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Advent Ideas Families Can Share
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Celebrate St. Nicholas Day ~
December 6th. Read/find out more about the Patron Saint of young
children. Leave shoes out at night to be filled with treats/
surprises. Give things to the poor.
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Utilize Holiday Cards ~ place in a
holder near the family table. Pull out 1-2 cards each day / meal and
talk of that person / family. Share stories. Pray for them!
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Make family / individual advent wreath
~ place play dough / clay in holes of 1/3 egg carton or 4-cup fast
food drink holder. Add candles and greenery. (If you don’t have
purple/pink candles around the house, try birthday candles.)
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Celebrate feast of the Holy Family
(first Sunday after Christmas) ~ Plan something to do TOGETHER! Create
your own family traditions. Give praise to each other.
Epiphany Customs -- From
Catholic Family, Catholic Home, by Mary Kathleen Glavich, SND
“On entering the house, they (the Magi) saw the child with Mary his
mother; and they knelt down and paid him homage” (Matthew 2: 11). The
Feast of Epiphany, also called Little Christmas and Twelfth Night, is
one of the oldest feasts of Christianity. It commemorates the Magi’s
visit to the child Jesus, when the Good News of the Savior’s birth was
revealed to the Gentiles. Several traditions have arisen in
celebration of this feast.
Here are
some ways to observe Epiphany:
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The progress of the Magi ~ Set the
statues of the three kings riding some distance away from the Nativity
scene. Every day, move them a little closer until on Epiphany they are
around the crib.
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Make a cake and add coins wrapped in foil.
Eaters find a coin and talk with each other about the Christmas story.
(i.e. 25 cents for Jesus, 10 cents each for Mary & Joseph, 5 cents for
each king, 1 cent for shepherds, etc.)
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Home Blessing ~ The leader
accompanied by the family goes from room to room blessing the house
with holy water and praying a prayer such as the following: “Lord, our
God, bless this home that it may be holy and full of life. May it be a
place of laughter, work and prayer, peace and love. Keep in your care
all whom live and enter here. This we ask, Father, Son, and Holy
Spirit, Amen.” Or simply: “We bless this room in thanksgiving to God
the Father, Son and Holy Spirit, Amen.”
The leader marks one of the doorways with colored chalk, writing the
two halves of the year on either side of the initials of the three
Magi (Caspar, Melchior, and Balthazar): 20 + C + M + B + 03
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Three Kings’ Cake ~ European
tradition: Inside the cake, which is like a large cookie, there is a
dried bean, a thimble, a dime, or another treasure. Whoever finds the
object in his or her piece of cake will supposedly have wealth in the
coming year or become king or queen of an Epiphany party. To avoid
breaking a tooth, you might simply make a cake in the shape of a
crown, such as a Bundt cake or angel food cake, with gumdrop or
jellybean jewels. Or, you can make crown-shaped cookies.
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Mission Activities ~ Hold a prayer
service for the missions that incorporates the song “We Three Kings.”
Decide on a family project to raise funds to send to the missions.
December 6th.
Other Family Activities between Christmas and New
Year’s -- From
Building Catholic Family Traditions by Paul and Leisa Thigpen
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Feast of the Holy Innocents / Childermas
(December 28) ~ This day remembers the children ages two
and under who were murdered by Herod in his attempt to kill Jesus (see
Matthew 2:16). Many Catholic families find this a fitting occasion to
pray for the victims of abortion and to pray that this holocaust will
end soon.
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Saint Sylvester’s Day (December 31)
~ An ancient tradition encourages Catholic families to attend Mass on
this, the last day of the year. In France and French Canada, in the
evening (or on New Year’s Day) fathers traditionally bless their wives
and children with the sign of the cross. Many Catholics make a “holy
hour” of concentrated prayer on this evening, asking God to bless the
new year to come.
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Solemnity of Mary, Mother of God (January 1)
~
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New Years Day
~ Some families reserve a portion of
the Christmas gifts to be given out on this day, the octave (or eighth
day) of Christmas. In some parts of France, all the gifts are given
this day. German families traditionally take time for the children to
thank their parents this day for their kindness and care during the
past year, and to wish them God’s blessing on the year to come.
In the old rural Russian – German communities of the American Midwest,
the children of the neighborhood went to visit their relatives and
friends on New Year’s Day (godparents first), with a customary
greeting: “I wish you a happy New Year, long life, health, peace, and
harmony, after death eternal happiness.” The children then received
good wishes in reply, in the form of candy, cookies, or small sums of
money. Today the Weuenscher (well-wishers) include entire families who
visit and share refreshments with neighbors.
If celebrating with friends, have guest bring old videos / photo
albums showing the families together at past events. Bring baby photos
and shuffle them up – take turns trying to correctly identify those in
the pictures.
Keep a family journal with highlights from the past year and goals and
wishes for the year. Make it a tradition to set realistic objectives
for the coming year. These can be physical, spiritual, intellectual,
financial or other important areas of personal / family life.
Plan schedules for visiting friends or for family vacations for the
year. Children can help preparing for the big event.
Additional ideas ~ The
Essential Advent & Christmas Handbook, compiled by Thomas M.
Santa, Liguori Publications, 2000; a comprehensive collection of
prayers, practices and customs. |
