English Speaking Catholic Community of Dhaka - ESCCD

01/01/2023

Merry Christmas & Happy New Year, to you all.
Forgive & forget, and serve all.
Wishing good fortune to you all,
May the Lord forever show mercy upon all.

11/12/2022

Happy Gaudete Sunday!
The word "Gaudete" is Latin for "Rejoice"
The traditions surrounding this Sunday goes back as far as the fourth or fifth century, as does the season of Advent itself.
Advent, our preparation for Christmas, was originally a forty-day penitential season like Lent. In fact, since it used to begin on 12 November (just after the Memorial of St. Martin of Tours), it was often called "Saint Martin's Lent." In the ninth century, the duration of Advent was reduced to four weeks (a period starting four Sundays before Christmas), and Advent preserved most of the characteristics of a penitential season, which made it a kind of counterpart to Lent.
On Gaudete Sunday, the season of Advent shifts its focus. For the first two weeks of Advent, the focus can be summed up in the phrase, "The Lord is coming." But beginning with this Sunday, the summary might be, "The Lord is near." This shift is marked by a lighter mood and a heightened sense of joyous anticipation.
Liturgically, the colours lighten as well. The priest usually wears rose-coloured vestments, a hue seen only on Gaudete Sunday and Laetare Sunday. On this Sunday, we light the third candle of the Advent Wreath, which is also rose-coloured.

04/12/2022

28/11/2022

The Advent Wreath is a Christian tradition that symbolizes the passage of the four weeks of Advent in the Liturgical Calendar of the Latin Church. It is traditionally a Lutheran practice, although it has spread to many other Christian denominations.
Advent Wreaths are circular, representing God's infinite love, and are usually made of evergreen leaves, which "represent the hope of eternal life brought by Jesus Christ". Within the Advent Wreath are candles that generally represent the four weeks of the Advent season as well as "the light of God coming into the world through the birth of Jesus Christ" although each of the candles has its own significance as well.
Beginning with the First Sunday of Advent, the lighting of a candle is accompanied by a Bible reading, prayers and hymns. An additional candle is lit on each subsequent Sunday until, by the last Sunday of Advent, all four candles are lit. Some Advent Wreaths include a fifth candle of white colour, which is lit at Christmas Eve or Christmas Day.

27/11/2022

Hey, party Catholics!
Advent and the New Catholic Liturgical Year just had begun!
Time to bust out your Advent Wreath, your 2022 Liturgical Year Wall Calendar, Straw for Baby Jesus, Jesse Trees, and make some prayer and liturgical living resolutions, choose a patron saint, and drink a toast to the new year!

In the Latin Catholic Church, the liturgical calendar begins on the 1st Sunday of Advent, which means we begin each year with our preparations for the birth of the baby Jesus!
Advent is traditionally a time of prayer and fasting (it was sometimes called the "Little Lent") during which we prepare our hearts and our homes for the coming of Christ at Christmastime.