Catholic Advent Activities for Busy Moms
Want to celebrate Advent but feel that you are too busy as a Catholic Mom? I too am a busy Mother! Here’s how to celebrate with a quick guide for incorporating Advent activities into the season.
Meaning of Advent
Advent is a time that can be easily skipped while preparing for Christmas travel plans, family gatherings, and gifts. Do yourself a favor and take your Christmas card photos, write your Christmas letter, and get all of your gifts purchased before the first day of Advent. This way you can spend Advent reflecting on the first coming of Jesus at his birth and preparing for the His second coming.
Preparing for Advent Traditions as a Busy Catholic Mom
Make calendar reminders at least a couple of weeks in advance to buy your Advent wreath candles, St. Nicholas day golden chocolate coins and gifts, etc. so that you have them when the day comes instead of scrambling at the last second. Also, use calendar reminders to get your Christmas shopping and cards/photos done before Advent.
Get a reusable advent calendar, such as a wooden or magnetic one (no having to give your children sugar each night if you don’t want to!), that you can use year after year. If you don’t have one, a classic paper chain count down to Christmas works as well!
Start collecting food for the food bank collection and giving tree collection that Parishes will often have at this time of year.
Prepare the home for the liturgical living of Advent
On the first day of Advent, set up your decorations including a Nativity without the baby Jesus in it. Have your children put a piece of straw in the manger each time they make a sacrifice during Advent. By Christmas, the manager will be full of sacrifice straw ready to receive baby Jesus!
Set up your Advent wreath and then use the Catholic Household Blessings and Prayers book to bless it. If you have a Christmas tree, feel free to decorate it, but hold off on lighting it until Christmas eve as per the Catholic Household Blessings book.
Use this time of penance to force yourself to do some deep cleaning. Prepare the house for company and new Christmas presents by doing a “spring” cleaning and purging old items/toys. Donate used articles to local thrift shops that give back to the homeless of your community.
Incorporating daily prayer time into your busy schedule during Advent
Use your evening prayer time to do brief devotion and prayers. Light the Advent Wreath candle(s) while praying. Use a candle snuffer after prayer time is over; younger children will get a kick out of it!
We use this lovely book which contains short reflections for a busy family. It contains a brief reading from Saint Benedict’s works, scripture, a prayer, and an action for each day. Following the reading/prayers, we like to play Advent songs, like O Come, O Come Emmanuel, that we sing along to and play this CD made just for Advent.
Nine days before Christmas you can incorporate the brief Christmas Novena found here into your prayer time. Beginning December 17th you can add the short “O Antiphons” each day leading up to the Vigil of the Nativity of the Lord.
Special Days during Catholic Advent
-December 5th – have your children place their shoes out in preparation for Saint Nicholas coming overnight. While they are sleeping, put clementines/satsumas, golden coins, and a small gift or books out in and near the shoes.
-December 6th – Feast of Saint Nicholas- wake up before the kids and have your camera ready for a fun morning. A fun tradition for the evening is a short DVD by CCC on St Nicholas. Also, it is a great day to look up when you can fulfill your Mass obligation for the Feast of the Immaculate Conception. I write how we don’t have Santa at our house and instead celebrate this feast day here.
-December 8th- Holy Day of Obligation- Feast of the Immaculate Conception.
-December 13th- Feast of Saint Lucy – have a family breakfast of cinnamon buns before heading out the door!
-December 16th, 18th, 19th- Advent is a time of prayer and penance, so the Ember days that fall during Advent are perfect for adding to it by fasting and abstinence.
-December 24th- Vigil of the Nativity of Our Lord and also the earliest day to pray the Blessing of a Christmas Tree (Catholic Household Blessings and Prayers book).
You can incorporate Advent into your liturgical living without feeling like you did not do enough or, worse, let it pass by without doing anything special! By using this Catholic Advent guide for the Busy Catholic Mom, you can prepare ahead of time for the season so you can prayerfully live it with your family by only adding about 15-30 minutes of tradition/prayer time to your day.
Do you have other traditions that you like to incorporate? Leave a note in the comments.
