Celebrate Advent Well

Families Focus on Liturgical Meaning

)
“Advent is a time of waiting, conversion and of hope” — so the Directory on Popular Piety and the Liturgy from the Congregation for Divine Worship and the Discipline of the Sacraments tells us.

Through the centuries, Advent celebrations “have sustained the faith of the people, and from one generation to the next, they have conserved many valuable aspects of the liturgical season of Advent,” the directory states.

Furthermore, popular piety “can contribute effectively to the conservation of many of the values of Advent, which are not infrequently threatened by the commercialization of Christmas and consumer superficiality.”

 

Family Prayer

As Advent begins this year, on Sunday, Nov. 30, many will follow the perennial and universal custom in North America of displaying the Advent wreath; others will ready Advent calendars. But families have found many additional ways to live the message of Advent in preparation for Christmas.

The Sweeney family in Bensalem, Pa., — Owen, Rachael and their five children, ages 7 to 15 — “definitely pull out the signs and symbols, like the Advent wreath and candles and the manger,” Rachael Sweeney said.

The Advent wreath has a place “right in the middle of everything” in the Sweeney kitchen.

The Sweeney family is especially mindful of others during Advent. During grace before dinner, “we pray for other people, and we always pick a person to say extra prayers for,” said Rachael Sweeney.

The Sweeneys find that this Advent custom actually inspires the family to carry on the prayers throughout the year.

“We focus on the Blessed Mother a lot,” Sweeney added. “If we have or get flowers, we put them by Mary.”

While the Sweeney children do regular community service with St. Ephrem School, they do extra outreach for Advent, especially collecting food for the poor.

“We encourage the extra effort at Advent,” their mother said.

As 13-year-old Catie said, “I want to grow closer to God and help people.”

 

‘Advent Adventure’

Nearly 31,000 families have already discovered a daily way to bring Advent’s practice and meaning to their children through Holy Heroes’ “Advent Adventure” (AdventAdventure.com).

Families sign up for a daily email during Advent, except on Sundays, which offers a link to the day’s Advent activities centered on a short video.

“The videos have the eight Holy Heroes’ adventure guides explain Catholic traditions and how to make Advent a time of preparation, not a start for an early Christmas,” explained Ken Davison. He and his wife, Kerri, are the founders of Holy Heroes; their eight children, now ages 7 to 22, appear as guides in the short videos.

“It’s kids their own age teaching them,” Ken Davison pointed out about the benefit.

The videos, crossword puzzles, word searches and coloring sheets reinforce the catechetical lessons and other themes for each day, with an age-appropriate focus.

This year, among all the other lessons and activities, the focus is on the Jesse Tree and the Rosary.

The Jesse Tree explains the story of salvation history, beginning with creation and going through all the people in the Bible in Jesus’ family tree, right up to Jesus’ birth.

The special feasts during Advent are also focused on, beginning with the Immaculate Conception and Our Lady of Guadalupe and including Sts. Nicholas, Francis Xavier and Lucy, as well as others.

Holy Heroes’ activities fit into the Vatican’s directory recommendations. The directory says there should be particular attention to the Blessed Virgin Mary during Advent and her feasts, “which dispose the faithful to receive the Savior at his birth. Mary, who was ‘intimately united with the birth of the Church in America, became the radiant Star illuminating the proclamation of Christ the Savior to the sons of these nations.’”

In a suburb north of Houston, Chris and Michelle Nelli and their four children, from a new baby to ages 6, 9 and 11, are excited about starting “Advent Adventures” for the fifth year. Michelle Nelli called it “such a wonderful ministry to spread the faith and the traditions of our Church.” It’s a “time to focus on Christ and what Christmas is really about,” she added.

“We like learning about the traditions of the Church, especially the feast days that fall in Advent,” she said. For St. Nicholas’ Day on Dec. 6, the children love to line their shoes up at the fireplace the night before and receive “gold coins” in them the next morning.

Then there is their celebration of Our Lady of Guadalupe on Dec. 12, one of the family’s favorites.

 “We know what’s going on in the liturgical calendar, and it gives us the idea to go deeper” in our faithful preparation, Nelli said. 

 “The children have learned so much about the Bible,” she added. “What we do every day is pray a decade of the Rosary. As a grown-up, you know you’re supposed to be contemplating the mystery, but kids are just learning the Bible stories, so hearing it in Scripture is powerful and a highlight.”

She confirms what Davison hears from other mothers: “It’s easy for moms because they’ve done all the work. All I have to do is print out the sheets and gather kids around the table.” Davison said that, by popular demand, this year, “Advent Adventures” is offering a for-purchase 64-page booklet with all the activities (with more than are online) and all the Jesse Tree of Salvation History videos (plus additions) on a DVD.

Michelle Nelli feels blessed to prepare her family with such activities.

“The children really get the idea that Advent is a time you are preparing for the real meaning Christmas, not necessarily a time [for] making out a list of what gifts you want to receive, but preparing your hearts for Christmas,” she said.

“We talk at the dinner table all the time about what we learned, and that brings our family closer to Christ.”

Joseph Pronechen is the

Register’s staff writer.