Advent traditions

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Miguelmdza

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Advent is coming soon. I was jus baptized this Easter, so I am pretty new to the Catholic Faith and Traditions. I wanted to get some ideas on how to celebrate Advent with the family and hear how other celebrate it. I am planning to buy an Advent wreath, a Nativity scene, and maybe a Niño Dios (Baby Jesus). Should these things be enough? What are some suggestions. I want to start planning early so I can set out to buy everything before the last minute.
 
A good way to celebrate Advent with your family is to have a Jesse Tree. You can make your own or you can go to your local Catholic gift shop where they should have them. It helps the children pass the days until Christmas, and gives the meaning of the season–besides waiting for Santa and Christmas gifts. 🙂
 
Miguelmdza said:
Advent is coming soon. I was jus baptized this Easter, so I am pretty new to the Catholic Faith and Traditions. I wanted to get some ideas on how to celebrate Advent with the family and hear how other celebrate it. I am planning to buy an Advent wreath, a Nativity scene, and maybe a Niño Dios (Baby Jesus). Should these things be enough? What are some suggestions. I want to start planning early so I can set out to buy everything before the last minute.
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I hope you have a joyous Advent, but you don’t really need to buy any of those things as they are not essential for Catholics- just go to Mass and focus on the wonderful scriptual readings you will hear. There are some wonderful Advent books with short readings and prayers that can add to the sense of anticipation. If you do buy these things, the nativity scense should strictly only appear just before Christmas, and be aware that the Advent Wreath, though used now in Catholic churches, has its origins from the Lutheran Chirch in the late 19th Century.
 
Miguelmdza said:
Advent is coming soon. I was jus baptized this Easter, so I am pretty new to the Catholic Faith and Traditions. I wanted to get some ideas on how to celebrate Advent with the family and hear how other celebrate it. I am planning to buy an Advent wreath, a Nativity scene, and maybe a Niño Dios (Baby Jesus). Should these things be enough? What are some suggestions. I want to start planning early so I can set out to buy everything before the last minute.
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The things you want to buy are nice, but not essential. What is essential is the spiritual preparation. Ask your priest to explain the meaning of each of the 4 Sundays, and discuss them with your family on each of them.

Have your children participate n decisions about the gifts you will give the baby Lord Jesus. Remind them that he said that if you give even a cup of cold water in his name, you have given it to him. Apply it by deciding how you will participate in your parish’s charities with gifts for Jesus this season. A gift for Jesus is a gift of a sweater for a poor person or q shiny new toy for child who has few if any. It can be a donation to one of your parish’s ministries. My parish has children present wrapped presents to the infant Jesus at the creche. They are specifically chosen for children from poor families that receive regular aid from the parish and have been specifically bought to fulfill a wish expressed by the recipient. A little girl may have asked for a doll or pretty shoes in her size. A mother may have asked for a crockpot. Jesus loves and receives these gifts.

If you decide to have the Advent wreath and light it each Sunday, remember that the candles are three in deep purple and one in rose (for Gaudete). Light them at the family dinner table before saying grace and dining together; after dinner, have the children stay at the table while the father reads the day’s Gospel from the lectionary, followed by praying together.

Consider your Christmas decorations. Perhaps you want to start replacing Santa images with ones that represent Jesus. Focus more on prayer and joy at great gift of God, his son made incarnate for our sakes, and less on Santa, reindeer and snowmen.

God bless you!
 
Thank you all. All these are great ideas on how to celebrate Advent in a more spiritual way. I really l liked the idea of giving presents to Jesus (the poor). I might try that. Once again, thank you all for your great suggestions.
 
I would not discourage you from getting an advent wreath or nativity. They can be very helpful visual signs, especially for children who are not familiar with what advent is all about or even the story of Christ’s birth. I found the Jesse tree to be great with mid-elementary school children. They are old enough to help make the ornaments and understand the stories and keep track of all the people.
I also suggest you start looking through your usual Christmas ornaments. You don’t need to get rid of family favorites, but perhaps consider starting to replace Santa’s, cartoon chao, and other completely secular decorations. Don’t become unnaturally pious and dour though. Advent is a time of meditation, but the Christmas season is definitely a time of rejoicing!
 
Mrs_Sally said:
I would not discourage you from getting an advent wreath or nativity. They can be very helpful visual signs, especially for children who are not familiar with what advent is all about or even the story of Christ’s birth. I found the Jesse tree to be great with mid-elementary school children. They are old enough to help make the ornaments and understand the stories and keep track of all the people.
I also suggest you start looking through your usual Christmas ornaments. You don’t need to get rid of family favorites, but perhaps consider starting to replace Santa’s, cartoon chao, and other completely secular decorations. Don’t become unnaturally pious and dour though. Advent is a time of meditation, but the Christmas season is definitely a time of rejoicing!
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I agree, because I have an eight-year-old niece who is learning about the Catholic Faith and my sister who is older than me, but really new to the Catholic Faith as well. We were Jehovah’s Witnesses for a while until we turned back to the Catholic Church and I decided to get baptized. So I believe that visual signs will help greatly. Thank you.
 
Miguelmdza said:
Advent is coming soon. I was jus baptized this Easter, so I am pretty new to the Catholic Faith and Traditions. I wanted to get some ideas on how to celebrate Advent with the family and hear how other celebrate it. I am planning to buy an Advent wreath, a Nativity scene, and maybe a Niño Dios (Baby Jesus). Should these things be enough? What are some suggestions. I want to start planning early so I can set out to buy everything before the last minute.
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don’t listen to christmas music till Christmas. Note it’s my own tradition not a family thing. 🙂
 
If you want to utilize the Jesse Tree (which is a great preparation for Advent), the Diocese of Eerie has some pre-made ornaments you can just print out and use:

eriercd.org/jessetree.htm

That’s helpful if you don’t have the time (or artistic flair ;)) to draw them all yourself. We printed them out and laminated them all, so they work well.

Also, the Vatican has a neat document called the Directory on Popular Piety and the Liturgy. It’s a handy place to go to get ideas for things like this. [Paragraphs 96-105](http://www.vatican.va/roman_curia/c..._doc_20020513_vers-direttorio_en.html#Chapter Four) cover Advent.
 
As to the secular Santa, put in his rightful place–as a cultural icon, he’s harmless enough. But, you may want to celebrate the Feast of St. Nicholas, which falls in Advent, December 6, so that your children come to appreciate him as the patron saint of children. There are traditions that come with celebrating him, such as leaving them oranges in their shoes, etc. that they might enjoy having/doing. Many parishes have someone dress up as the Saint to replace the idea of Santa in the minds/hearts of their children. 🙂

As Catholics we can embrace anything that is wholesome and delightfully innocent, so don’t become too stringent because that only serves to separate us from our culture and so make us unapproachable. For we are in the world but not of the world. And, as St. Paul said, we accept whatever is good and acceptable in order to reach others with the Gospel, which is our main goal, in our homes and in society.
 
Joe_5859 said:
If you want to utilize the Jesse Tree (which is a great preparation for Advent), the Diocese of Eerie has some pre-made ornaments you can just print out and use:

eriercd.org/jessetree.htm

That’s helpful if you don’t have the time (or artistic flair ;)) to draw them all yourself. We printed them out and laminated them all, so they work well.

Also, the Vatican has a neat document called the Directory on Popular Piety and the Liturgy. It’s a handy place to go to get ideas for things like this. [Paragraphs 96-105](http://www.vatican.va/roman_curia/c..._doc_20020513_vers-direttorio_en.html#Chapter Four) cover Advent.
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Thank you. This was very helpful. I will certainly take a look at these websites.
 
My wife and I are basically reverts, and looking deeper into advent is what brought us back.

We did an advent wreath (lit daily at dinner), prayers, and when it came time listened to the “O Antiphons” every night during dinner as well. We also created a station on Pandora that played traditional Christmas carols and listened to that during dinner. Some other stuff too.
 
`~We have an Advent Calendar… ( little windows, with verse/picture under each )
~An Advent wreath with 3 purple and 1 pink candle… Every Sunday of Advent, we light it at the dinner table, and pray a family devotion specifically for advent), and dinner during the week, we light the candle(s)
~We have a few nativity/ mangers set up ( 1 in each of the kids bedrooms, and 1 larger one in the living room near the Christmas tree.)
~We put baby Jesus in the manger at midnight on Christmas Eve.

~When the kids were little, I would wrap Christmas books in Christmas paper, and they could read a book a night right up until Christmas… Most were the Christmas story, and “religious”, but some were just fun seasonal books…

I love Advent! I think it’s the most beautiful time of year (liturgically speaking!:))
 
Miguelmdza said:
I agree, because I have an eight-year-old niece who is learning about the Catholic Faith and my sister who is older than me, but really new to the Catholic Faith as well. We were Jehovah’s Witnesses for a while until we turned back to the Catholic Church and I decided to get baptized. So I believe that visual signs will help greatly. Thank you.
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I have to agree… my kids are teens now… but when they were younger, they NEEDED the visual signs of Advent to keep it in their mind.
Good luck with your Advent planning!!!
 
Also, remember that traditionally Advent is a penitential season like Septuagesima and Lent, but in a different way: more like putting ourselves in the place of the pre-Christian world mortifying our heart to be ready when the Savoir appears.

The Catholic Encyclopedia has a good, short article about the Church’s intentions for this season: newadvent.org/cathen/01165a.htm
 
Also, if you folks put your Christmas tree up the day after Thanksgiving, like a lot of people do, you can decorate it with purple decorations/ribbons, add rose-colored ones on Guadete Sunday (3rd Sunday in Advent) and then on Christmas Eve replace them or add to them with your regular Christmas decorations. We’ve done that over the years because we have 4 very curious cats, so we can’t burn Advent wreath candles. Just a thought. 🙂
 
cshoremom said:
I have to agree… my kids are teens now… but when they were younger, they NEEDED the visual signs of Advent to keep it in their mind.
Good luck with your Advent planning!!!
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Heck, I was 30 and needed the visual signs. They and the other traditions exist for a reason, after all.
“The great majority of people will go on observing forms that cannot be explained; they will keep Christmas Day with Christmas gifts and Christmas benedictions; they will continue to do it; and some day suddenly wake up and discover why.”
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cshoremom said:
`~We have an Advent Calendar… ( little windows, with verse/picture under each )
~An Advent wreath with 3 purple and 1 pink candle… Every Sunday of Advent, we light it at the dinner table, and pray a family devotion specifically for advent), and dinner during the week, we light the candle(s)
~We have a few nativity/ mangers set up ( 1 in each of the kids bedrooms, and 1 larger one in the living room near the Christmas tree.)
~We put baby Jesus in the manger at midnight on Christmas Eve.

~When the kids were little, I would wrap Christmas books in Christmas paper, and they could read a book a night right up until Christmas… Most were the Christmas story, and “religious”, but some were just fun seasonal books…

I love Advent! I think it’s the most beautiful time of year (liturgically speaking!:))
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That sound like a really good idea. Sounds like I should try this. I’m excited about Advent and like you stated, about loving Advent, I might love Advent too because it is one of the most beautiful times in the Church as we wait for Christ. One quick question, when do you recommend I set up the nativity set? I just bought mine and it is a good looking set 😃
 
Miguelmdza said:
That sound like a really good idea. Sounds like I should try this. I’m excited about Advent and like you stated, about loving Advent, I might love Advent too because it is one of the most beautiful times in the Church as we wait for Christ. One quick question, when do you recommend I set up the nativity set? I just bought mine and it is a good looking set 😃
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What many do, including several parishes, is to set up the stable and the crèche but leave them empty until Christmas Eve in anticipation of the Birth of the Christ Child.
 
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