Episode 54: Holiday Traditions…Advent With More Jesus and Less Stress
What You’ll Learn
Advent (01:25)
The Advent Wreath (02:00)
The Advent Journey (Jesse Tree) (09:22)
O’Antiphons (12:50)
Almsgiving (13:20)
Recap (16:55)
Invitation (17:30)
The holidays with kids are both incredibly beautiful and overwhelmingly full of challenges, like organizing all the people, planning meals, packing for trips or preparing for guests, not to mention all the gifts & MORE! This week we want to give you a peek behind the curtain, and tell you ALL about the holidays and traditions we celebrate in our homes. BUT, as you listen remember…we’re sharing ideas, customs, and traditions from over the years and how they’ve been shaped in the different seasons of motherhood. Your seasons will change, your capacity will change, and you still have plenty of time to try-on traditions to see what fits your family best.
Advent (01:25)
Advent has its basis in Latin, and it means, “To come to.” For us, it’s a time of waiting, hope, and joy. I’t the season of prayer, fasting, and almsgiving. We want to give you an idea of what Advent has looked like over the years, but keep in mind, we don’t do these things all at the same time!
The Advent Wreath (02:00)
Britt’s family celebrates with an Advent wreath, which is made of evergreens, and symbolizes the many years from Adam to Christ in which the world awaited its Redeemer.
There are 4 candles… 3 purple ones and a rose or pink colored candle. The first week (purple) celebrates hope. The second week (purple) celebrates peace and preparation. The third week/Gaudete Sunday (pink) celebrates joy (in Britt’s house-lighting this candle is like winning the lottery). This is ALSO the week you’ll see the priest wearing ROSE at Mass (pro-tip, don’t call it pink). Finally, the fourth week (purple) celebrates love.
The Advent wreath is a sweet tradition for families because it brings everyone together (perhaps for the lighting, some prayers and readings), and it can help little ones grasp the concept of receiving the light of the world.
In my house, we can’t do the wreath part (too many cats), so we only do the candles. We have three purple candles, one rose candle, and one white candle (for Christ).
The point here is that you can shape the tradition for YOUR family. When Britt had little-littles, she didn’t do REAL candles. There are SO many different ways to do the Advent wreath (felt, coloring pages, etc.).
A few years back, Britt saw someone take a long piece of wood with holes drilled in it, put candles in it, and got a little pregnant wooden Mary on a donkey and then the children lit a candle each day (as Mary moved) leading up to the birth of Christ.
So, Britt DIY’d a version for her family! Each night during Advent, they turn out the lights and eat only by the light of the candle(s). Each day of Advent, the room gets brighter and brighter (admittedly, it’s a bit dark at first), everyone is able to see a visual representation of the light of Christ coming.
Something my family did a few years back, was commit to daily Mass. It was very beautiful, but make sure you’re in the right season (I wouldn’t recommend this is you have a bunch of toddlers and Mass is a struggle). It can be said though, the more kids go to Mass, the better they get at it (usually).
Sidenote…we’ve started a Mission for Mommas! One of our favorite things is to find mommas in the grocery store and give them a gift card for some coffee or groceries. You can join us by clicking HERE or just buy your own gift card and give it to a momma you see who needs a pick-me-up! (Make sure to take a photo and share it with us on IG!)
The Advent Journey (Jesse Tree) (09:22)
Catholic Sprouts has a great booklet that brings kids through the story of Advent, which Britt has paired with her candles.
Holy Heroes has a whole video series that my kids used to do when they were younger. They are all less than 10 minutes and really great!
Blessed Is She also has a number of Advent resources that Britt and I have used ourselves, AND for our kids over the years! You can even get the resources and share them with a friend (or three)!
Celebrating Advent (or any liturgical season together) with your friends can be a beautiful way to build community!
Catholic Family Crate (this is an affiliate link that can save you some money) has beautiful Advent resources (both in their Advent AND monthly boxes). If you want something that’s open-and-go for Advent, you would like this!
O’Antiphons (12:50)
Another tradition that Britt does in her home is the O’Antiphons. This is a tradition as far back as the 8th century! They are beautiful and special psalms that use ancient biblical imagery drawn from the messianic hopes of the Old Testament to proclaim the coming Christ as the fulfillment not only of Old Testament hopes, but of our present ones as well.
They are said each day the final week leading up to Christmas Eve (this year Dec. 17th - the 23rd).
Almsgiving (13:20)
Almsgiving is SO important in both of our homes. Britt does homeless bags each year with socks, chap sticks, gift cards, a bit of cash, a blanket, and her husband wants to put hammocks in (this will come in a future year). You can put anything in them, because anything is a gift to someone who has nothing. This can be a great way to bring your children in to the call of generosity to those who are less fortunate than us.
In the past, we’ve gotten together with other moms, as a community, to build these bags. This can be a fantastic way to build community, especially if you have a mom’s group or church group.
We want to remind you that there may be a year or years, when you just survive Advent. Britt’s family (and my family) have both had years where the prayers weren’t said each night, or the candles weren’t lit.
One year, Britt decided she would leave coins at all the vending machines she could think of. So, she rounded up her VERY small children at the time, and planned to drop 5 bags of coins off.
By the second or third machine, everything had reached a boiling point and began melting down to a high degree. Somebody was trying to use the coins, someone took the bag off the machine and Britt didn’t realize it until she was in the car and had buckled everybody in, and every time she tried to drop off the coins, somebody was crying because they wanted what was inside the vending machine (of course).
The whole experience ended with Britt walking inside the door, a bit angry and resentful, throwing the coins, dropping her bags, and feeling completely and utterly defeated.
So, there are some years when taking on all the things, or even doing a few charitable things is a challenge, and these are the years when God is calling you to give what you can within your capacity and to let go of wanting to do so much more than what you’re being called to in your vocation anyways.
Momma, you’re doing a lot everyday anyways, we don’t want to make this season feel like a time when you need to give so much more than you actually have.
Recap(16:55)
Advent is a time of waiting, of hope and of joy, and a season where we practice prayer, almsgiving, and fasting.
There are so many different traditions and ways to celebrate, and although the most popular is the Advent Wreath, there are so many others as well! Check the links above for a few ideas!
Don’t forget, you can try these things one-by-one and if they work, great! If they son’t, no big deal! You can try them again next year, or you can just scrap them!
Invitation (17:30)
Finally, hop on Instagram and share a holiday tradition with us that we can share with the mommas in our community! We love hearing from you, and mommas learning from mommas is SO important, it builds community AND it enriches our lives!
