Sitting down in a quiet space to read Advent quotes can be a powerful way to reflect on why we celebrate this season.
In the weeks leading up to Christmas, we will spend time shopping for presents, decorating trees, and preparing to travel or host friends and family. In the hustle and bustle, the holidays can sometimes slip away from us. Before we know it, the season is over.
Focusing on Advent—the period beginning four Sundays before Christmas—can help us to slow down and appreciate this part of the year. It is a holy time that is marked by a sense of waiting and prayerful reflection. Advent is traditionally celebrated with lighting candles on a wreath each Sunday, while focusing on the four themes of the season: hope, love, joy, and peace.
READ MORE: 10 Interesting Facts About Advent
Popes, reverends, authors, and mystics have pondered and written about these themes in the Advent season. Here are 12 Advent quotes that will help you reflect and give thanks in the days leading up to Christmas.
Advent Quotes about Hope 
“It is the beautiful task of Advent to awaken in all of us memories of goodness and thus to open doors of hope.” —Pope Benedict XVI
“The season of Advent means there is something on the horizon the likes of which we have never seen before… So stay. Sit. Linger. Tarry. Ponder. Wait. Behold. Wonder. There will be time enough for running.” —Jan L. Richardson, artist
“The celebration of Advent is possible only to those who are troubled in soul, who know themselves to be poor and imperfect, and who look forward to something greater to come.” —Dietrich Bonhoeffer
Advent Quotes about Love
“At this Christmas when Christ comes, will He find a warm heart? Mark the season of Advent by loving and serving the others with God’s own love and concern.” —Mother Teresa
“Advent is a journey towards Bethlehem. May we let ourselves be drawn by the light of God made man.” —Pope Francis
“In the seasons of our Advent—waking, working, eating, sleeping, being—each breath is a breathing of Christ into the world.” —Caryll Houselander, mystic
Advent Quotes about Joy 
“God is coming! God is coming! All the element we swim in, this existence, echoes ahead the advent. God is coming! Can’t you feel it?” —Walter Wangerin, Jr., author
“Hills of the North, rejoice: Rivers and mountain-spring, Hark to the advent voice! Valley and lowland, sing!” —Charles Edward Oakley, hymnist
“The Lord is coming, always coming. When you have ears to hear and eyes to see, you will recognize him at any moment of your life. Life is Advent; life is recognizing the coming of the Lord.” —Henri Nouwen, priest
Advent Quotes about Peace
“The waiting of Advent teaches us to live in increments, in small pieces rather than large chunks. Waiting also teaches us to measure our progress slowly.” — Reverend Holly Whitcomb
“Let’s approach Christmas with an expectant hush, rather than a last-minute rush.” —Anonymous
“One of the essential paradoxes of Advent: that while we wait for God, we are with God all along, that while we need to be reassured of God’s arrival, or the arrival of our homecoming, we are already at home.” —Michelle Blake, author
