Advent

About this plan

Advent is the season of waiting before Christmas, and this plan makes it a daily habit: four weeks of readings that begin with the prophets’ promises and arrive at the angel’s visit to Mary. Each week has a theme, hope, peace, joy and love, and each day has a short reading, often with a psalm.

The week of hope goes back to the beginning: Isaiah’s comfort, the promises to Abraham and David, and the cry of Lamentations 3 for God to act. In the week of peace, Isaiah 9 and Micah 5 name the child born in Bethlehem who will be called Prince of Peace, and Malachi and John the Baptist prepare his way. Joy turns to the wilderness that blossoms in Isaiah 35. Love begins with the Annunciation in Luke 1 and, in a year when Advent runs its full 28 days, ends on Christmas Eve with Isaiah 62 and Psalm 24.

Because it follows the church year, it begins on the first Sunday of Advent. The Twelve Days of Christmas picks up on Christmas Day.

What you’ll read

• Hope: the promisesDays 1–7Isaiah 40, Genesis 12, 2 Samuel 7, Lamentations 3
• Peace: the child and the wayDays 8–14Isaiah 9, Micah 5, Ephesians 2, Isaiah 32
• Joy: the wilderness bloomsDays 15–21Zephaniah 3, Isaiah 35, Isaiah 61, Habakkuk 3
• Love: the angel and MaryDays 22–28Luke 1, John 3, 1 John 3–4, Isaiah 62

57 chapters · 22 books · every Advent

This plan follows the church year: Day 1 is the first Sunday of Advent, between 27 November and 3 December, and the last reading falls on Christmas Eve. Advent lasts 22 to 28 days, so in a shorter year the plan ends on Christmas Eve before its final readings.