in the dark for a Rorate Mass, and go to Simbang Gabi at dawn or in the evening. Give to someone who has nothing, and at Christmas set a place for someone who lives alone, as Pope Leo XIV asked.

Do this, and Christmas arrives the way it should: as a feast you have prepared for, with a joy the shops cannot sell, and it lasts until the Baptism of the Lord on 10 January. Then keep the rest of the Church's year the same way, with its feasts and devotions, because every Catholic tradition is there to be lived.

The next date to watch is the evening of Saturday 28 November, when Evening Prayer I of the First Sunday of Advent opens the season and the Church's new year.

## Sources

### Church documents

- Liturgy Office, Catholic Bishops' Conference of England and Wales (2014). [Season of Advent: liturgy preparation resource](https://www.liturgyoffice.org/Calendar/Seasons/Advent.pdf). The General Norms on Advent (39, 40, 42), the Introduction to the Lectionary (93), and pastoral notes on violet, the Gloria, the wreath, the Jesse tree, carols and commercial pressure.
- Liturgy Office, Catholic Bishops' Conference of England and Wales (2010). [Universal Norms on the Liturgical Year and the General Roman Calendar](https://www.liturgyoffice.org.uk/Calendar/Info/GNLY.pdf). Called the General Norms in the article (33, 34): Christmas Time runs to the Sunday after Epiphany, with the Vigil Mass and the three Masses of Christmas Day.
- Holy See (1993). [Catechism of the Catholic Church, paragraph 524](https://www.vatican.va/archive/ENG0015/__P1L.HTM). Advent makes present the ancient expectancy of the Messiah and renews the desire for his second coming.
- Congregation for Divine Worship (2002). [General Instruction of the Roman Missal](https://www.vatican.va/roman_curia/congregations/ccdds/documents/rc_con_ccdds_doc_20030317_ordinamento-messale_en.html). Moderate flowers on the altar in Advent (305), votive Masses on Advent weekdays (376), violet vestments, and rose on Gaudete Sunday where it is the practice (346).
- Congregation for Divine Worship and the Discipline of the Sacraments (2001). [Directory on Popular Piety and the Liturgy](https://www.vatican.va/roman_curia/congregations/ccdds/documents/rc_con_ccdds_doc_20020513_vers-direttorio_en.html). Paragraphs 96 to 105 on Advent: the wreath, the posadas, the Immaculate Conception, the Christmas novena, the crib, and the threat of commercialisation.
- Pope John Paul II (2002). [Rosarium Virginis Mariae](https://www.vatican.va/content/john-paul-ii/en/apost_letters/2002/documents/hf_jp-ii_apl_20021016_rosarium-virginis-mariae.html). The Joyful Mysteries (20), and the weekly order of the rosary with freedom to adapt it (38).
- Pope Benedict XVI (2005). [Angelus, 11 December 2005](https://www.vatican.va/content/benedict-xvi/en/angelus/2005/documents/hf_ben-xvi_ang_20051211.html). Commercial 'pollution' of the season before Christmas, and the crib set up after the Immaculate Conception.
- Liturgy Office, Catholic Bishops' Conference of England and Wales (2014). [Season of Christmas: liturgy preparation resource](https://www.liturgyoffice.org/Calendar/Seasons/Christmas.pdf). The Masses and Gospels of Christmas and the Holy Family across the three-year cycle.

### Calendars and readings

- Liturgy Office, Catholic Bishops' Conference of England and Wales (2026). [Liturgical Calendar, November 2026](https://www.liturgyoffice.org.uk/Calendar/2026/Nov.shtml). The First Sunday of Advent on 29 November and St Andrew on 30 November.
- Liturgy Office, Catholic Bishops' Conference of England and Wales (2026). [Liturgical Calendar, December 2026](https://www.liturgyoffice.org.uk/Calendar/2026/Dec.shtml). Year B, the saints, the Sundays and the solemnities of December 2026.
- Liturgy Office, Catholic Bishops' Conference of England and Wales (2026). [Ordo 2027: principal dates](https://www.liturgyoffice.org.uk/Calendar/2026/Ordo-2027.pdf). The principal dates of 2026 to 2027, with the Baptism of the Lord on 10 January 2027.
- Catholic Online (2026). [Daily Readings, 29 November to 27 December 2026](https://www.catholic.org/bible/daily_reading/?select_date=2026-11-29). The readings for each day of Advent 2026, linked from each day above.
- Diocese of Charleston (2026). [Holy Days of Obligation](https://charlestondiocese.org/divine-worship-and-sacraments/holy-days-of-obligation/). Liturgical Year 2027 opens on 29 November 2026, and the Immaculate Conception and Christmas are holy days of obligation in the United States in 2026.
- Holy See (1983). [Code of Canon Law, canons 1244 to 1253](https://www.vatican.va/archive/cod-iuris-canonici/eng/documents/cic_lib4-cann1244-1253_en.html). Canon 1246: the holy days of obligation of the whole Church, and the power of bishops' conferences to suppress some or move them to a Sunday.

### Traditions

- Archdiocese of Los Angeles (2026). [How to pray the St. Andrew Christmas Novena](https://lacatholics.org/how-to-pray-the-st-andrew-christmas-novena/). The St Andrew Christmas Novena, its prayer, and its timing from 30 November to Christmas Eve.
- Archdiocese of Brisbane (2025). [Saint Andrew Christmas Novena](https://brisbanecatholic.org.au/gods-people/saint-andrew-christmas-novena/). The St Andrew novena fixes minds and hearts on the mystery of the Incarnation.
- Diocese of Brooklyn (2026). [Simbang Gabi (Misa de Gallo)](https://dioceseofbrooklyn.org/ethnic-apostolates/filipino/simbang-gabi/). Simbang Gabi, nine Masses from 16 December, or the evening of 15 December, culminating on the morning of 24 December.
- Diocese of Lake Charles (2025). [The beauty and history of the Rorate Mass](https://catholiclife.diolc.org/2025/12/16/the-beauty-and-history-of-the-rorate-mass/). The Rorate Mass, a votive Mass of Our Lady celebrated by candlelight before dawn.
- Aleteia (2022). [When is the Rorate Mass celebrated during Advent?](https://aleteia.org/2022/12/15/when-is-the-rorate-mass-celebrated-during-advent/) The Rorate Mass ends, if timed correctly, in a church filled with sunlight.
- Loyola Press (2026). [The Jesse Tree for the First Week of Advent](https://www.loyolapress.com/catholic-resources/liturgical-year/advent/the-jesse-tree/the-jesse-tree-for-the-first-week-of-advent/). The Jesse tree and Isaiah 11:1-10.
- Felix Just, S.J., Catholic Resources (2026). [The O Antiphons of Advent](https://1981.catholic-resources.org/Lectionary/Advent-O-Antiphons.htm). The O Antiphons of 17 to 23 December in Latin and English, and the ero cras acrostic.
- EWTN News (2022). [Bishop Pfeifer reveals hidden message in ancient O Antiphons of Advent](https://www.ewtnnews.com/world/us/bishop-pfeifer-reveals-hidden-message-in-ancient-o-antiphons-of-advent). The O Antiphons are drawn from the Book of the prophet Isaiah.
- Wikipedia (2026). [Saint Nicholas Day](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Saint_Nicholas_Day). St Nicholas's Day and the custom of the shoes.
- Wikipedia (2026). [Mysteries of the Rosary](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mysteries_of_the_Rosary). The traditional Sunday schedule of the rosary, with George Hay's Devout Christian of 1789.
- Tom Nash, Catholic Answers (2019). [Which Rosary Mysteries on Advent Sundays?](https://www.catholic.com/qa/which-rosary-mysteries-on-advent-sundays) No formal decree settles which mysteries to pray on the Sundays of Advent, and the Joyful Mysteries suit the Christmas Octave.

### The commercial season

- National Retail Federation (2026). [NRF Forecasts 2026 Holiday Sales Growth as Consumers Remain Resilient](https://nrf.com/media-center/press-releases/nrf-forecasts-2026-holiday-sales-growth-as-consumers-remain-resilient). US holiday retail sales forecast at $1.013 trillion for November and December 2026.
- Aleteia (2025). [Pope Leo's mailbox: Can Christmas still teach us hope?](https://aleteia.org/2025/12/15/pope-leos-mailbox-can-christmas-still-teach-us-hope/) Pope Leo XIV on "dopamine shopping" and opening our homes at Christmas.

Shayne Heffernan, Ph.D., is the founder of the KnightsBridge Group ([shayneheffernan.com](https://www.shayneheffernan.com)).

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