The Advent Candle. We have a very lovely nativity candle that comes in 4 pieces. I have had it for several years and some of the pieces are missing, but I love that it has the wise men, a shepherd, and angel, and most important, the Holy Family. I still have yet to find a simple prayer to say before we light it at dinner each night. With so many little kiddos around the table ready to dig in to dinner, I need something short and sweet!
The St Andrew Christmas Novena. Oh I love this prayer. Imagining our Blessed Mother at night, in the cold, giving birth. I can easily close my eyes and be immediately be sent to Bethlehem 2000 years ago. Here it is in case you have never heard of it.
Hail and blessed be the hour and moment in which the Son of God was born of the most pure Virgin Mary, at midnight, in Bethlehem, in piercing cold. In that hour, vouchsafe, O my God! to hear my prayer and grant my desires, through the merits of Our Saviour Jesus Christ, and of His Blessed Mother. Amen.
This novena is a little different, in that you begin it on November 30, which is the feast day of St Andrew the Apostle. You pray it every day from then until Christmas and you say it 15 times a day. If you wish to spread those 15 times over the course that's fine, or say them all at once, which is what we do.
The Jesse Tree. Several years back, several home school families got together and made ornaments. One mom provided a list with the scripture for each day and a suggested ornament theme. Each family chose the day, or days, and made 20+ ornaments of all the same kind. It was so much easier to make 20 of the same as opposed to one for each day on your own. If you ever have a chance to do a co-op project like this, DO IT!! I love all of our ornaments. Each family used a different medium: glass, clay, cardboard, wood, cloth, you get the picture. Here is a picture from a few years back of our finished tree.
Advent Chain. This is a super simple, easy craft to do. This year I passed on the scissors and stapler to my 12 year old to make them. You just cut out strips of construction paper, loop them together, staple and voila! A countdown for inquisitive children. No more, "How many days until Christmas?" You can either do traditional Advent colors, Purple, Purple, Rose, Purple, to match the candles on your Advent wreath, but we had to go with red, green and white, as I found myself with no purple construction paper! Oh well, better luck next year.
Resolutions: This is something new we are trying this year. I found it in a wonderful Schoenstatt Advent devotional. You write 24 resolutions, they may be prayers for others or acts of charity, whatever fits your family best. Cut these into slips of paper and slip them into little envelopes and hang on ribbons. We hung 6 days each to 4 ribbons. Each evening we will open an envelope and read the resolution to be performed the next day. Here are the ones I wrote up for our family, if you would like to borrow them and change them for your family, go right ahead!
Day 1
Resolve to begin each day in prayer.
Learn a Morning Offering or recite the
“My Queen, my mother...” consecration
prayer.
Day 2
Spend some time today praying for
our Holy Father, Pope Francis' intentions
for this month. Resolve to learn what his
intentions are every month and pray for those
intentions.
Day 3
When feeling angry at another person today,
pray the St Michael the Archangel prayer and
ask for his protection from all the snares set
for you by the devil.
Day 4
Do something nice for someone in secret.
It could be just a little thing, like St Therese
used to do. Just a little thing goes a long way.
Day 5
When asked to do something that you don't
really want to do, offer it up with a prayer
for the Poor Souls in Purgatory. Pray, “Eternal
rest, grant unto them, O Lord, and let perpetual
light shine upon them. May their souls and
all the souls of the faithful departed
through the mercy of God, rest in peace. Amen.”
Day 6
On this Feast of St Nicholas, pray for all children
who will wake up cold and hungry. Offer small
sacrifices for them throughout the day.
Day 7
“The harvest is abundant but the laborers are few.” Matt 9:37
Pray for an increase in vocations throughout the day.
Day 8
It is the Feast of the Immaculate Conception
Pray a Holy Rosary for the Poor Souls in
Purgatory.
Day 9
Anytime you feel mad or discouraged, pray
the Guardian Angel prayer, asking your Guardian
Angel to guide you.
Day 10
On this Feast of St Juan Diego, pray that all those
who do not know the Catholic faith will
seek out the true faith and convert to
Catholicism.
Day 11
Every time you use water: wash your hands, brush
your teeth, flush a toilet, pray for children in countries
where they do not have access to fresh water.
Day 12
On this Feast of Our Lady of Guadalupe,
pray a Holy Rosary for the unborn and their mothers.
Day 13
Offer some little sacrifice for the Poor Souls
in Purgatory.
Day 14
Pray a Memorare for all your grandparents.
Day 15
Do some chore without being asked.
Day 16
Make your heart pure for the Baby Jesus by
praying an Act of Contrition.
Day 17
Today is the Feast of St Lazarus, the man Jesus raised
from the dead. Pray for all the Holy Souls in Purgatory,
Eternal Father, I offer Thee the Most Precious Blood
of Thy Divine Son, Jesus, in union with the masses
said throughout the world today, for all the holy
souls in purgatory, for sinners everywhere, for
sinners in the universal church, those in my own
home and within my family. Amen.
Day 18
Surprise someone by doing something nice for them. Don't let
them know it was you!
Day 19
Besides givng up meat today (since it is a Friday) try sacrificing
something else you love and offer it to Our Lord for
children who will be spending Christmas in the hospital.
Day 20
Say a prayer for all the children who have lost a parent
or are living without their parents or who are orphans.
Day 21
At Mass today, pray for all those who do not know
Jesus or who have turned away from their Catholic
faith.
Day 22
Pray for all the holy priests that they may always
follow the Holy Spirit and be a good shepherd who
leads his sheep to Jesus.
Day 23
Count all the windows in your house today and pray that
many “Hail Mary's” for children who have no home or
live in tiny one room dirt huts. Remember Jesus who
did not even have a bed to sleep in when He was born.
Day 24
Try to be extra nice and well behaved today, remembering
how Jesus would have acted as a child. Thank God
for becoming a man to teach us how to act and to
save us from our sins.
Advent Calendars. Yes, I buy each child one of those silly, chocolate filled calendars you can buy anywhere for a buck. They love 'em. I also have a window cling tree that gets an ornament each day of December through the 25th. Then, I have thisone which has magnets you attach to the magnetic back with all the nativity people and animals. I admit, I also fill each day with candy. The children rotate days, so every 8th day, you get the candy and hang the magnet.
Reading. Christmas Mosaic by Cay Gibson I discovered this jam-packed gem a few years back and love it! I dig into all her suggestions and start putting holds on all the books at my library.
There are also so many beautiful feast days sprinkled throughout the month of December: St. Nicholas, the Feast of the Immaculate Conception, St. Juan Diego, Our Lady of Guadalupe, St. Lucy and so many more.
Each family needs to figure out ahead of time what they want to do for their Advent preparations. Whether you spend a little time every day in some activity or one day a week, children will get caught up in the spirit of the Advent season in preparation for the birth of Our Savior on December 25. Even if you fall behind, remember, the Christmas season lasts TWELVE whole days, not just one. After the wrapping paper is out in the trash cans and all those little twist ties that hold toys into their cardboard homes are thrown out, you can still keep celebrating for a few more weeks! Wishing everyone a blessed Advent season.
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