This is the first year DH, DS, and I will be home for Christmas. We have discussed what we want our family to get out of Advent and Christmas and have come up with a list of activites and prayers we are going to use throughout the season.
First, we will be using an Advent wreath to count along the days of Advent with the Church. Last night we had an opening prayer and brief reading from Sacred Scripture to help set the tone for Advent. Every night we will be lighting the candles for that week and receiting a short antiphon (the “O” Antiphons of Advent) asking for Our Lord to come into our lives this Christmas.
Secondly, we will be doing a Jesse Tree. The Jesse Tree is used to follow the geneology of Christ from God forming Adam and Eve to Christ’s birth. Each day DS and I will design and make an ornament to go on our (currently bare) Christmas tree. Each ornament will represent one of the ancestors of Christ. At night, as a family, we will gather together to pray and light the Advent wreath, then listen to a short reading about the ancestor of Christ we learned about that day. Then we will hang our ornament on the tree. We will also be adding a ribbon (purple or pink) for each day of Advent.
On the vigil of Christmas, we will add our last ornament: a chi-rho symbol announcing that Christ has come into our world. Then we will remove the Jesse tree ornaments and decorate the Christmas tree. (BTW, this also solves the problem I had of putting up the tree and DS getting into the ornaments all advent).
Lastly, we will have our empty manger from the nativty scene on our family alter with the Advent wreath. DS and I will recite a short prayer each morning after our normal morning prayers asking Jesus to prepare a place in our hearts for Him this Advent as we prepare a place for Him in our home. On Christmas Eve day, Our Lady and St. Joseph (and their donkey) will arrive at the manger. Later that evening, when the vigil has begun, DS (the youngest member of our house, as the tradition goes) will be allowed to place the Infant Jesus in the manger, and the angels (well, right now we only have one) will arrive to adore Him.
This is how we have it worked out in theory. Like I said, this is our first year doing this. DH and I were both raised in houses where Santa was the biggest part of Christmas, no emphasis on Advent and very little on Christ. So we are learning as we go. I like the old German tradition of the adults decorating the tree and revealing it to the children on Christmas Eve. It would fit in nicely with what we are doing, we could even have baby Jesus in the manger and have the kids come in and oooh! ahhh! Baby Jesus is here and the tree is decorated andt here are presents!
After Christmas we are going to try and leave our decorations up until the Epiphany- some of the decorations on the tree may have to come down depending on how good DS is. The nativity will definitely be left out and the Magi brought out. We are going to start them on one side of the room and every night after prayers we will move them closer to the nativity. On the Eve of the Epiphany they will arrive at the nativity to adore Our Lord. I am not sure whatelse we will do for that day yet.
Some great websites for ideas for feast days are
www.catholicculture.com and
www.domestic-church.com.
Good luck!
