Almighty God, give us grace to cast away the works of darkness, and put on the armor of light, now in the time of this mortal life in which your Son Jesus Christ came to visit us in great humility; that in the last day, when he shall come again in his glorious majesty to judge both the living and the dead, we may rise to the life immortal; through him who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and for ever. Amen.
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it's the first sunday in advent! as has been the tradition in our little family since the first year we were married, we have displayed our advent wreath on our dining room table. we'll light one candle each sunday in advent until all five candles are burning brightly on christmas morning.
we light today's candle remembering to
hope:
See, darkness covers the earth
and thick darkness is over the peoples
but the LORD rises upon you
and his glory appears over you. Nations will come to your light,
and kings to the brightness of your dawn.
~isaiah 60:2-3
i love this verse of hope in
this advent hymn:
yea, amen! let all adore thee
high on thine eternal throne;
saviour, take the power and glory;
claim the kingdom for thine own;
alleluia, alleluia, alleluia! thou shalt reign, and thou alone.
advent ideas for week one
- an advent wreath is so simple - four candles in a circle, three purple and one rose-colored, with a center white pillar candle. light one candle a week, starting with a purple candle (the tird week is the pink candle).
- at the beginning of advent we find ourselves celebrating st. nicholas. read about this real man here. you can also find resources at this site for family crafts, recipes, and traditions to celebrate a real man (a saint!). how does st. nicholas tie into the christmas story?
- for st. nicholas day, make bishop cookies (recipe below) and pass around to friends, family, and neighbors.
this is a recipe for a traditional Nicholas cookie that comes out
of the Rhineland. The cookie is called "Speculatius" which means
"image." In Europe, the "image" is the mirror-image of a Nicholas which
had been pressed into a wooden mold and then turned out on a sheet to
bake in the oven. As we don't have these molds, we roll out dough and
use a cardboard pattern (about 7-inches tall) of a gingerbread bishop
to cut around for the basic shape and everyone further decorates it as
the imagination dictates.
Mix in order:
1 cup shortening
2 cups white sugar
4 eggs whole
¾ teaspoon salt
2 teaspoons baking powder
4 cups flour
4 teaspoons cinnamon
2 teaspoons allspice
2 teaspoons nutmeg
2 teaspoons ginger
2 teaspoons cloves
Turn out onto a floured board. Knead in about one cup additional
flour or as much as you need until dough is no longer sticky and is
easy to handle.
Put into a plastic bag and refrigerate until chilled and stiff. Then
you are ready to roll out and cut the cookies. Cut off a manageable
piece and keep the rest cool until you are ready for more.
For many little cut-out shapes, roll out the dough thinly. Thin cookies are tastiest.
For the larger, decorated St. Nicholas cookies, roll the dough to
about ¼ inch thickness. Cut out cookie around paper pattern. Place on
greased baking sheet.Then get inspired. Use scrappy bits of dough to
decorate your Nicholas. For a beard press a little dough through a
sieve or a garlic press. Use little balls of dough for eyes or buttons.
The same dough lends itself to all sorts of shapes and symbols and
is useful for making "St. Nicholas awards" to certain people on this
special occasion.
Bake at 350º F. until golden-brown. These keep forever in tins in the freezer or for two–three weeks on the shelf.