"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 Sunday of Advent with Fr. Alfred Delp....

Excerpts from "Homily for the Fourth Sunday of Advent, Preached in Munich, December 21, 1941:"

"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. They are just pathos; they are talk; they are gestures and rhetoric; but they are not genuine and do not stem from the final reality within us. The fourth Advent call signifies a fundamental attitude of man. It is an old term, a forgotten word, and a forgotten value: FEAR OF GOD...

I do not mean being afraid of God. There is no greater parody and no greater caricature of the meaning of religion than wanting to build a religion upon fear...

Man must learn again-really, personally, practically, and daily-to reckon with God as the ultimate category of reality, as the decisive judgment of all that exists...

...'under the high priests Annas and Caiaphas,' and that tells us that, not only was there no hope from worldly power, the holy place was also sold out...

In such times one must be motivated, not from willfulness, or personal whim, or personal programs, but really from the very heart and center of reality after having subjected oneself to God the Lord and wrestled with His Word...

Anxiety, that unworthy, inner subversion of mankind, fades away...

In His presence, the other voices fall silent...

...the person who has seen God, is so totally different, so totally other-because our God is totally Other, with a fullness and order different from what the world sees at first glance. Further, someone who observes the otherness of the believer will be changed by it...

...he is master of the situation and of all things, because of being truly in contact with the center of reality..."

In this homily, Fr. Delp discusses a "fear" or a holy awe of God which necessitates at ultimate intimacy with Him, an intimacy which changes us. The Gradual of this traditional Mass declares:

"The Lord is near to all who call upon Him, to all who call upon Him in truth." (Psalm 145)

This union with God is not merely our goal or end, it is to be experienced right now in the present moment. The door we must pass through is the door of contrition in the sacrament of Penance, which leads us to Holy Communion, where we become one in mind and heart with Christ. May we, this Christmas, receive Him with a deeper spirit of yielding than ever before, becoming "so totally other," that we will shine with His light for all to see!