O Lord, we beg Thee, incline Thy ear to our prayers and enlighten the darkness of our minds by the grace of Thy visitation. Through Christ our Lord, Amen.

advent wreath prayer for the third sunday of advent

Gaudete Sunday is a big deal at our house because this is the day the kids get to decorate the tree! I had to laugh as I watched them pull out the hodgepodge of homemade decorations and “unbreakable” balls from the bins. Our tree is definitely not Pinterest-worthy, but it’s perfect for the stage of life we’re in and isn’t that what matters most? Someday I’ll get to trim the tree completely in beautiful glass ornaments…and I’ll miss those little hands that clumped all the decorations in one small spot. Ahh, motherhood.

With the joy that is ushered in with Gaudete Sunday, I finally start the process of decorating the house. My budget was pretty small this year (and I decided to spend it on outside decorations) so I made the best of things I already had with a mix of evergreen branches from the property. Simple and beautiful.

The highlight of the week was our first snowstorm of the year! So many things to be grateful for: that we are all healthy and strong enough to shovel our long driveway, that our Internet connection remained strong so Mark could work, that we didn’t lose power, that almost all of the kids can dress themselves in their snow gear, those pink cheeks on happy, exhausted kids…I could go on and on.  Snow days are just good for the soul, I think.

I finally mailed out our Christmas cards. There was a delay in delivery from the post office (of course, #2020) and I didn’t receive them until late last week. Coupled with the snowstorm and the fact that the mailman couldn’t get to us on our untreated roads…well, they’ll get there when they get there.

Without fail, there is one day during Advent (some years, more than one day!) where I feel completely overwhelmed with the demands of December and this year is no exception. A challenge parenting day, a to-do list still full, and just utter exhaustion made me feel like sobbing and throwing up the white flag! Being the head merry-maker is a big responsibility! Over the years, I’ve learned to combat this with a long shower or walk, deep breaths and choosing just one thing on my list to complete.

My parents came over on Saturday to celebrate a mini-Christmas since we’ll be apart this year on December 25.  They created a little game for the kids to find out their gift…and it was a trampoline!  The kids were thrilled as this has been something we’ve talked about for years, but has always gone on the back burner.  Now to wait until this snow melts to start construction… 

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O Lord, stir up our hearts that we may prepare for Thy only begotten Son, that through His coming we may be made worthy to serve Thee with pure minds. Through Christ our Lord, Amen.

Advent wreath prayer for the second week of advent

The Second Sunday of Advent was also the feast of Saint Nicholas, so the kids woke up to chocolate coins and two games to play as a family. Having kids preschool to teen is a tricky combination for group gifts, so I went with Guess in 10: Animal Planet Edition for the younger crew and What Do You Meme? Family Edition for the older ones. Fair warning that the meme game contains its fair share of potty humor (I probably should have read the reviews first), but a big hit with the boys. I haven’t heard them laugh so hard in awhile.

On the decorating front, simple decorations went up outside, including two artificial trees around the front door and a live wreath from L.L.Bean. Nothing too fancy as my decorating budget wasn’t very big this year, but I love it all the same. I also dried orange slices to hang in my kitchen – I was distracted toward the end and a few ended up a tad crispy, but if you hang that side toward the back, no one’s the wiser, ha!

For the Solemnity of the Immaculate Conception, we celebrated with a big dinner of chicken cordon bleu casserole, cheesy broccoli with crumbled bacon and rolls before heading out to attend a late High Mass. There is something so peaceful about the being in the church at night during the winter.

I’m reading through The Sermons of St. Francis de Sales for Advent & Christmas and finished his sermon from the Second Sunday of Advent about John the Baptist sending his followers to Christ. The entire sermon was profound, but I found his comments about humility and works to be especially inspiring. Two quotes:

Oh wonderful humility of our dear Savior who comes to confound our pride and to destroy our false sense of superiority! They ask Him: “Who are You?” and His only answer is: “Relate what you have heard and seen.” He answers thus to teach us that it is our works and not our words that give testimony to what we are, we who are so full of pride.

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When asked, “Who are you?” do not be content to answer like little children in catechism class: “I am a Christian”; rather, live in such a manner that one will recognize clearly in you a person who loves God with his whole heart, one who keeps the Commandments, frequents the Sacraments, and does all things worthy of a true Christian. I do not mean that when we are asked who we are we must not say that we are Christians. Oh, certainly not! It is the most beautiful title we can give ourselves… All I mean is that it is not enough to be called a Christian if we do not perform the works of a Christian. After all, what are we? A little dust and ashes.

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To round out the week, we celebrated the feast of Our Lady of Guadalupe with a big Mexican meal. We love learning more and more about the apparition each year – it’s so fascinating. If you’ve read here for any length of time, you know how much I love the Blessed Mother and the message she said to Juan Diego all those years ago is so comforting: “Am I not here, I who am your mother? Are you not under my shadow and protection?…Are you not in the hollow of my mantle, in the crossing of my arms?”

O Lord, stir up Thy might, we beg Thee, and come, That by Thy protection we may deserve to be rescued from the threatening dangers of our sins and saved by Thy deliverance. Through Christ our Lord, Amen.

advent wreath prayer for the first week of advent

We may be a little counter-cultural (maybe a lot counter-cultural?), but our family uses the month of December as a way to build anticipation for the coming King. Over the years, we have created a gradual approach to our preparations/decorations that really works for our family. It’s non-stressful for me and the kids get more and more excited as the house fills with décor and baked goods. For Catholics, Christmas doesn’t end on December 25 – it’s just the beginning! This year, I’ll finally be jotting down what we do during Advent for posterity (anyone else use a blog to help remember things?).

On the first Sunday of Advent, we start with the theme of hope…and I like to add the theme of “light” here too: the Christmas tree goes up with only the lights, we put our electric candles in the windows, and we roll beeswax candles for the Advent wreath. Our little manger is set on the side table with a mug full of paper straw, ready and waiting for a month of good deeds. We set out the Nativity scene but keep Jesus tucked away for later.

We aren’t doing our typical “Advent School” this year because I just didn’t have it in me to tackle all of the crafts, ha! The big boys are growing older and my little boys have little interest in coloring and construction paper. I’m hoping that picture book reading and baking will still make for some happy memories. I did get Sophie the Christmas paint-by-number book (affiliate link) but have only given her one page to work on each day. She flies through them in hours otherwise!

On another happy note, my first year forcing paperwhites has been a success! They are beautiful and don’t actually smell as bad as I remembered. Next year, I will definitely add some vodka to the water to stunt their growth – mine are looking a little gangly and some are falling over from being so tall.

Beautiful background music that I found this week: