A D V E N T
Marana tha! Przyjdź Jezu Panie,
W swej chwale do nas zejdź!
Marana tha!
Usłysz wołanie, gdy się wypełnią wieki.
The Liturgical Year opens with the first Sunday of Advent. This is the liturgical period in which the Church annually relives the Chosen People's time of awaiting the Messiah. For the faithful this is a time of awaiting the Lord, a time of longing for God's grace and for God's friendship of which we are deprived because of our human failings and sinfulness. This is also a time of longing for the final coming of Christ at the end of time and a period of reflection over one's personal life and final things. Traditionally, it was also a time of fasting, symbolized in church by the penitential purple vestments of the priest. Scriptural readings refer to St. John the Baptist, or Forerunner, who prepared the way for the Lord through repentance, as well as to the prophet Isaiah who foretold the Divine Incarnation. Advent is a difficult time for the naturally cheerful Slavic disposition. There are no weddings or boisterous dances. Catholics and even school children adhere to this.
