Now right here is something wonderful. Visit the site and share your family Advent traditions. Advent is a season in which we transform our homes. We express joy and thanks that The Word became flesh and dwelt among us in the birth of Jesus, and we look forward with expectation and hope because he will come again to judge the living and the dead and his kingdom will have no end.
Hat tips to Stand Firm and MWN
2 comments:
We always decorated fairly soon after Thanksgiving, but we were never allowed to put the baby Jesus in the nativity scene until Christmas Eve, and the wise men were put out on Epiphany. As a kid we always thought this custom seemed a bit strange...like the decorating wasn't quite done and something was missing. It wasn't until I was older until I understood that this was exactly the point. Everything else done during the weeks leading up to Christmas was merely preparation for the birth of our Lord.
I still have my parents Advent wreath and although all kinds of colors have come into the candles you see on wreaths throughout churches, I still burn 4 purple candles, adding one each week and usually at Sunday dinner as a centerpiece - just as my parents did, and just as we had at the Cathedral when I was young.
Most people today seem to want to put way everything right after Christmas. My parents were known to leave the Christmas tree up way into February if it stayed pretty and not too brittle. I've stayed the same...everything stays up until at least a week after Epiphany!
Amen on both counts, MWN. I am big on not adding to the creche until the church calendar warrants...no baby Jesus until Christmas and no Magi until Epiphany!!! (I even move the Magi from East to West across whatever room they traverse.)
Also, leaving Christmas up until Epiphany is what we should be about! Sooooooo countercultural! Christmas is a feast, not a shopping season. Keep up the feast!
My wife, Melissa keeps cider warm most of the Advent and Christmas season. It is so warm and welcoming (especially after shoveling snow). And she did this in the kitchen of a large parish school where we last lived. It was something her volunteers loved and she brought a good number of them into the church via her hospitality and by building warm relationships...the church year helped!
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