As Christians mark the Fourth Sunday of Advent Dec. 23, Pope Francis reminded the faithful that the season of Advent is “a good time to purify the spirit, to make the faith grow with this purification.”
It is important, the Pontiff said, to keep one’s faith “alive” and not just practiced out of habit.
“It can happen that faith can become a habit for us, we can get used to it, forgetting its liveliness. When faith becomes a habit, we lose that strength of the faith, that newness of the faith that is always renewed,” the Holy Father said in a message for Advent.
In churches today, readings, prayers, and reflections will focus on the narratives and events that surround the final theme of the Advent season: The Annunciation of the Birth of Jesus.
Priests in violet vestments will lead church rites that include the lighting of the third purple candle – the symbol of love – in the Advent wreath to emphasize the nearness of the joyous celebration of the Birth of Jesus Christ.
The two purple candles, which symbolize penance and hope, respectively, as well as the pink candle, which symbolizes joy, will be re-lighted, leaving only the white center candle, which symbolizes Christ. The white candle will be lighted during the “Misa de Gallo,” the Christmas Eve mass, at midnight tomorrow, Dec. 24, to herald the onset of Christmas. (Christina I. Hermoso)