I don’t know about you, but Advent can sometimes feel a little overwhelming. There are all the pressures of preparing for Christmas, with all the practicalities that entails, and then, alongside them, the invitation to enter into a season of patient, gentle waiting as the new liturgical year begins.

Advent can easily become just one more thing to tick off the list in the lead-up to Christmas Day. I don’t think this is how Advent is meant to be.

For the past few years here at Monastic Retreats, we have recorded and released daily Lectio Divina podcasts: simple readings of Scripture, accompanied by gentle music, with each episode lasting no more than a few minutes. They have felt both sustainable and achievable, and many others have found them helpful too, with more than 30,000 downloads last year.

So this year, we are continuing that tradition. Each day of Advent, we will release a short Scripture reading for you to listen to on your drive home from work, or perhaps simply to have playing in the background as you prepare a meal.

This year, following the traditional practice of the Church of England, we will journey together through the stories of the patriarchs, the prophets, John the Baptist and Mary. Each day’s reading will offer us something from the life and witness of these people, and a little space in which to pause and reflect.

We have also made available a simple journal to give you a place to notice what has resonated with you in each day’s reading. There is no need to write much. Maybe just a word, a phrase, a thought, or simply a sense of what you have noticed in prayer.

My hope is that, when Christmas finally arrives, you will be able to look back and see the presence of God in your Advent season.

Peace and every good,

Listen to the podcast

Purchase the Accompanying Journal