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Our Christmas Wishes

Our Christmas video highlights the creativity of our students and the wonderful ways we share the themes of Advent on campus. We wish you all a very Merry Christmas and a blessed New Year. 

Christmas Card

Each year, students from AP Art class create holiday themed art and one piece is selected to serve as the centerpiece of our school's Christmas card. This year's focal point is a digital adaptation of a Marcello Corti original, produced by Olivia Pérez ’24. Her art places images of our Lancer students celebrating traditions and making memories within the garments of the Holy Family.

 

Olivia Pérez

I was inspired to adapt this artwork to display a familiar tender moment of the Holy Family: Mary, Joseph and baby Jesus in the humble surroundings of the manger. In their garments are snapshots of our tight-knit Saint Francis students celebrating traditions and making new memories. It hopes to capture the spirit and faith of our school and the beautiful moments that we have experienced together.

May you and your families have a blessed Christmas. ¡Feliz Navidad y Próspero Año Nuevo!

AP Art Considerations

Celebrating on Campus

Here are a few ways we are celebrating Hope and creating community as a Lancer family on campus this year.

 

Blessing of the Advent Wreath
Advent Experience
Christmas at Our House

What is Advent?


Advent (from , "ad-venire" in Latin or "to come to") is the season encompassing the four Sundays (and weekdays) leading up to the celebration of Christmas, and it marks the beginning of the Catholic Church's liturgical year. The Advent season is a time of preparation that directs our hearts and minds to Christ's second coming at the end of time and to the anniversary of Our Lord's birth on Christmas.

Like Lent, the liturgical color for Advent is purple since both are seasons that prepare us for great feast days. Advent also includes an element of penance in the sense of preparing, quieting, and disciplining our hearts for the full joy of Christmas.

As we prepare for Christmas, the General Instruction of the Roman Missal notes some differences to the Mass that should be observed during the season. For instance, the priest wears violet or purple during Advent, except for the Third Sunday of Advent when rose may be worn. Aside from what the priest wears, other aesthetic changes in the Church can include a more modestly decorated altar.

Advent devotions including the Advent wreath, remind us of the meaning of the season. Our Advent calendar (linked below) can help you fully enter into the season with daily activity and prayer suggestions to prepare you spiritually for the birth of Jesus Christ.

Themes of Advent
Advent - Hope

The first candle on the Advent wreath represents Hope. The first Sunday of Advent not only leads us to anticipate the birth of Christ but celebrate the beginning of a new liturgical season as well.

Advent - Peace

The second candle on the Advent wreath represents Peace. Like the first candle, it is also purple. Often called the “Bethlehem Candle,” the second Advent candle reminds us of Mary and Joseph’s journey from Nazareth to Bethlehem before Mary gave birth to Jesus.

Advent - Joy

The third candle of Advent symbolizes Joy. As we continue to approach Christmas Day, our joy grows more and more. The third candle takes us back to the joyful anticipation of the shephers who journeyed to see Jesus in Bethlehem, even before the wise men.

Advent - Love

The fourth candle of Advent represents Love, the ultimate love of God that He might send His only Son for us. Called the "Angel's Candle," the fourth candle of Advent is lit the Sunday before Christmas leading us to eagerly await the new Kingdom of God on earth.