“If we do not embrace the darkness,” writes Fr. John Nepil, “we cannot welcome the light. This is the heart of Advent: a season of trustful surrender, renewed receptivity, and silent vigil. It is the time when we wait for the coming of the light not just in the Christ child at Christmas, but in the inner illumination of God’s presence in the soul. God, who is conceived in silence and born in poverty, comes again to fill the soul with light.”

In Illuminate: A Guided Advent Journal for Prayer and Meditation, Fr. John leads you on a four-week journey through darkness to light. Beginning with the prologue of St. John’s gospel, he reveals the profound hope found in the Word made flesh the sacred mystery of the Incarnation.