Week One - HOPE

A few points to remember as we move through
this 2021 Advent Series at St. Anastasia Parish

There are FOUR words we want you to remember to assist you in your preparation for Advent.  The first word is… HOPE!

Permit me to offer a few encouraging words and quotes to assist us in staying Hopeful while staying “... vigilant at all times…” Lk 21:36 

The key for me is simply remembering that I am loved by God.

“The human person is not the self-made-man plastered all over billboards and magazines, but is God’s greatest masterpiece of creation.”
-Pope Saint John Paul II

“Man is the only being which God had created for its own sake.”
-Pope Saint John Paul II

“How beautiful and freeing it is to know that
I exist because I have been loved by God.” 
-Cardinal Sarah

These quotes should encourage a soul to “be vigilant at all times …” Lk 21:36

When we are loved and we know that, then our hearts will not become drowsy from the anxieties of daily life.  The challenges and distractions of life will always be present.  

But when a soul is: 

• fully aware that they are loved, 
• that God has their back, 
• that they do not need to seek approval or acceptance from another, because God has already done that for us.  
• Then, we CAN STAY HOPEFUL, WHILE STAYING VIGILANT!!!

Practice this first week of Advent stay “HOPEFUL.”
...and remember, no matter what challenges you face, 
YOU ARE GOD’S MASTERPIECE.  

“I am the product of a free decision by God,
who from all eternity willed my existence.”
-Cardinal Sarah

The Angelus Prayer is a simple tool to assist
us in staying Hopeful and remembering to stay Vigilant. 

The Angelus is a short practice of devotion in honor of the Incarnation of the Word, repeated three times each day(morning, noon, and evening). It consists, essentially, in the triple repetition of the Hail Mary, to which in later times have been added three introductory verses and a concluding verse and prayer.  The devotion derives its name from the first word of the three verses, i.e. Angelus Domini nuntiavit Mariæ (The angel of the Lord declared unto Mary).