Welcome to your annual holiday tradition. 🕯

What is Advent?

The word ‘Advent’ comes from the Latin word ‘adventus,’ which means coming, or visit.

It's the season of preparation before Christmas, when the global Church recognizes the time of expectant waiting and preparation for two things: the celebration of the Nativity of Jesus, and the eventual time when Christ will, one day, make all things new.

When is Advent?

In 2023, Advent starts on Sunday, December 3, and ends on December 24.

It always begins the fourth Sunday before Christmas Day, so the specific dates change from year to year.

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Advent is our invitation to rest in the already-not-yet anticipation of the God incarnate, who will one day right all the wrongs of the world.

He already came, 2,000 years ago, and lived among us. …Yet we still wait.

Already, not yet. We live in the middle, where we're invited to wait with hope.

Shadow and Light:

A Journey Into Advent

is your simple, open-and-go ecumenical guide to lead you through the darkness and daybreak of the Advent season, reading the Psalms as your prayer book.

Shadow & Light Resources

Reference each day's reading in the book for the music and art listed below.

Music Playlist:

Tools:

Week 1 Art

Day 1: When Dark Gives Way to Light (2018), by Meena Matocha
Day 2: Jesus Hears Mary's Song (2018), by Mike Moyers
Day 3: Christ of the Breadlines (1930s), by Fritz Eichenberg
Day 4: The Shepherds Went to See the Baby (1998), Dinah Roe Kendall
Day 5: The Annunciation (1616), by Jacques Bellange
Day 6: José y Maria (2014), by Everett Patterson
Day 7: Mary and Joseph Look with Faith on the Child Jesus at his Nativity (1995), by Elizabeth Wang

Week 2 Art

Day 1: The Birth of Christ (1405), by Andrei Rublev
Day 2: Winter Landscape (early 20th century), by Konstantin Korovin
Day 3: Nativity (1998), by Hiroshi Tabata
Day 4: The Nativity of Christ (2006), by Alyona Knyazeva
Day 5: Christmas Scene (20th century), by Kim Heung Jong
Day 6: Guatemalan Nativity (1990s), by John Giuliani
Day 7: Be Not Afraid (2019), by Scott Erickson
St. Nicholas’ Day, December 6: St. Nicholas Giving Alms (1685) by Jan Heinsch
St. Lucia’s Day, December 13: St. Lucia (2006) by Richard Kittel

Week 3 Art

Day 1: Adoration of the Shepherds (1622) by Gerard van Honthorst
Day 2: The Birth of Christ (1896) by Paul Gauguin
Day 3: God Is with Us (2006) by Hanna Varghese
Day 4: The Nativity (1891) by Gari Melchers
Day 5: The Starry Night (1889) by Vincent van Gogh
Day 6: Unto Us a Child is Born (1998) by Hanna Varghese
Day 7: The Christ Window (1970) at Fraumünster Church in Zurich, by Marc Chagall

Week 4 Art

Day 1: The Birth of Jesus Christ (1952–1953) by Woonbo Kim Ki-chang
Day 2: The Annunciation of the Angel to Zacharias (1486–1490) by Domenico Ghirlandaio
Day 3: The Annunciation (2000) by John Collier
Day 4: Mary and Eve (2003) by Grace Remington
Day 5: Nativity (2002) by Sawai Chinnawong
Day 6: Nativity (2006) by Brian Kershisnik
Day 7: Nativity (2001) by Joseph Mulamba-Mandangi
Christmas Day: Adoration of the Shepherds (1644) by Georges de La Tour

About the Author

Tsh Oxenreider is the bestselling author of several books, most notably At Home in the World, her travel memoir about her family’s year traveling around the world and living out of backpacks. She’s also a top-ranked podcaster, teacher, and travel guide, and lives in Georgetown, Texas with her husband and three teenagers. She is equally happy fiddling around her backyard garden, snorkeling the Great Barrier Reef with her family, and standing in a chilly line in New York City for cheap Broadway tickets with her daughter. Learn more.

Connect regularly with Tsh through her weekly newsletter, The Commonplace.