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Advent is a time for us to prepare for the coming of Christ – not just the Baby in the manger, but His actual second coming. We do this as Catholics all the time by focusing on inviting God into our daily lives and making room in our hearts for Him, but Advent is a time when we rededicate ourselves to it. After all, Advent marks the beginning of the Liturgical Year, and people love New Year's Resolutions, right?

"Prepare the Way of the Lord: Open Your Heart with Prayer this Advent" by Christine Johnson (CatholicMom.com) Copyright 2016 Christine Johnson. All rights reserved.

If you're looking for a way to up your prayer life, the Magnificat Advent App is perfect! The app contains Psalms, Scripture, and meditations for morning, evening, and night, as well as extra features to enhance your Advent (such as a blessing for you wreath and your Christmas tree, a blessing for a Christmas stable, poetry and prayers, and even the O Antiphons). Each day of Advent features a kind of mini versions of Morning, Evening, and Night Prayers, as well as a meditation for the day and the readings for Mass. It's a great way to ease yourself into a practice like Divine Office/Liturgy of the Hours, and you can even allow the app to give you reminders to pray at the appropriate times of day.

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magnificat-advent-companion-2016

The daily meditations that Magnificat has on the Gospel are always beautiful, and this Advent Companion is no exception. Each day, the writers draw us deeper into the Scripture stories and closer to God as we contemplate how to make ourselves ready for the King of kings. In fact, the entire Advent Companion is a wonderful way to step up your prayer life and grow closer to God as you prepare for Christmas. The Advent Companion will guide you each day through traditional prayers and Psalms, and even automatically pulls up things like the O Antiphons, typically sung between December 17 and 24.

I'm finding that the app is easy to use, and I'm looking forward to using it with my teenage daughters, who don't typically sit with me through the traditional Liturgy of the Hours that I pray as a Lay Dominican. The Advent Companion App is available in the iOS App Store for $1.99.

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Read more articles in our 2016 Advent Guide.

Advent Guide 2016 (CatholicMom.com) Photo copyright Christine Marciniak. Used with permission. All rights reserved.

©2016 Christine Johnson