Advent traditions

“Amen I say to you, as long as you did it to one of these my least brethren, you did it to me.”
Matthew 25:40

What is Advent? 

The word Advent comes from the Latin adventus for “coming” and refers to the four weeks of preparation for Christmas. Beginning on the Sunday closest to the feast of St. Andrew the Apostle on November 30th and continuing through December 24th, Advent is both penitential and joyful. Like Lent, the liturgical colors are purple and Advent marks the beginning of the liturgical year.

Celebrating Advent in concrete ways

Advent traditions for our family started at a young age when we learned, in a concrete way, that Advent is a time of preparation for the birth of our Lord. Our parents would ask us at the beginning of Advent how we thought Jesus would want us to prepare for and celebrate Christmas. Our lists, posted on the refrigerator, contained things such as giving food to the poor, coat and blanket drives, praying for relatives who weren’t going to church, visiting great grandma, etc. Invariably, our list would resemble the Corporal and Spiritual Works of Mercy, though we didn’t realize it at the time.

Over the next four weeks, our family would try to accomplish as many of our listed tasks as possible, but at least one or two a week. One particularly cold morning, my sisters and I took it upon ourselves to go door-to-door in the neighborhood asking for donations of blankets and coats for the homeless. We arrived home some time later, frozen, but ecstatic and shouting, “We got 6 blankets and 2 coats for the homeless shelter!”

Needless to say, those kind of experiences not only remain with you, but also help to form habits of looking for ways to serve others.

What is your family’s favorite way to serve others?

Leave us a comment! We’d love to hear your ideas!