Are you ready for Advent? Here’s a checklist of eight Advent practices you can do with your family, plus a list of important feasts and holidays during Advent.
8 practical ways to get ready for Advent
Thanksgiving and Advent readiness
Catholic mom Sarah Reinhard writes, “The world in mid-November is gray and dull, sometimes smattered with snow and sometimes with piles of leaves. There’s a nip in the air, both inside and out, and the days are short enough that it’s sometimes a struggle to get out of bed. I usually face this time of year with a certain rebellious denial. It happens, every single year, and there’s never a surprise. Thanksgiving comes, just as it always does, and Advent leads to Christmas, all the same. This year, I’d like to focus on the gratitude of the family feast and on the silence of the December journey through Advent.” Read Sarah’s plan online.
Have yourself a drama-free Christmas
Can you have a drama-free Christmas? Ever since Cory Bussee’s mom and dad passed, family holidays have taken on a very weird flavor. He and his wife, and his siblings and their spouses and kids, all struggle with family identity now that the keepers of their shared history and traditions are gone. So, the family decided to host a “Drama-Free Christmas.” To pull it off, they made three, simple rules. Discover what they are online.
Celebrate the feast of Our Lady of Guadalupe with your kids
The feast day of Our Lady of Guadalupe on December twelfth, recalls the appearance in 1531 of the Virgin Mary to Saint Juan Diego, a native who had recently converted to Catholicism, at a place called Tepeyac in what is now Mexico City. Celebrate the feast day of Our Lady of Guadalupe with food, prayer, a story, and videos about the miraculous image. Find everything online.
Advent around the world
Most of us are familiar with European Advent customs such as the Advent wreath, the Jesse tree and Advent calendars. While these traditions are popular, they aren’t the only way Christians prepare to celebrate the birth of Jesus. This year, add a little international flavor to your Advent by circling the globe with these ’round the world customs. Visit us online to find a variety of customs!
