Advent with St. Oscar Romero

Last year during Advent I happened to be reading a book about St. Oscar Romero, the great Salvadoran bishop and martyr. The book included a few excerpts from his Advent homilies in the years just before he was killed, and I was deeply moved by them. As Advent approached this year, I began to think about making an intentional practice of reading those homilies during this holy season. When I discovered that the readings we will hear at Sunday mass this year are the very same ones he preached on in 1977, I knew it was something I wanted to commit to, and something I wanted to make available to all of you as well. The Archbishop Romero Trust very generously granted me permission to excerpt the homilies from their website, and I encourage you to visit it! The full texts of the homilies are available there, in Spanish and in English, and you can also listen to audio recordings of Romero delivering his homilies as radio addresses to his people. What a gift!

The Advent devotional covers the four Sundays of Advent and the Feast of Christmas. Each homily is covered in two sections, with excerpts and a few reflections and suggestions for meditative prayer. In this busy season, this devotional isn’t intended to be another obligation for your to-do list, but rather a place of deep rest and peace. You can turn to each homily on whatever two days you like, or read through both sections at once. On some pages there is a bit of blank space for journaling, but it certainly isn’t required. I believe there are as many different ways of praying as there are human beings; please feel free to be yourself.

There is a box just below this paragraph where you can enter your email address, and you will receive an email with a link to download the PDF of the Advent devotional. Feel free to print it if you like, or just use it on your screen. The devotional is free. My greatest hope is simply to share the wisdom and beauty of this great saint with you.

If you have any questions please email me at cameron dot bellm at gmail dot com. I’m praying that you will have a rich and beautiful Advent. St. Oscar Romero, pray for us!