All make the sign of the cross as the leader says:

Our help is in the name of the Lord.

Response (R/): Who made heaven and earth.

Then the Scripture is read.

Choose from:

• Isaiah 9:1-2, 5-6;
• or Isaiah 63:16-17, 19;
• or Isaiah 64:2-7:

Reader: The Word of the Lord.

R/: Thanks be to God.

With hands joined, the leader says:

Lord our God,

we praise you for your Son, Jesus Christ:

he is Emmanuel, the hope of the peoples,

he is the wisdom that teaches and guides us,

he is the Savior of every nation.

Lord God,

let your blessing come upon us

as we light the candles of this wreath.

May the wreath and its light

be a sign of Christ’s promise to bring us salvation.

May he come quickly and not delay.

We ask this through Christ our Lord.

R/: Amen.

The blessing may conclude with a verse from “O Come, O Come, Emmanuel”:

O come, desire of nations, bind

in one the hearts of humankind;

bid ev’ry sad division cease

and be thyself our Prince of peace.

Rejoice! Rejoice! Emmanuel

shall come to thee, O Israel.