Adventus Domini

Dear OLOSA Parents,

A happy belated Thanksgiving to you all.

The Academy seems to be doing very well. The children are growing day by day. We witness them developing in virtue, both intellectual and moral, with your parenting on the home front and reinforcing it in the Academy. I would like to share a very encouraging moment with you. I was speaking with one of the students in my office about their actions a few days previous, after my opening words the student told me that this same topic had already been discussed with the parents and I was echoing that message in my office. It was a great joy for me to see the child had already receive the critique from the parents and now it was being reinforced by myself in the Academy. When we are able to do this the children will grow quickly into strong virtuous adults. I am obliged to thank you all for the continued support you are offering the Academy in the formation of your children. This is indeed a tremendous task to form these young souls into the next generation of Church Militant. We will continue to have a great impact on them if we keep the united front in this undertaking.

Following on these lines, I would like to recommend some practices for the home and point out what we will do in the Academy during the Advent season. I hope this will help us to develop a Catholic culture within your homes off of which the Academy may build. Continuing to have a knowledge of what is happening in both places of formation will help us better support one another. 

As we know, Adventus Domini, the coming of the Lord, happens in three ways. The first coming happened historically at the first Christmas when Our Lord was born in a manger. Secondly, Our Lord will come to judge the living and the dead at the end of the world. And the third coming of the Lord is His spiritual coming into the soul. In this Advent season, we remember the historical coming in order to receive Him in His spiritual coming which will prepare us for His final coming in the Last Judgement.

Holy Mother the Church in the season of Advent places before our eyes the Old Testament and the preparing of the way of the Lord. We are to remember that without a Redeemer there is no hope of salvation. It is only through Our Lord Jesus Christ that we are saved. We should image the desire of the Chosen People awaiting the coming of the Promised One. This desire for the coming of the messiah should be the same longing we have for the coming of Our Lord into our souls at Christmas. We want the children and ourselves to focus on this desire during this time of preparation. Christ is coming but we must make straight the way of the Lord.

Every family will have their own Advent traditions and this is a good thing. We don't need everyone to have the same traditions in their home, however, these traditions should be intentional and rooted in Catholic doctrine. I would like to give you some resources to help continue to construct your Advent traditions. You don't need to take all of them or even one completely. They are here offered to give you an aid in preparing for the coming of the Lord. 

• The Spiritual Crib is a beautiful tradition which can help us prepare our souls with a place for Our Lord in the next weeks. I have attached a PDF with the ideas as well as the link to a website explaining it a little.
• The Jesse Tree is a more interactive preparation. It also can provide a great time for the family to gather around a listen to readings and speak about Our Lord. I have attached a PDF which helps explain the idea.
• The Advent Wreath is a traditional practice and one which we do in the Church as well. The link is to an explanation provided by the SSPX on the Advent Wreath.
• From Advent to Epiphany Daily readings and meditations to pray alone or as a family by Fr. Patrick Troadec SSPX, is a book I would recommend. This is a simple read of about two pages a day. It can help to bring beautiful thoughts to the family for each day whether at the beginning of the day or the end with the rosary.
• The Vesper's O Antiphons are the antiphons for the last days before Christmas. From the 17th of December to the 23rd, these are sung after rosary at OLOS. They are very beautiful and a great final preparation for the feast as the first letters of each antiphon written backwards spell out "Ero Cras" "I shall be here tomorrow"
• "O silent night" is a familiar classic for the Christmas season. It is good for us to start the preparation for the silent night with more silence in the home in the evenings of Advent. Taking some time for these devotions with a few moments of silence contemplation is a great custom. To silence our cell phones and technology after dinner is a great Advent resolution for all of us. It will help us to pick up one of these practices and connect with our loved ones at the same time. Advent calls for a spirit of recollected silence as we prepare for the coming of Emmanuel, God among us. Fighting against the noise of the world is important for us to be able to hear the voice of God. Lead your families with this example of focusing on the important things in life and not being distracted by the mundane.

I encourage you bring some of these traditions into your own family traditions. During this season while we are not celebration the birth of Our Lord we must prepare for it. We should not be having parties and celebrations before the feast but this doesn't mean we sit around and are sad while we wait for it to appear. We should have a healthy energetic expectation of the coming of Our Savior as we do the best we can to prepare our souls to welcome Him at the Midnight Mass. Catholics fast before we feast. We must be active in the "fast" during Advent as the better we prepare the happier we are during the celebration.

Side note: this preparation of Advent may also pair nicely with your preparation for the Enthronement of the Sacred Heart in your family. For those who have not yet had the privilege of having the Enthronement preformed, Fr. Buschmann and the other priests are happy to do so for you. It may workout best for us to plan to do so during the Christmas season as it is a good time to celebrate. We will have a sign up for the Enthronement which you will be able to join at a later date.

The Academy will also be working to prepare for the coming of Christ. The sisters will be working with the Lower Academy to have resolutions during this time as they did last year. The Upper Academy will be supported in making one resolution per week for the Academy. They will be able to speak with the staff to get ideas and to put it into practice. We will have an Advent Wreath for line up and will be switching the Salve Regina to the Alma Redemptoris Mater as the song to Our Lady at lineup. Each class may also have their own individual practices as well but these are the general one we will be doing in the Academy.

Thank you for your support again. We are working to form an elite for the Catholic Church within your families. With the grace of God, your children will be the next generation of saints carrying on the same fight which goes all the way back to Our Lord Himself and the reason for His Incarnation, the glory of God the Father and the salvation of souls. Wishing you a great start to the Advent season and perseverance to the end.

In the Sacred and Immaculate Hearts, 

Fr. Samuel Fabula | FSSPX
Principal