Collections of Christmas music often include a few popular Advent hymns sung in Protestant services and even in Christmas parties, such as "Joy to the World," "It Came Upon a Midnight Clear" and, ...

When many Catholics think of Advent music, what comes to mind is O Come, O Come, Emmanuel and maybe The King of Glory. However, the Church possesses a treasure house of hymns and carols that ...

"O Lord, How Shall I Meet You" is a perfect Lutheran hymn for the weeks before Christmas, but shoppers will never hear it between Muzak versions of "Jingle Bells" and ...

Our culture doesn't understand the idea of fasting before feasting. We are urged to party and feast all the time." Collections of Christmas music often include a few popular Advent hymns sung in ...

Last year, America published “An (unconventional) Advent Playlist,” an article including two playlists by Karen Nielsen and Rogelio Juárez, in response to a friend’s lament that “‘O Come, O Come ...

Advent for some Christian denominations is a penitential season of waiting and longing in the four weeks before Christmas. The consumer-driven holiday season often overlooks the Advent themes of ...

I entered parish ministry with a fair amount of idealism, particularly liturgical idealism. Inconveniently, the liturgical proclivities I picked up in seminary were not especially popular with my ...

There’s a perennial debate that arises at the end of every year when December and the beginning of Advent roll around. It’s one that leaves all of the people who have started humming carols under ...

When “Santa Baby” starts playing at the grocery store, I thank God I’m Catholic and try not to hum along! That can be difficult because it is a catchy—if irritating—tune. During the Advent season, we ...

Let's face it, the Christmas season comes at us hard and fast — and early! And once it does, it's full-on immersion: food, songs, shopping, decorations, parties, school concerts and presents — "not ...

Wreaths, candles and calendars. These are sure signs of Advent for many Christian groups around the world. But what is Advent exactly? Spiritually, it’s meant as a celebration of the Earthly birth of ...

Our culture doesn't understand the idea of fasting before feasting. We are urged to party and feast all the time." Collections of Christmas music often include a few popular Advent hymns sung in ...