The Benedict Year › Reading Backwards from the Pascha › Unit 3 · The Promise
Week 12 · 30 November – 4 December 2026 · Advent
The woman and the serpent
Unit 3 · The Promise: A branch for Advent that plants Isaiah 11, which comes back in May at confirmation.
Session A · the reading
About 55 minutes. Open and read aloud before any framing: no introduction, no “today we’re looking at”. Scripture first, then the Father.
- Genesis 3:1–15
- Irenaeus, On the Apostolic Preaching §§32–33: Mary as the new Eve
Session B · the argument
About 35 minutes, on another day. Never both in one sitting.
Read with parts. Genesis 3, with the serpent, the woman, the man and God.
Video. Messiah
The Tile Board
Add a card: The woman and the serpent’s head, with the passage and today’s date. Pencil a line to another card only if the child sees one.
Books this week
Optional: one piece of media
Sleeping Beauty (1959). Watched together, with nothing said about why it was chosen; how the list was made.
Advent begins on Sunday 29 November 2026.
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