File: Advent

## Advent: The Marian Season of Waiting for the Lord

**Advent** is the liturgical season during which the Church prepares to celebrate the coming of the Lord. Mary is the living icon of Advent: she waits, she waits pregnant, she waits vigilantly. Understanding Advent from a Marian perspective means rediscovering how the Virgin illuminates all Christian waiting for the true Advent.

In this Advent dossier we gather texts, meditations, and mariological contributions to live Advent in the light of Mary, Mother of Hope. Delve into how Advent is realized in Mary’s “fiat” and how she educates the people of God in the art of waiting. Also see the Magisterium on Advent in *Marialis Cultus* (https://www.vatican.va/content/paul-vi/pt/apost_exhortations/documents/hf_p-vi_exh_19740202_marialis-cultus.html).

In essence, the Marian Advent invites us to wait with Mary, in silence, in adoration, in humility. To live Advent with the Virgin is to enter into her radical availability of *”eis me aqui”*. May this Advent be truly Marian for the whole Church.