Advent season prepares us for Christmas
Some ideas to make it
meaningful for your family
Advent is a time to prepare the way of the Lord for His coming as our King and Savior. Parents and grandparents can add special meaning to the season by providing various time-honored traditions to make Advent meaningful. Families are encouraged to take advantage of these faith-filled and heart-warming traditions. These age-old traditions help children as well as adults to live closer to Christ. Many fondly recall these traditional customs which inspire love and faith in our hearts.
Here are only a few. You probably can add your own:
The Advent wreath, of German origin, is probably the most recognized Advent custom . It is a wreath made of evergreens that is bound to a circle of wire. It symbolizes the many years from Adam to Christ in which the world awaited its Redeemer; it also represents the years that we have awaited His second and final coming .
There are four candles. Three purple ones are lit on the penitential Sundays and a pink one for Gaudete, the joyful third Sunday in Advent. There are many available prayers that can accompany your personal Advent wreath ceremony.
Jesse Tree
During Adve
nt many people make Jesse trees to provide a daily celebration of the history of the People of God that leads to Christ's birth at Christmas. Each decoration on the tree symbolizes either a prophecy of the coming of the Messiah or an ancestor ofJesus Christ. You can cut your Jesse Tree from construction paper or felt. The idea is to get the children involved. The next step is the making of ornaments. You can use velcro to attach symbols. As you hang a symbol each day on your tree, you should have a brief explanation ofwhat the symbol represents and perhaps read a Bible verse. Many religious bookstores carry booklets that provide ideas and suggestions for the Jesse tree and give Bible readings for each day.
Some of the symbols that can be used are the sun or the world to symbolize creation, an apple and serpent for Adam and Eve, an ark for Noah's ark, a tent and camel to represent Abraham, a lamb to tell the story of Isaac, the key of David, the star of David, a ladder for Jacob, a coat of many colors for Joseph, two tablets showing the ten commandments to represent Moses and the la w, a flow er coming f rom the root of Jesse, a whale for Jonah, the sword of Judith, a burning bush, the pillar of fire, the ark of the covenant and a crown for Christ the king. When all the symbols have been hung, you will have a biblical family tree which might make this Christmas a little more memorable.
Manger or Crèches
The Christ Child in the manger has been used in church serv ices from the first centuries. The crib in its present form originated with St. Francis of Assisi. It was during Christmas tide of 1223 that the saint conceived the idea of celebrating the Nativity in a new manner by reproducing in a church at Greccio the Praesepio of Bethlehem, and he has thus come to be regarded as having inaugurated the popular devotion to the Crib. Children love to anticipate the birth of Jesus. They enjoy pacing the animals in the crib along with Mary and Joseph until finally the Baby Jesus is placed in the crib. The family can gather be fore the crib on Christmas Eve and someone reads the Gospel of Luke: Chapter 2,about the awesome birth of Christ at Bethlehem. Prayers are said and Christmas carols a re sung.
Good Deed Straw
In preparing for the family ceremony above, some families use Good Deed straw: .For every good deed you do, place a straw in his bed. and ask "How soft will your manger be on Christmas Day?"
The Christ Candle
Any large white candle can be used for the Christ candle. The idea is to decorate it w th symbols for Christ. Use old Christmas cards, sequins, holly and so forth. The candle is lit on Christmas Eve to show that the Light of the World has arrived.
Blessing of the tree
More and more frequently families are blessing their Christmas trees. It is good to rem ind children that the tree relates to many aspects of our faith. The Evergreen tree reminds us of everlasting light and life that Christ brings us. The brightness of the branches reminds us of God’s glory. One of the parents sprinkles the tree with holy water. Scripture is read and the family sings Christmas carols.
Christmas baking and Lucy Cakes
The feast of St. Lucy, virgin and martyr, is on December 13. Her life story can be found in most saints books. The recipe for the traditional Lucy Cakes is also available . Her life story and symbolism is worthwhile reading. There are many baking recipes for Christmas which come from many nations of American immigrants.
St. Nicholas Day
The feast of St. Nicholas on December. 6 is a highlight of the Advent season. In some families each child puts out a shoe the night before St. Nicholas Day in the hope that the kind bishop, with his miter, staff, and bag of gifts, will pay a vis t. The current Santa Claus is modeled after St. Nicholas who brought to the needy bags of coins and special gifts to help them.
Reprinted from Saint Paul TODAY newsletter, November, 2007
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6 comments:
Thank you for the ideas on Advent. Many times all we think about is a wreath. There are some great family things as well. Now if we could just get Fr. Ralph to let us have the Advent wreath back by the altar instead of that tree all would be well. The tree is nice but we have had it for several years now. It would be nice to see the wreath back again even for just one year.
I agree with anonymous about the tree. It would be nice to have the wreath back again. But as we all know this will never happen as long as one person does all the decorating and commoners are not welcome. We need to think about everybody not just one person's view on what looks best for Advent. We try to teach our children about an advent wreath and have one at our homes and then they go to church and see that our parish doesn't have one. Is there something wrong with this message?
St. Paul Today, I am curious about the tree. I am not Catholic but I do frequently review the blog as I have relativies that attend your church. Why do you have a tree and not a tradtional wreath which is what I grew up being told Catholics use during Advent. How can I find out more about why the tree is so much more in demand then a wreath. From what I can see it would appear that the wreath is still an integral part of the Catholic Faith. Can you explain?
Catholics cab enjoy all of the customs listed in this article. You can find blessings for the Advent wreath, the Christmas tree and crib among others. For a daily counting up to Christmas, especially for children, the Jesse tree with symbols and Scripture reading for each day is nice. There was an Advent wreath at school last year with a reminder to visit the church for prayer.
Thank you St. Paul Today but you still did not answer why you use a tree in the church instead of the wreath. While having one in the school seems approprieate, it would seem to me that as Catholics you believe in to many things. I wanted to know why you have a tree and not use a wreath any longer in your santuary. I just wanted to know as my relatives have indicated to me that Fr. Thomas has said that there is no more wreath and we can do what we want. Is this true?
I assume this is something they heard from someone and not from Fr. Thomas. I suggest your friend ask Fr. Thomas or call the rectory and inquire. It is best not to take second-hand information as fact.
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