My family and I are starting some new advent traditions this year. As you may know, we are a Catholic family, and traditionally Catholics actually don’t start the Christmas season until Christmas, unlike the rest of the United States who start celebrating right after Thanksgiving. I grew up celebrating like the rest of our culture in the U.S., but recently a friend brought up this book to me:
Why change?
I have already been thinking of doing the season of Advent differently, partly because of being inspired by Kendra Tierney and other Catholic bloggers. So, even though my husband and I already spent a few hours decorating for Christmas the day before Thanksgiving, we decided to take it all down and focus on Advent.
Wait, what?
Yes, yes we did. And yes, maybe we are a little bit crazy. But that’s okay. Crazy and I go way back.
Fortunately, we don’t have a TON of Christmas decorations, so when we bring them back out on Christmas Eve it won’t be too difficult. But I’m telling you, I can’t wait to see the look of joy on my children’s faces.
For the home
I also plan to buy a kid-friendly nativity scene, like this one:
A friend gave me the idea of having Mary and Joseph travel around the house, on their way to Bethlehem, and then on Christmas Eve they will have made it to the manger and baby Jesus will be born. We made an Advent wreath using a Dollar Tree wreath frame and Dollar Tree greenery. One of my dearest friends bought me some Advent candles. We will be saying an Advent prayer at least once a week as we light the candles.
For the heart
My husband and I plan to go to confession during this time. We also are using this time to reflect on our vocations as spouses and parents and getting very honest with ourselves.
Unexpected Blessing
I’ve been wanting to live more liturgically in our home, and this one change we made with waiting to celebrate Christmas has had a trans-formative effect. This past week when I meal planned I check the calendar and I noticed two feast days – Saint Francis Xavier and Feast of the Immaculate Conception, so I decided to celebrate! I planned for us to have takeout for Saint Francis Xavier’s feast day and for the Feast of the Immaculate Conception, we are going to have Fettuccine Alfredo since it is white, which represents purity.
Christmastide
On Christmas Eve we will go through our local Christmas tree lane and then put out all of the presents and Christmas decorations while our children are asleep. We will talk about the birth of Jesus and read some Christmas stories. We will attend mass either Christmas Eve or Christmas morning. We will keep our decorations up for the next 12 days (or more). We will turn up the Christmas music and sing Christmas carols. We will have a feast with family and friends. The twelve days of Christmas we will have special treats, and watch our favorite movies (Prancer, It’s A Wonderful Life). Maybe we will even have a little Twelth Night Party.
So basically, we are going to do the things we always do, cook, bake, and read stories but tailor it to whatever part of Advent we are celebrating. We won’t be declining invitations to Christmas parties during Advent or anything like that. We will just control what we do in our home.
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Advent: How We Try to Celebrate Things in Their Proper Season Without Feeling Like Total Jerks
What are some special traditions you have during Advent? Please let me know in the comments below!
Our family did the advent wreath when I was growing up. Although to be honest, most years it was only the first candle that ever got lit. After that first week, the wreath was left forgotten and dusty until Christmas day! I too want to incorporate Catholic traditions into the advent season. How did the kids like it?
The kids liked it very much! We lit each candle once a week ad said a prayer. The kids even held the candles and learned how to handle them safely. And Benjamin was the first to wake up on Christmas morning to see the whole house decorated – he had to sit down he was in such awe. He said “What!” lol