Reading by Candlelight – Advent book group

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As darkness moves towards light, you are warmly invited to join the Church’s Ministry of Healing: Ireland for a reflective Advent reading group. Sign up for one week or more, and, best of all, we will send you the texts, so you don’t have to buy any books! Book via Eventbrite HERE, or if you have difficulties with this, email hello@ministryofhealing.ie. This is a donation-based group – you choose how much you would like to donate.

Week 1 (3rd December): “the solid existence of love” – preparing for Christmas Day

· “Christmas Eve,” by Maeve Brennan (a short story, first published in The New Yorker in 1972) – audio version, read by Roddy Doyle, available

· “Christmas Eve: My Mother Dressing,” by Toi Derricotte (a poem)

Week 2 (10th December): “the smaller you are, the bigger Christmas is” – childhood and Christmas

· “Christmas,” a chapter from the memoir Sculptor’s Daughter, by Tove Jansson, (published in 1968)

· “Taking Down the Tree,” by Jane Kenyon (a poem)

· “Christmas, 1970,” by Sandra M. Castillo (a poem)

Week 3 (17th December): “eventually they noticed” – Christmas cooking

· “This Year it will be Different,” by Maeve Binchy (1996) (short story)

· a short extract from The Green Road by Anne Enright (2015)

· a short extract from “Village Christmas” by Laurie Lee (published 2015 but written much earlier)

· a short extract from A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens (1843)

Week 4 (7th January 2026): “snow was general all over Ireland”

· The Dead by James Joyce (1914)

Each session offers gentle discussion, space for reflection, and the gift of listening — a pause in the busyness of winter to rest, read, and renew the spirit. Gather with us for four evenings as we explore and discuss short stories, poems, and reflections that open the heart to the season’s mystery and hope. Together we’ll read works that explore the complexity of Christmas from a child’s point of view, the sometimes painful family dynamics of celebration, and the moments of beauty that remain etched in memory.

Each reading group meeting will start with an introduction to the authors, their lives, their work, and their artistic views. We will then open up discussion, comments, likes and dislikes, and any thoughts or ideas you want to share. If you prefer to listen rather than speak, to have your camera off, or to journal or sketch during the discussion, please do!