Advent Wreath Candle Lighting Liturgy for Families

There's no right or wrong way to do a family advent candle wreath. But here’s the liturgy I came up with for our family this year. It contains some responses, which are great for making the kids feel a part of things, and then it concludes with a traditional advent prayer of the week. 

Leader: The people walking in darkness have seen a great light; on those living in the land of the shadow of death, a light has dawned. Come to us, O Christ the Light.

All: Come to us, O Christ the Light. 

Leader: Jesus, light of the world, shine on us. Lights the candle(s).  

All: Jesus, light of the world, shine on us.  

Leader: Prays prayer for the week.  

All: Amen. 

Week One: O Lord, stir up your might, we beg you, and come that by your protection we may deserve to be rescued from the threatening dangers of our sins and saved by your deliverance. Through Christ our Lord. 

Week Two: O Lord, stir up our hearts that we may prepare for your only begotten Son, that through His coming we may be made worthy to serve you with pure minds through Christ our Lord. 

Week Three: O Lord, we beg you to incline your ear to our prayers and enlighten the darkness of our minds by the grace of your visitation. Through Christ our Lord. 

Week Four: O Lord, stir up your power, we pray you, and come; and with great might help us, that with the help of your Grace, your merciful forgiveness may hasten what our sins impede. Through Christ our Lord.

Alternative Advent Wreath

My frugal self can’t help but get frustrated at how quickly my Advent candles burn down. Even when I buy two sets for the season, a tiny part of me becomes preoccupied with blowing them out quickly so I don’t need to buy a third set before Christmas arrives. Yes, it’s ridiculous. But it is what it is. And that’s why I’m so fond of my second advent wreath. 

We have a traditional advent wreath with the tall taper candles on our kitchen table. But in our living room, I have a variation. It uses purple and pink votive candle holder and white tea lights. So, yup, the candles are totally cheap to replace.

To make your own, you just need three purple votive holders and one pink votive holder. Lunabazaar.com has lots of styles to choose from. Yay for simple yet sweet!

Songs for Advent

As Advent launches us into a new church year, it becomes hard to resist the celebratory songs of Christmas. Yet we must wait. We must wait, pregnant with the longing of the Virgin Mary. We must wait, looking for a Savior with the people of God. Our hearts must sing, “O Come, O come" before we can rejoice that the Lord is come. Here are the songs on my Advent playlist:

• Heard You Were a King
• From the Squalor of a Borrowed Stable (Not entirely "Advent-y," but our former Anglican parish reserved song for Advent season, so I associate it that way.)
• Exodus 15 (I love the refrain, "And I will prepare him my heart.")
• O Come, O Come Emmanuel (After sampling far too many breathy, borderline-sensual versions of this song, I settled for this arrangement.)
• On Jordan’s Bank the Baptist’s Cry (This is a decent arrangement if you're looking for a more contemporary version of this hymn. Of course, there are also many beautiful choral arrangements.)
• People Look East 

Any additional recommendations?