rigorous advent 2023

How are we to approach Advent? Is it a time of joy, expectation, or both?

Maybe it’s a time to do Christmas shopping, eh?  Just kidding.

What’s the best way to prepare for the birth of our Lord?

How Would You Like To Have a More Rigorous, Penitential Advent this 2023?

Since 2019, we have been offering our Rigorous Advent program, which is a devotional program steeped in Catholic tradition, and guaranteed to inspire you to spiritually prepare you for the birth of our Lord.

This program was created by Cynthia Burley, Lay Dominican and owner of BeautySoAncient.com.

Who is this program for

This program is for anyone who is looking for more this Advent: more devotion, more opreparation for Christmas, more work on your interior life, more of a focus on our Lord and our


Why this Program?

You can certainly visit various blogs and get some good material, but it’s nice to also follow an EXCELLENT, structured program where everything is located in one place for easy reference.


What Do I Get With This Program?

This year we will be using St. Alphonsus Liguori’s The Road to Bethlehem: Daily Meditations for Advent and Christmas, by TAN Books, along with some other traditional books.

You don’t need to buy the book, but you might want to, because it’s that good!

As part of the Rigorous Advent Program, you will receive.

  • Short, inspirational reflections in your inbox (5x a week).
  • Four weeks of inspirational and thought-provoking material starting from Sunday, December 3rd – Saturday, December 23rd. Some sample topics: Vainglory, Interior & Interior Silence, Spiritual poverty, Seeking Sanctity in Your State of Life, 10 Ways to Have an Advent of Joyful Penance, the love of God and much, much more!
  • Short, 5-10 minute daily Advent audio & text devotions using the wisdom of the Church Fathers, and Traditional sources such as Divine Intimacy.
  • Weekly, meaty inspirational blog posts on Advent and the interior life.
  • Daily quotes to meditate upon.

The Road to Bethlehem: Daily Meditations for Advent and Christmas

road to bethlehem

You have LIFETIME access to Rigorous Lent 2019.


Here is a sample of one of the audios from Rigorous Advent 2019.

On Vainglory


Here is a sample of one of Cynthia’s podcasts on suffering.


I just found out about this program. Can I sign up after Advent has begun?

Absolutely. You will have access to all past and future content.