"Advent of the Heart" Program with PDFs

Advent Starts Sunday, November 30th

the Beginning of the Traditional Cycle of Christmas:

The Mystery of the Incarnation, and a New Liturgical Year!

If you have been following “In Search of the Authentic Life” for some time, you know I am a big fan of the martyr Fr. Alfred Delp and the book ADVENT OF THE HEART, which is essentially an Advent program and compilation of his brilliant writings. There are many posts about Fr. Delp on this blog, you can do a search to the right>>>

Last year, as I was trying to get a prayer group going at my church, using this book, I created 5 PDFs and presented them here. I will post them again below (6 pages total). These can be used for prayer groups, family prayer or distribution.  If you are involved in an existing ministry, consider adding this to your Advent meetings.  It does not have to take a lot of time.  My prayer group never materialized and now I am trying again.  I may add supplemental content.  If so, it will be posted as I complete it.

These printouts are meant to be used in conjunction with the book. They condense each section into a few of the “best” quotes and provide discussion points. It makes it very easy to get started, rather than being overwhelmed by the whole book.

Why have I done this project? Why am I so taken with Delp’s writings? First of all, because they are genius and should be much better known.  Secondly, Delp’s insights are quite relevant for our own times.  He was living under the tyranny of the Nazis, we are living under the tyranny of the global elites who seek to destroy Christendom and usher in their New World Order of total surveillance.  Clearly, a great chastisement is coming and it is not for no reason.  If man refuses to submit to God’s laws, he will be forced to submit to the laws of other men…men who do not have his best interest in mind, but their own interests.  Fr. Delp’s writings are a gift to our times and can help us navigate through them.  They can help us to stay grounded in the midst of the chaos around us, like he did.  And we know…

“In the end, my Immaculate Heart will triumph!”

What else can you add to this Advent meditation program?  You can be as creative as you wish.  Prayers and discussions about a holy Advent observance, celebration of Christmas, the Christmas liturgical season…even singing Christmas songs. 

Please let us know if you decide to participate and share your experiences, which we may post on the blog.

Advent of the Heart 1st Week PDF

Advent of the Heart 2nd Week PDF

Advent of the Heart 3rd Week PDF

Advent of the Heart 4th Week #1 PDF

Advent of the Heart 4th Week #2 PDF

4th Week of Advent from "Advent of the Heart" with PDF

ADVENT OF THE HEART

+   Fourth Week of Advent   +

Fr. Alfred Delp, German Martyr

Let us view these writings through the lens of our own times…

Opening of the Tridentine Mass (the Mass Fr. Delp would have celebrated):

“Drop down dew, ye heavens, from above, and let the clouds rain the Just: let the earth be opened and bud forth a Savior.  The heavens show forth the glory of God: and the firmament declareth the work of His hands.”

Fr. Delp’s homily, Munich, 1941, Fourth Sunday of Advent:

“Advent has already called man three times.  It called through the shaking; it called to authenticity; and it called to confession of faith.  And now Advent calls a fourth time.  Without this fourth call, the other three are not possible…It is an old term, a forgotten word, and a forgotten value: fear of God…Man must learn again…to reckon with God as the ultimate category of reality, as the decisive judgment of all that exists…the person who has seen God, is so totally different, so totally other, because our God is totally Other…Further, someone who observes the otherness of the believer will be changed by it…”

Fr. Delp’s homily, Munich, 1942, Pre-Christmas Reflection:

“We need to celebrate holy days in three ways.  First, by recalling a historical event…there is always a clearly defined event connected to the mystery, a clear statement intended, a fact.  This brings us to the second point.  Within all of the foregoing, a great mystery, the Mysterium, is hidden…These two points are followed by the third way, in which we must consider the feast to be serious and important…we should not come to Midnight Mass as if we do not live in the year 1942 [or 2024?].  The year must be redeemed along with everything else.  And from the Gloria, we have to take with us the peace and faith in the glory of God…and we are the last refuge for the homeless people who do not know anything about the Lord anymore.”

From Tegel Prison, Berlin, 1944, Fourth Sunday of Advent:

“Our life has become hard and harmful to an extent that far exceeds the natural measure of hardship and distress that were always part of life.  The liberation must begin with the great conversion…which, gathering itself to a mighty strength, will break through the frost-encrusted ground of adversity overnight…[Man] overlooks exterior signs of reality, and dulls his senses with daily routine until the avalanche of life drives him out of the cozy homes and well-tended gardens into the streets of distress and wandering…Life brings greater burdens and bears a richer cargo than we can cope with, comprehend, or manage alone…The great outcry to God must begin and not let up…The time of the great intercessors has come…Prepare the way.  This is a call to enter into history.”

PDF Printable Fourth Sunday of Advent

(For church or home use, or distribution.)