My dear grandchildren, please gather around the big armchair, for today marks the beginning of the most wonderful time of the year. Today is the First Sunday of Advent, and the house already smells of pine, chestnuts, and something much greater: hope.

Do you know what Advent means? It comes from a Latin word that means “coming.” God himself comes to visit us. But he doesn’t arrive all at once like the Three Wise Men, no; he wants us to prepare our homes for him wholeheartedly, little by little, over four whole Sundays.

That’s why we make the Advent wreath. Look at it: it’s round because God’s love has no beginning and no end. The branches are always green because God never withers or tires of loving us. And the four candles represent the four weeks until Christmas.

Today we light the first candle, which is called “the candle of hope.” It is violet because violet is the color of waiting and of life change. When we light it, we pray like this:

“Lord, You who made a star shine to guide the Magi, light within us today the little light of hope. May we never tire of hoping for good things, even when everything seems dark. Amen.”

Do you remember the story of the people of Israel? For hundreds and hundreds of years they lived waiting for the Savior. The prophets repeated: “Be comforted, my people! Your God is coming!” And one day, the prophet Isaiah cried out with all his soul: “The people who walked in darkness have seen a great light!” That light was Jesus, who came to heal broken hearts, to bring smiles back to the sad, and to tell us that we are never alone.

At home, we have always put small lights in the windows during Advent, not the big, bright Christmas lights yet, but soft lights, like the light of someone who waits with an awake heart.

A very old and very Catholic tradition is to write on small pieces of paper what we most wish to change before Christmas: to be more obedient, to help more at home, to pray more, to forgive someone… We fold them and place them inside the wreath, at the base of the candle. Each week, when we light the next candle, we burn one of these pieces of paper, as if saying: “Lord, I offer this to you so that you may make it new.”

And so, my children, the first candle teaches us that hope is not waiting sitting down: it is lighting a light in the middle of the night.