News:
2016 Advent Calendar

• The words of Pope Francis taken from his 2016 Apostolic Exhortation Amoris Laetitia (The Joy of Love), his letter marking the conclusion of the Jubilee of Mercy Misericordia et Misera, his 2015 encyclical letter Laudato Si’ (Praise be to you), his daily homilies from Casa Santa Marta and his Twitter feed;
• Mass Readings and Saint of the Day;
• Advent videos: blessing of the crib in the home, blessing of the advent wreath in the home, prayer when lighting the lights on the Christmas tree, family table prayer;
• Advent music;
• Information on saints during the Advent such as Saint Nicholas;
• Video and text reflections from Pope Francis and Irish bishops
• Family prayers (mother and child, children, grandparents, parents and godparents);
• Prayers for the season: for families in need, for those suffering neglect and violence, for Irish emigrants, for those in prison, for those who are sick, for refugees and migrants; for Christians suffering in the Middle East and Iraq and for those in difficulty here in Ireland;
• Faithbytes: Short snippets from the Bible, the Catechism (including the Adult Catechism published by the Irish Catholic Bishops’ Conference) and Share the Good News.
• Resources for Advent and Christmas from Veritas, including a book of the day recommendation;
• Advent events in dioceses and parishes;
• Information on Trócaire’s Global Gifts for 2016;
• Food Bank appeals from around the country such as Crosscare in Dublin and information on the work of the Society of Saint Vincent de Paul;
• Advent and Christmas messages from Irish bishops in preparation for the Nativity of Our Lord.

Advent Facebook page
An accompanying Facebook page is also available and can be found at https://www.facebook.com/AdventSeason2016. We will be sharing all the daily content from the Advent Calendar on here and also including resources from dioceses and parishes.