Roman Advent Calendar VI: Introduction

INTRODUCTION: My blog has not been as active as it was in the past. Facebook and my classroom blog (www.Ambrit5L.blogspot.com) have been taking it's place. But with a new Advent Season I decided to again dust off the AMOROMA blog and share a 6th Roman Advent Calendar. 

I remember Advent Calendars from my childhood, and over the years I shared them with my own kids, Emily and Peter. We would look forward to opening a window and revealing a picture, and sometimes a verse, relating to Christmas. (It seemed we only had windows. Friends have remembered chocolates or small gifts behind the windows.)

Previous years I have posted Roman windows, doors, gates, angels and fountains. This year I will continue my Advent Calendar tradition with Modern Churches in Rome. It is a type of building that is usually not seen in the Eternal City by most visitors (and residents). Every day of Advent you will be able to log in and see a different church of the 20th or 21st century that I have encountered here in Rome.

The churches will be presented in chronological order, beginning with a church built in 1956. I will also offer for your Advent reflection the collect from the Book of Common Prayer for each of the Sundays in Advent. On weekdays I will post a scripture text from the daily readings for Advent found in Lesser Feasts and Fasts (now published as Holy Women, Holy Men) from the Episcopal Church. The photos are all taken by me when I visited the churches. I am aware of over 250 churches built in Rome since 1950. I haven't visited most of them, but during Advent I will be sharing a couple dozen of my favorites. 

I hope you enjoy this time of waiting (ADVENT) through these postings featuring Modern Churches in Rome.

O Come, O Come Emmanuel!

Chairs are a good place for waiting. These photo shows the presider's chair in the Chiesa delle Santissima Annunciazione a Via Ardeatina. Architect: Ignazio Breccia, 1987. I thought chairs in a church dedicated to the Annunciation would be a good photo for this introduction.