9 Beautiful Online Advent Calendars Offer Spiritual Opportunity at the Computer

The tradition of the Advent calendar is known to have existed in some form since the middle of the 19th century. For Christians all over the world, it has been used as a devotional tool to countdown the days of the Advent season which culminates with the Christmas holiday. Advent calendars have commonly been used for the education and entertainment of children, as scriptural reading guides and as festive seasonal decorations.

Recently, technology has enabled a new twist on this old tradition. Online Advent calendars allow individuals to easily explore scripture, commentary and other content through the familiar form of the calendar. HuffPost Religion has compiled a few of our favorites which offer unique and thoughtful contributions to this Advent season.

• • • • • • • • • "Love Revealed" by Trinity Wall Street Episcopal Church offers an inspiring profile of a young person who is making a difference in the world for each day of the Advent season.

Comments

[freeonlinecalendar]

04:58 PM on 01/19/2011

I chek out Advent through http://www.convenientcalendar.com

[Sheena Phillips]

12:32 AM on 12/20/2010

If you are interested in online Advent calendars, I invite you also to look at one that I created with a friend in Oxford, UK, combining images and music for each day of Advent: www.calendar4advent.com

[freeonlinecalendar]

05:04 PM on 01/19/2011

check out a new free online calendar http://www.convenientcalendar.com

[TOS100]

09:55 AM on 12/05/2010

A physical manifestation of superstition. How cute and disturbing.

[Adam Creen]

12:33 AM on 12/01/2010

Try this British one: http://bit.ly/adcal10 and for previous years from the same people, http://adamcreen.blogspot.com

[SensibleJoe]

11:17 PM on 11/30/2010

Wonderful! Advent is a special time of year -- an antidote to the ugliness and poison of Black Friday and the mad rush until Christmas. I think my favorite of the choices given was this one:

http://www.loyolapress.com/childrens-advent-calendar.htm#first

Quite frankly, the simple wisdom and discipline it offers aren't just for children. Adults can practice them too -- and many need to.

[peterz]

08:19 PM on 11/30/2010

What does "spiritual" mean?

seriously, I would like to know what the readers think.

[SensibleJoe]

11:15 PM on 11/30/2010

"Spiritual" probably means a lot of different things to a lot of different people. But I would say "spiritual" means something that takes us out of the isolation of our own individual egos and appetites and makes us realize that life involves connection to a higher power, a deeper purpose, a more profound meaning and solidarity with other human beings and the world in which we all live. The result, the goal, the end game? Love for all, step by step along our brief passage through life on this planet.

[Tulka2]

07:49 PM on 11/30/2010

As a cradle Catholic and practicing Buddhist, i want to thank you.  Lovely tradition to remind children the spiritual side of the dark time on the planet.   Well to remind everyone, but the one you have here for children might be the best of all of them.

[belle etranger]

02:39 PM on 11/30/2010

Beautiful!

[limestonegoth]

11:43 AM on 11/30/2010

Thank you for posting these links. I've bookmarked several of them.

[goddess1871]

09:07 AM on 11/30/2010

I thought Advent was a way of figuring out how many days you had left to spend beyond your means before Christmas.

Seriously, though, those advent calendars are both interesting and lovely.

[Weirdwriter]

02:59 PM on 11/30/2010

Heh. Makes me wonder why we haven't seen more stores put out their own versions...

On the 12th day before Christmas, bargains were to see.....