Teach Us to Number Our Days: A Liturgical Advent Calendar [Large Print] [Paperback]
Review
A workbook for making an Advent calendar out of just about any material available – even junk mail! Follows the calendar, has concise commentary and ample line-drawing illustrations. — The Living Church, December 5, 1999
Teach Us To Number Our Days is a complete, “user friendly”, highly recommended guide to Advent for all celebrants. — The Midwest Book Review, James Cox, Editor-in-chief
Product Description
Teach Us To Number Our Days, however, is more than a simple crafts book. Baumgarten provides readers with a brief history of the development of Advent in the Christian calendar, as well as detailed explanations of the various Christian symbols that can be used during the season. Paying attention to both the Old and New Testament symbols, as well as the Sundays of Advent and the Great ‘O’ Antiphons from December 17-23, this book is a complete guide to Advent for individuals, families, and churches.
Barbara Dee Baumgarten seeks to understand the relationship between visual art and theology. She has a Ph. D. in Theology and the Arts from the Graduate Theological Union in Berkeley, California. She is also a quilter, and teaches quilting to others. Barbara lives with her family in Santa Paula, California.
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2 Responses
This is really an excellent explanation of Advent. The projects are a little more difficult than I really wanted to do, but I am thrilled with how detailed the book is. I would recommend it for anyone who wanted to understand what Advent is and what the symbols mean.
The book guides you through planning and creating an Advent calendar that interweaves the liturgy of the season with your everyday Christmas preparations, giving rich significance to such “menial” things as housecleaning, and serving as a reminder to do everything “as unto the Lord.” You can choose from three different materials/levels of difficulty, and each one comes with step-by-step instructions and a shopping list! The book is written from a Catholic perspective, and the calendar is easy to adapt to other Christian traditions. Some days (like the 4 Sundays of Advent) have specific themes, but even the “doors” on those days can be personalized with different decorations and Scripture verses. Other days, you choose something that suits your family — a school house for the last day of school or a Christmas tree for the day you decorate your tree. Each day’s theme also comes with one or more Scriptures, a brief “lesson” and a prayer. For families used to starting the day with a devotional, this puts a different spin on it. For families that aren’t, it’s a great way to start. I’ve found a wonderful way of reducing the stress and reminding my family what’s really important.