• Five Fast Facts About Advent
• A Family Advent Guide
• Ten Tips for Observing the Advent Season
• Start a new family Advent tradition
• Advent Joy for Kids - Activities and crafts
• Catholic Advent prayers
• Activity: Acts of Mercy, Acts of Love
• Catholic Advent Crafts and Activities for Kids

Every morning, Juan Diego Cuauhtlatoatzin, whose name means “the talking eagle,” would walk fifteen miles to daily Mass. One morning as Juan passed by a large hill named Tepeyac, he heard some beautiful music and a woman’s voice said, “Juan! Little Juan Diego!” At the top of the hill he saw a beautiful lady dressed like an Indian princess. She said she was the Mother of God, and asked him to tell the bishop that a church should be built in the place where she stood. Juan did as he was told, but the bishop was cautious about believing him, and asked Juan to ask the Lady for a sign.

Our Lady told Juan to return the next day and she would give him a sign for the bishop. But, instead of meeting Our Lady, the next day Juan hurried to find a priest to anoint his sick uncle. On his way, Juan again saw Our Lady who said, “Your uncle will not die at this time. His health is restored and he is quite well. Go to the top of the hill and cut the flowers that are growing there. Bring them to me.”

It was winter and too cold for flowers to be growing, but Juan did as Our Lady asked. At the top of the hill, he found the most beautiful roses! He quickly cut them and brought them back to Mary, who arranged them with her own hands in his tilma, or cloak. She then sent him to show the bishop the sign he requested and to remind him of her desire that a church be built. As Juan proudly opened his tilma to show him the beautiful flowers, the bishop fell to his knees in reverent awe. But it was not the flowers that they were looking at on Juan’s tilma. There, printed miraculously, was the image of the beautiful Lady. This was the bishop's sign, and the church was built. 

The image of Our Lady of Guadalupe remains miraculously preserved on Juan’s tilma, which is on display in the cathedral that was built on the site where Juan met Our Lady. Devotion to Our Lady of Guadalupe has spread far and wide since she first appeared to Juan Diego nearly five hundred years ago. 

Each liturgical year begins on the First Sunday of Advent, and consists of a seasonal cycle (the Proper of Time) and a sanctoral cycle (the Proper of Saints). Both are organized and published in a liturgical calendar, which is also enriched by observances proper to local Churches, whether national, diocesan, parish-level, or religious community. The Paschal Mystery of Jesus Christ - his suffering, death, and resurrection - is continuously proclaimed and renewed through celebrating the events of his life and in the feasts of the Blessed Virgin Mary and the saints.

The liturgical year is made up of six seasons:

• Advent - four weeks of preparation before the celebration of Jesus' birth
• Christmas - recalling the Nativity of Jesus Christ and his manifestation to all people
• Ordinary Time - divided into two sections (one span of 4-8 weeks after Christmas Time and another lasting about six months after Easter Time), wherein the faithful consider the fullness of Jesus' teachings and works among his people
• Lent - a six-week period of penance before Easter
• Sacred Paschal Triduum - the holiest "Three Days" of the Church's year, where the faithful recall the suffering, death, and resurrection of Jesus
• Easter - 50 days of joyful celebration of the Lord's resurrection from the dead and his sending forth of the Holy Spirit