Keeping Christmastide

Here it is—your friendly annual reminder that the 12 Days of Christmas (also called “Christmastide”) starts rather than ends on December 25. That’s right…God becoming flesh is such a big deal that in 567, the church saw fit to declare 12 full days of feasting and celebration to mark the occasion. Christmastide ends with Epiphany on January 6, commemorating the late arrival of the magi to the Christ child (which perhaps didn’t happen until Jesus was a toddler, but that’s a story for another time).

So how do we continue to celebrate the good news of God with us once everyone else has already moved on to New Year’s? Here are 12 practical ways to keep the party going through the 12 Days of Christmas.

1. Keep up those Christmas decorations! In fact, add to them. Each day, add one ornament to the tree. We made dried oranges to represent Jesus, the “Sun of God” and Light of the World, and we’ll add one to the tree each day.

2. Bake Christmas cookies—stars are perfect to represent the star the magi are following during Christmastide.

3. Traveling wise men. Our magi make a slow journey from one side of the house to the nativity scene. Each night, they move and the kids get a kick out of finding them in the morning. Like our own, non-creepy, Elf on the Shelf ;)

4. Watch Christmas movies in your Christmas pajamas—guilt free, because it’s still Christmas and you’re allowed to.

5. Leave some gifts under the tree to open during the 12 days.

6. Celebrate or learn about some of the saints days during Christmastide. The feast of St. Stephen on December 26 is a great place to start!

7. Invite friends and neighbors over for a “Friend’s Christmas”—like Friendsgiving, but for Christmas.

8. Turn up the Christmas music—if they can start playing it in November, then you can keep listening to it in January ;)

9. Light your “Advent” wreath! Transform your Advent wreath into a Christmas wreath by replacing the purple and pink with all white, and lighting them each night of Christmas. Or replace it with a single white pillar candle as your “Christ candle.”

10. Keep saying Merry Christmas long after it’s socially acceptable ;)

11. Take a drive to look at Christmas lights—just make sure to do it before New Year’s, or you’ll miss a lot of them!

12. Have a Twelfth night celebration. On January 5, take down the Christmas tree and have a big bonfire with one last chance to sing Christmas carols. Serve King’s cake to celebrate the arrival of the three kings.

Wishing you and yours a Merry Christmastide!

Advent Children's Lesson

I wrote this Advent lesson to help children enter the season in a curious and contemplative way. It is just one page out of the 68 page Little Way Advent guide, which can be purchased here. This lesson can be used at home, in Sunday School or Children’s Chapel, or in an inter-generational worship service, and is perfect for telling around the Advent wreath at the very start of the Advent season.

You will need:

• A bag to hold all of the “clues”

• A purple cloth

• A manger (from a nativity set)

• A star (an ornament, cut out shape, or tree topper works fine)

• Greenery (garland, wreath, tree trimming—if artificial, omit line about it smelling good)

• Wreath Ring

• Advent candles

Symbols of Advent

It is the beginning of Advent, a new year in the church calendar. “A new year?” You might be thinking, “But it’s still December!” You see, the church tells time a bit differently than everyone else. The world marks time by days and weeks and months. But the church marks time by colors and symbols and seasons. And today is the beginning of a new season: Advent.

Advent is about waiting, watching, and getting ready for God to show up. This is full of mystery. And a mystery can be hard to understand. 

The best way to solve a mystery is to look for clues. Advent has many clues. The church calls them symbols. And I have some of them here with me today. [Hold up bag.]

Purple: [Take out purple cloth delicately and lay it on table. Carefully smooth out wrinkles as you talk. This will be what you set the rest of the clues on.] Purple is the color of royalty. A long time ago, only kings and queens could wear the color purple. Roman Citizens could wear a little stripe, but that was all. Purple is a royal color. When God shows up, God shows up as a king.

Manger: Hmm. [Pull out manger, turning it over and examining it with curiosity.] What could this be? A horse trough? A manger? Ah, a cradle. [Set manger on top of purple cloth.] God shows up as a king [run hand over purple], but this cradle tells us he was a different kind of king. This king had no army, no great house, and no riches. This king was a baby who was born in a barn with a horse trough as a bed. His name is Jesus.

Star: Look, another clue. [Pull out star and examine it.] A star. This is the clue that led the magi to find the baby Jesus. [Raise star high above head.] It hung high in the sky above the stable and showed them the way to go. Sometimes we hang a star at the top of our Christmas tree just like it hung above the stable. 

Evergreen:  This clue smells wonderful. [Smell and pass around for children to smell.] It is so green. Alive when all the other trees outside have died. I wonder what this tells us about the mystery of Advent? Maybe that God’s love never dies. It is everlasting like this evergreen. This time of year, we bring evergreen in our house to remind us of this. We have Christmas trees, and garlands, and...wreaths [pulls out wreath ring].

Wreath Ring: Hmm...a circle. Circles go around and around. [Turns ring in complete circle as if steering the wheel of a car.] They have no end. You could trace a circle forever. [Lay wreath ring on table and begin to place greenery on it.] When we arrange the evergreen in a circle, it reminds us that God’s love never ends, that Jesus is a king who will reign forever. His kingdom will have no end.

Candles: One final clue. [Take candles out and put them inside wreath ring as you talk.] Sometimes we put candles in the middle of the circle. It tells us that Jesus is the light of the world. This time of year, it gets very dark and very cold. When Jesus arrives, he warms our hearts and brightens our way. The candles remind us that we don’t have to walk in darkness. Four candles make the advent wreath. One for each week of advent. [Point to each candle.]

During the next four weeks of Advent, we will watch. We will wait. We will get ready for God to show up. And when God shows up, he does it in a way no one expected: As a baby wrapped in swaddling cloth and laid in a manger, born to save us all. 

Advent Activity Calendar for Faithful Families

There are a million and one ways to do an Advent calendar, but what our family has landed on is an Advent Activity Calendar with three goals in mind: Acts that help us love God, love others, and love one another. Each day, there is either an act of service (love others), a family tradition (love one another), or a spiritual practice (love God).

How It Works

Here’s how it works: Before Advent begins, I take out sheet of paper and write down each day of Advent on a separate line. Then, I pull out family calendar and the liturgical calendar and begin to fill in dates. For example, I know we go to church every Sunday, and that the City’s Christmas Parade is on Dec 7, so I put those dates on our Advent calendar. I also know that St. Nicholas Day is on Dec 6, St. Lucy Day is on Dec 13 and Las Posadas is on Dec 16—all days we like to celebrate in Advent, so I fill those in.

After that, I make a list of all the activities that are important Advent family traditions for us—making a birthday card for Jesus, driving around to look at Christmas lights in our pajamas, etc—and I slot those in on our Advent Calendar.

Last, I fill in the acts of service (many of which are also a family tradition at this point) that I would like our family to do together as we prepare the way for Christ in Advent—making blessing bags for the homeless, donating toys we no longer play with, baking treats for neighbors, etc…

Then, I take the sheet of paper, cut it into strips, and stick those strips in the corresponding day of the Advent calendar. Be sure to keep a master copy for yourself so YOU know your own schedule - ha! Every morning when the kids wake up, they are so excited to see what the Advent activity for the day is. Reflecting on that activity at the end of the day also often provides a great dinner conversation topic.

The key to putting together an Advent Activity Calendar is to make it easy on yourself! Most things need to be free and require no preparation. Many of the activities are things we would be doing already, but putting them on the calendar is great because now they are scheduled! Leave Sundays as a day of rest, with nothing to do other than going to church and lighting the Advent wreath. I don’t know about you, but getting three kids to church on time is work enough for one day, especially the Sabbath.

Why We Do It

I’d be lying if I didn’t admit that this calendar does take considerable effort, and it’s certainly not the only meaningful way to do it. This isn’t for everyone—especially if you are already committed to other types of Advent practices. But we’ve chosen this way for three reasons:

1. We believe that traditions are important to instilling a child’s sense of identity in their faith and family.

2. We take a more minimalist approach to Christmas gifts, so Brendan and I see this calendar as a way of giving the gift of time to our children.

3. Practically, it helps us redirect focus and excitement from “getting” to “doing.” And the whole thing about liturgy and worship is that we become what we do habitually.

This is absolutely not the only way to form traditions and spend time with your children, but it’s the way that works for us right now!

I hope this blesses you and your family this Advent season!

A few practical notes:

• We typically get our tree the day before Advent begins so that we can use the tree trimmings to make our Advent wreath. We wait to decorate it until the first day of Advent.

• Some of the activities are specific to our family, but you can just insert your own family tradition there.

• Most of the activities can be moved around—I’ve bolded the activities that are tied to that particular date due to the liturgical calendar.

• That said, we are not Catholic! There are many more feast days Catholics celebrate during Advent, but our family celebrates only a handful.

• I’ve put asterisks next to activities that I will give further explain during Advent—stay tuned!

Advent Activity Calendar

Nov 30: Get Christmas Tree + Ask for tree trimmings for your Advent Wreath

Dec 1: Make Advent Wreath, Light First Advent Candle at Dinner + Discuss “New Church Year’s Resolutions”

Dec 2: Decorate Christmas Tree, Set up nativity with animals*

Dec 3: Make “Stained Glass” ornaments out of dried oranges or grapefruits*

Dec 4: Assemble “Blessing Bags” for the homeless to keep in car and give away during Advent (suggestions: water, granola bars, band aids, chapstick, gloves, socks, toothbrush + paste, baby wipes)

Dec 5: Go through toys or purchase one from store to donate in the spirit of St. Nicholas

Dec 6: St Nicholas Day - Stockings + Read The Legend of St. Nicholas by Anselm Grün*

Dec 7: City Christmas Parade

Dec 8: Church + Light Second Advent Candle at Dinner

Dec 9: Add manger to nativity

Dec 10: Make Christmas gifts for family + friends (suggestion: peppermint or gingerbread play dough)*

Dec 11: Candy Cane Hunt + Blessing of Candy Canes to give to friends and hang on tree*

Dec 12: Bake sweet bread for neighbors to deliver on St. Lucy Day*

Dec 13: St. Lucy Day - Make cinnamon crown bread for breakfast + tell the story of St. Lucy, Deliver sweet bread to neighbors*

Dec 14: Read a Christmas story by fire or tree light

Dec 15: Church & Light Third Advent Candle at Dinner

Dec 16: Las Posadas Begins - Read The Night of Las Posadas by Tomie DePaola + Drink Mexican Hot Chocolate*

Dec 17: Do a secret act of kindness for someone today

Dec 18: Write Christmas cards for teachers

Dec 19: Attend a Live Nativity

Dec 20: Make birthday card for Jesus

Dec 21: Drive around to look at Christmas lights in pajamas

Dec 22: Church + Light Four Advent Candles at Dinner

Dec 23: Add Mary and Joseph to Nativity

Dec 24: Bake Birthday Pie or Cake for Jesus, Attend Christmas Eve Service, Move Jesus into manger before bed

Dec 25 Christmas Day! Add Shepherds and Angels to nativity, Sing “Joy to the World” or “Happy Birthday” before eating birthday pie, Read aloud Jesus’ Birthday cards

Weekly Advent Wreath Prayers

Many churches provide Advent wreath materials, devotionals, and prayer guides. If yours does not—or if you just want to learn a little more about the tradition—this post is for you. If you are looking for more Advent resources, I’ve put together a list helpful things here!

The Advent wreath provides a way of marking time through the season leading up to Christmas. As another candle is lit each week, the light in the darkness grows brighter and brighter until the Light of the World arrives. The Advent wreath opens space to slow down amid a busy season of preparations, and to spend time in prayer and reflection as a family.

Symbolically, the circle of the wreath represents God’s infinite and unending love, and the evergreen represents the everlasting life we receive through his Son. The candles, of course, represent Jesus as the Light of the World. Purple, the color of the three candles, symbolizes not only penitence, but also royalty, signaling the coming of a King.

Thematically, the first week of Advent focuses on hope, the second week on peace, the third on joy (represented by the pink candle), and the fourth on love. Reflecting on these virtues each week rather than the scripture passages may be more appropriate for very young children. A fifth white candle--the Christ candle--may also be added and lit on Christmas day, and through Christmastide.

At the bottom of this post are prayers that can be offered as the candles are lit each week (or evening) along with scripture passages for discussion at meal or bed time. These passages were selected from the Revised Common Lectionary.

Making an Advent wreath is simple! All you need is a wreath ring, the proper candles, and some greenery. Pro tip: If you get your tree on the first day of Advent, you can ask to keep your tree clippings and use it for the greenery around the wreath.

Weekly Advent Wreath Prayers

Below are weekly Advent week prayers for personal use. If you would like to distribute, or would like a full Advent Guide for your family, including weekly Advent wreath devotionals, check out the Little Way Advent Guide. (Churches, please purchase the Group License Advent Guide to distribute prayers among your congregation.)

Little Way Advent Guide 2024

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First Week: Hope (Isaiah 2:1-5; Romans 13:11-14; Matthew 24:36-44)

God of hope, we light this candle as we prepare for the coming of your Son. Awaken our hearts to you this Advent season, so that when Christ arrives, we are ready to receive him with all our hearts, all our minds, and all our strength. Amen. (Light one purple candle.)

Second Week: Peace (Isaiah 11:1-10; Romans 15:4-13; Matthew 3:1-12)

God of peace, during this Advent season, keep us from getting caught up in the busyness and chaos of the world around us. Help us to slow down, so that we may find rest in the Prince of Peace, your son, Jesus Christ. As we prepare for his coming, make us instruments of your peace in our homes, in our schools, in our work and in our world. Amen. (Light two purple candles).

Third Week: Joy (Isaiah 35:1-10; James 5:7-10; Matthew 11:2-11)

God of joy, it is in your love that we find lasting joy. Keep us from seeking happiness in things that will not last, for we brought nothing into this world and can take nothing out of it. Teach us instead to find joy in the gift of your Son, who came into this world with nothing, yet gave us everything. May his joy bubble up in our hearts and overflow to all we meet this Advent season. Amen. (Light two purple and one pink candle.)

Fourth Week: Love (Isaiah 7:10-16; Romans 1:1-7; Matthew 1:18-25)

God of love, you sent your Son, Jesus, to shine bright like the sun, lighting the way for all who walk in darkness. May the light of Christ’s hope, peace, joy and love shine bright in us as we approach his coming, that we may be ready to welcome him on Christmas day and every day. Amen. (Light all four candles.)