I was personally wanting to make or purchase a Advent tree or Calender for my home, also do some Scripture readings reflecting the events that occured, The Incarnation, the Annunciation, The Visitation, the Nativity, the Feast of the Holy Family, the Magi pay homage, and the Feast of the Epiphany.


I was wanting to figure out what I can do to help make the Blessed Advent Season wonderful and help me prepare for the Christmas Season.


I was planning on attending the penance services, try attending Mass as often as possible, daily mass that is and obviously Sunday.


What can one do to make Advent truely special?


This is my second year as a Catholic to celebrate Advent & Christmas, how can I celebrate Advent since I'm basically a beginner at this still and want to make Advent something special for years to come.


God Bless, Pax Christi! and Thank You.

In my family we sometimes did "Advent Angels" - kind of like secret Santas only, the person you picked was yours all Advent and you didn't get them gifts, you made selfless acts of love WITHOUT THEM KNOWING. That was the important part. Granted, it was hard to keep from figuring out who was whose after four weeks, but... it was still something special.

we also only decorated the house on/after Gaudete Sunday (3rd, Rose). Then we would set up the Naticity scene, only we would put the stable (with animals and such)on the bookshelf and Mary and Joseph across the room. Each day, they "walked" further. And they "arrived" at the stable after the stockings were hung which was the the last thing we'd do after decorating the tree and before going to bed. On Christmas morning, Jesus was ALWAYS miraculously in the manger. (Little kids love this...) Also, at the lighting of the Advent wreath (during the prayer before meals at my house), we would sing "Veni, Veni Emmanuel" (o come o come emmanuel) - and whichever verse was appropriate for the day.

Interesting! When is Advent, exactly? Is it for the whole month of December?

Advent begins on the Sunday closest to 30th November.

I always have a large Advent wreath. We bless it every year, and use it when we pray together, and when eating meals together. I go through two sets of candles every year, so I buy them at the dollar store. We also do not decorate the house for Christmas until right before our Christmas Eve party. Otherwise, I'm thinking about Christmas, rather than preparing for it.

http://www.catholicculture.org/culture/lit...y=2008&m=11


http://www.catholicculture.org/culture/lit...date=2008-11-30

http://www.catholicculture.org/culture/lit...e_tree_day1.cfm

http://www.catholicculture.org/culture/lit...dvent/index.cfm

http://www.catholicculture.org/culture/lit.../activities.cfm

An advent wreath for me is out of the question as the military does not allow candles in the barracks. They also seem to mysteriously do health and comfort inspections right around the beginning of Advent. Hmmmm...

I have a Nativity scene that I put out every year starting at Advent however. Now, this Jesse Tree, is it really only supposed to be for kids, or can adults use it for their personal pleasure? I'm thinking of printing out pictures of all the characters and putting them on a small tree if I can find one small enough at the Exchange.

I found online these cool photos of advent wreathes lit for each week of the season that can be used as wallpaper (sorry if they're too big for some people, but they only came in one size, and they were a perfect fit for me!)

Week 1:



Week 2:



Week 3:



Week 4:



Christmas:

I've recently started praying the Liturgy of the Hours and find it very beautiful. If you aren't already doing it, you could inaugurate the practice in your life this Advent.

Better start right now, so that by the time Advent starts, you already have a rough familiarity with the LotH in the Ordinary Time.

It might seem a bit intimidating and confusing in the beginning, but persevere and it will be worth it.

Another thing you could do is fast. The old Catholic Encyc. (from 1909) says that in its time, in the U.S. Fridays of Advent were days of fast and abstinence, and in Great Britain its Wednesdays were also fast days. The Byzantines have a tradition of fasting from Nov. 15 until Christmas. It's a different kind of fast from the Advent one, more "expecting" and less sorrowful.

Why would the history of salvation be only for kids ? My youngest is 21 and I still have my Jesse Tree.

How about doing lectio divina for the daily readings for every day of advent?

One could spend more time meditating on the Mystery of the Incarnation of the Word.

You may find something that interests you here:

http://www.creighton.edu/CollaborativeMini...site-index.html

Can't get the link to work.

I just tried it and it's working for me. Here's the complete link, in case it somehow got truncated in the earlier post:

INDEX PAGE:


MAIN PAGE:

That's cool! I think I am going to do it this year!

My favorites for those with kids:
In my family we never decorated til Christmas Eve but we set up the manger scene with the advent wreath. Every sunday when we lit the candles, we would move Mary and Joseph closer to the stable. Then on Christmas Eve after church we would go home and put Mary and Joseph in the creche. We always opened one present each on Christmas Eve before going to bed. My mom always wrapped the baby Jesus in a box and we would take turns opening it. Then we would sing Happy Birthday to Jesus and place him with Joseph and Mary.
It was a great way to emphasize the "waiting" period of Advent.
We did a similar slow move to the creche with the wisemen between Christmas and Epiphany.
Not bad for liberal Episcopalians, huh?

I've always found that one of the best ways to help make Advent more meditative and anticipatory is to adopt an Advent discipline (curiously not unlike a Lenten discipline ). A couple of people have already mentioned the Liturgy of the Hours, which I have always found to be a wonderful spiritual aid. If you don't already own an office book, try these online resources:

Universalis.com Just open up the page, and you'll see several subheadings arranged by the particular office you want. Just click, and away you go! Very straightforward. A set of these could easily be printed for use at home.

Breviary.net This is the old Pre-VII Roman Breviary online. It's much more convoluted than Universalis, so it's probably only worth looking at if you really want a challenge. Not particularly ideal for a group of people, but great for an individual.

Perhaps you might also consider a simple recitation of the Angelus followed by one of the O Antiphons. (See here.) Said around an Advent wreath, this could be a nice punctuation to the day.

Oh well, just a few thoughts. Happy Advent!

I am at a loss this year.
My son is only 2.5 years and I am struggling to find things he understands.

I am also a total slacker and dropped the ball on making our advent calendar.
So that is out the window. lol

So, I have just been reminding him every day that pretty soon, its the birth of baby jesus.
I am going to bake a cake and christmas day we are going to have a birthday party for jesus.
next year I will try to stay on top of things.

haha i like the birthday cake idea! i would totally suggest that to my madre if i liked cake!

At 2.5 he is NOT going to realize if the advent is a bit off schedule of not so get on track and do it anyway.

My family always had an advent wreath and lit the candle every Sunday in Advent-you can get little prayer books to go along with lighting the Advent candle that have readings, prayers, etc. It's very nice Katie