Advent Daily Lessons and Carols 2021

Each year, I set up an Advent Boot Camp to work people up to half an hour of silent prayer daily, using various readings and devotional practices during Advent. I did it this year, too, but I wanted to offer another option for people who need a little less direction: daily lessons and carols.

For this Advent practice, you’ll figure out your own daily schedule. A good practice would be to spend 5-10 minutes “warming up” by quieting your heart and talking to Jesus about the things that are weighing on you. Then take your time with the daily Scripture (using a real paper Bible if at all possible). You might try lectio divina with it or attempt Ignatian meditation. You can do the same with the Advent and Christmas hymns. Or you could listen to them on this Spotify playlist or sing them or play them on your bassoon. You could read the Bible passage at every meal or make it your lock screen. Really, there’s any number of ways you could approach this. But I felt like I needed something more intentional to guide my meditation right now and I figured you might, too.

(I’ll be sharing these as images on social media as well.)

Day Scripture Hymn
Nov 28 Isaiah 25:8-9 O come, divine Messiah!
The world in silence waits the day
When hope shall sing its triumph,
And sadness flee away.
Dear Savior, haste! Come, come to earth.
Dispel the night and show your face,
And bid us hail the dawn of grace.
O come, Divine Messiah!
The world in silence waits the day
When hope shall sing its triumph,
And sadness flee away.
Nov 29 Isaiah 61:1-3 O come, Desired of nations,
Whom priest and prophet long foretold.
Come break the captive’s fetters,
Redeem the long-lost fold.
Dear Savior, haste! Come, come to earth.
Dispel the night and show your face,
And bid us hail the dawn of grace.
O come, Divine Messiah!
The world in silence waits the day
When hope shall sing its triumph,
And sadness flee away.
(O Come Divine Messiah)
Nov 30 Isaiah 9:1 And ye, beneath life’s crushing load,
whose forms are bending low,
who toil along the climbing way
with painful steps and slow,
look now! for glad and golden hours
come swiftly on the wing.
O rest beside the weary road,
And hear the angels sing!
(It Came Upon the Midnight Clear)
Dec 01 Luke 1:26-29 Let all mortal flesh keep silence,
and with fear and trembling stand.
Ponder nothing earthly minded,
for with blessing in his hand
Christ our God to earth descending
Comes, our homage to demand.
Dec 02 Luke 1:30-33 Rank on rank the host of heaven
Spreads its vanguard on the way,
As the Light of light descendeth
From the realms of endless day,
That the pow’rs of hell may vanish
As the darkness clears away.
(Let All Mortal Flesh)
Dec 03 Luke 1:34-37 Lo, how a rose e’er blooming,
From tender stem hath sprung.
Of Jesse’s lineage coming,
As men of old have sung;
It came, a flow’ret bright,
Amid the cold of winter,
When half spent was the night.
Dec 04 Luke 1:38,
Isaiah 7:14
Isaiah ’twas foretold it,
The Rose I have in mind.
With Mary we behold it,
The virgin mother kind.
To show God’s love aright
She bore to men a Savior
When half-spent was the night.
(Lo How a Rose)
Dec 05 Isaiah 60:1-3 This Flower, whose fragrance tender
With sweetness fills the air,
Dispel with glorious splendor
The darkness everywhere.
True man, yet very God,
From sin and death now save us
And bear our every load.
(Lo How a Rose)
Dec 06 Matthew 1:18-19 Of the Father’s love begotten
ere the worlds began to be,
he is Alpha and Omega,
he the source, the ending he,
of the things that are, that have been,
and that future years shall see
Evermore and evermore.
Dec 07 Matthew 1:20-21 Oh, that birth forever blessed
when the virgin, full of grace,
by the Holy Ghost conceiving,
bore the Savior of our race,
and the babe, the world’s Redeemer,
first revealed his sacred face
evermore and evermore.
(Of the Father’s Love Begotten)
Dec 08 Matthew 1:22-24 This is he whom seers and sages
sang of old with one accord,
whom the voices of the prophets
promised in their faithful word.
Now he shines, the long-expected;
let creation praise its Lord
Evermore and evermore.
(Of the Father’s Love Begotten)
Dec 09 Isaiah 9:2-4 Come, Thou long-expected Jesus
Born to set Thy people free;
From our fears and sins release us,
Let us find our rest in Thee.
Israel’s strength and consolation,
Hope of all the earth Thou art;
Dear desire of every nation,
Joy of every longing heart.
Dec 10 Isaiah 9:5-6 Born Thy people to deliver,
Born a child and yet a King,
Born to reign in us forever,
Now Thy gracious kingdom bring.
By Thine own eternal Spirit
Rule in all our hearts alone;
By Thine all-sufficient merit,
Raise us to Thy glorious throne.
(Come, Thou Long-Expected Jesus)
Dec 11 Luke 1:41-45 O come, O come, Emmanuel,
and ransom captive Israel
that mourns in lonely exile here
until the Son of God appear.
O come, O Wisdom from on high,
who ordered all things mightily;
to us the path of knowledge show
and teach us in her ways to go.
Rejoice! Rejoice! Emmanuel
shall come to you, O Israel.
Dec 12 Luke 1:46-49 O come, O come, great Lord of might,
who to your tribes on Sinai’s height
in ancient times once gave the law
in cloud and majesty and awe.
O come, O rod of Jesse’s stem,
from every foe deliver them
that trust thy mighty power to save,
and give them victory o’er the grave.
Rejoice! Rejoice! Emmanuel
shall come to you, O Israel.
Dec 13 Luke 1:50-52 O come, O Key of David, come
and open wide our heavenly home.
Make safe the way that leads on high
and close the path to misery.
O come, Thou Dayspring, from on high,
And cheer us by Thy drawing nigh;
Disperse the gloomy clouds of night,
And death’s dark shadows put to flight.
Rejoice! Rejoice! Emmanuel
shall come to you, O Israel.
Dec 14 Luke 1:53-55 O come, Desire of nations, bind
in one the hearts of all mankind.
Bid thou our sad divisions cease
and be for us our King of Peace.
Rejoice! Rejoice! Emmanuel
shall come to you, O Israel.
Dec 15 Luke 2:3-5 O little town of Bethlehem,
how still we see thee lie!
Above thy deep and dreamless sleep
the silent stars go by;
yet in thy dark streets shineth
the everlasting light.
The hopes and fears of all the years
Are met in thee tonight.
Dec 16 Micah 5:1-3 For Christ is born of Mary,
and, gathered all above
while mortals sleep, the angels keep
their watch of wond’ring love.
O morning stars, together
proclaim the holy birth,
and praises sing to God the King
and peace to all the earth.
(O Little Town of Bethlehem)
Dec 17 Luke 2:6-7 How silently, how silently,
the wondrous gift is giv’n!
So God imparts to human hearts
the blessings of his heav’n.
No ear may hear his coming,
but in this world of sin,
where meek souls will receive him, still
the dear Christ enters in.
(O Little Town of Bethlehem)
Dec 18 Isaiah 35:4-6 When earth drew on to darkest night,
you came, but not in splendor bright,
not as a king, but as the child
Of Mary, virgin mother mild.
In sorrow that the ancient curse
should doom to death a universe,
you came to save a ruined race
With healing gifts of heav’nly grace.
(Creator of the Stars of Night)
Dec 19 Luke 2:8-14 Angels and archangels may have gathered there,
Cherubim and seraphim thronged the air;
But His mother only, in her maiden bliss,
Worshipped the beloved with a kiss.
(In the Bleak Midwinter)
Dec 20 Wisdom 18:14-15 Our God, Heaven cannot hold Him, nor earth sustain;
Heaven and earth shall flee away when He comes to reign.
In the bleak midwinter a stable place sufficed
The Lord God Almighty, Jesus Christ.
(In the Bleak Midwinter)
Dec 21 Luke 2:15-20 What can I give Him, poor as I am?
If I were a shepherd, I would bring a lamb;
If I were a Wise Man, I would do my part;
Yet what I can I give Him: give my heart
(In the Bleak Midwinter).
Dec 22 Luke 2:29-32 Why lies He in such mean estate,
Where ox and ass are feeding?
Good Christians, fear, for sinners here
The silent Word is pleading.
Nails, spear shall pierce Him through,
The cross be borne for me, for you.
Hail, hail the Word made flesh,
The Babe, the Son of Mary.
(What Child Is This?)
Dec 23 Matthew 2:9-12 So bring Him incense, gold and myrrh,
Come peasant, king to own Him;
The King of kings salvation brings,
Let loving hearts enthrone Him.
Raise, raise a song on high,
The Virgin sings her lullaby.
Joy, joy for Christ is born,
The Babe, the Son of Mary.
(What Child Is This?)
Dec 24 Exodus 16:6-7 Oh holy night, the stars are brightly shining,
It is the night of the dear Savior’s birth;
Long lay the world in sin and error pining,
‘Till he appeared and the soul felt its worth.
A thrill of hope the weary world rejoices,
For yonder breaks a new and glorious morn;
Fall on your knees, Oh hear the angel voices!
Oh night divine! Oh night when Christ was born.
Oh night divine, Oh night, Oh night divine.
Dec 25 John 1:14 Truly He taught us to love one another;
His law is Love and His gospel is Peace;
Chains shall he break, for the slave is our brother,
And in his name all oppression shall cease,
Sweet hymns of joy in grateful Chorus raise we;
Let all within us praise his Holy name!
Christ is the Lord! Oh praise his name forever.
His pow’r and glory, evermore proclaim!
His pow’r and glory, evermore proclaim!
(Oh Holy Night)

Author: Meg

I'm a Catholic, madly in love with the Lord, His Word, His Bride the Church, and especially His Body, Blood, Soul, and Divinity in the Eucharist. I'm committed to the Church not because I was raised this way but because the Lord has drawn my heart and convicted my reason. After 2 degrees in theology and 5 years in the classroom, I quit my 9-5 to follow Christ more literally. Since May of 2012, I've been a hobo for Christ; I live out of my car and travel the country speaking to youth and adults, giving retreats, blogging, and trying to rock the world for Jesus.

2 thoughts on “Advent Daily Lessons and Carols 2021”

  1. Thank you Meg for putting this together. I’ve shared it with my adult brothers and their wives and we plan to follow along. I know it will help us live this Advent closer to Jesus.

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