Small Catholic

These are some simple things we’ve done in our family to help make Advent a thoughtful, prayerful time for preparing our hearts and homes for Christmas. Now that our “children” are all young adults and mostly out of the house, things change more from year to year than when they were growing up. This is a quick list of what we typically did during their growing-up years.

For us, this begins with trying to hold off Christmas so that preparing and celebrating aren’t so mixed together that Christmas turns anti-climactic once all of the gifts are opened. So we try to focus on preparing during Advent and then celebrating during the twelve days of Christmas (which begins on Christmas day). We’re not purists, we just try to hold things back as we are able, such as having a number of very deliberate Advent customs and not decorating the Christmas tree until the very end of Advent. There are four simple things that we particularly enjoy doing during Advent.

1. Advent Wreath: An  Advent Wreath consists of four candles (three purple and one pink) and a circle of greenery. Before dinner each night we light the appropriate number of candles to correspond with the week of Advent (pink is the third week) and sing a verse of “O Come O Come Emmanuel”. The kids love taking turns lighting and unlighting the candles. A miniature candle snuffer (which works even for the ones too little to light candles) has always been a favorite part of this tradition. The Advent Wreath has the added advantage of pressuring us to sit down for dinner around the table together, which doesn’t happen as consistently at other times of the year.

2. Manger: We have a rough-hewn manger, just the size to fit a baby doll.  A decorated box would work just as well. All through Advent we place pieces of “straw” (strips of yellow construction paper) in the manger to symbolize good things we are doing to prepare our hearts for the birth of baby Jesus (like helping a younger sibling, going to Mass or confession, etc.) On Christmas morning, the manger is under the Christmas tree with Baby Jesus (a simple baby doll) comfortably nestled inside.

3. Nativity Set: We basically let our nativity set tell the Christmas story each year and everyone loves to help out. We have a small Fontanini set we started collecting when our oldest was three. These are great because they are beautiful, unbreakable, and you can add pieces a little at a time.

In the beginning of Advent we take out the stable with the animals, shepherds and the empty manger. We put Mary and Joseph in a different part of the house so that they can slowly make their way to the stable during Advent. Everyone has a hand in moving them around (and I must admit that they have occasionally gotten lost on their way to Bethlehem!). They finally arrive at the stable on Christmas Eve and the angels and Baby Jesus arrive by Christmas morning.

4. Help the Needy: It has been our tradition to pick a family from our Church’s giving tree to buy food for each year. We’ve traditionally looked for a family with similar number and ages of children. We make a special grocery shopping trip together just to purchase food for this family. The kids get to help pick out both practical and celebratory items for the family. They like helping with the process, but also feel the sacrifice of giving away something that they would really enjoy.