Small Things: St. Nicholas Day

Santa goes by St. Nicholas around here. He visits on the eve of his feast day and likes to check in on everyone's Advent preparations. He loves kids and if there are kids in the house, he may leave them a few gold coins and a small toy. The boys left a pair of their tiny shoes by the fireplace along with a colored portrait of St. Nick and a carrot for his donkey. They were thrilled to find chocolate coins and a little car in their shoes.

Advent 2009

This is the first in a set of waaaaay overdue posts!

I'm happy to say that we increased our Advent activities this year. In addition to putting out an Advent wreath, we actually used it this year.

We observed Advent after dinner and clean up but before bathtime. We started by singing O, Come Emmanuel, lighting the candles, and then did a short reading and meditation from the Advent bulliten for kids that we got from St. Jude's. After that, Xavier opened the appropriate door on this gorgeous Advent calendar that MaMere and MoMo found in Lafayette. I envy their access to Catholic bookstores there!

We ended with a short prayer and Xavier helping to put the candles out with the snuffer. While there was a bit of wiggling the first few nights, by the end of Advent all we needed to do was dim the lights and say "Advent" and boys came running to the dining room table to begin. I think at this age, the candles are the biggest draw.

I also spiffed up the house a bit for Advent including a purple drape over the fireplace and a new chasable and stole for Father Pine. For a more tactile experience, Xavier and Jack could play with this cute nativity magnet set. I opted not to put out the ceramic set this year as it was difficult enough to keep the wreath and calendar from being mangled and I had run out of high spaces.

Father Pine

Thanks to the very creative Catholic mamas over on the 4Real Forums we got the inspiration this summer to make Father Pine to help us follow the liturgical seasons here in our domestic church. Lexy painted him and I made his green ordinary time vestments. Unfortunately, Father Pine has been hanging out on our mantel in green for several months now despite several church holidays that called for other colors.

Last night I decided to get back in the swing of things and whipped up a red chasuble and stole for Father Pine to help commemorate today's feast of the martyrs, Pope Cornelius and Bishop Cyprian. A little lace hem tape made a nice trim don't you think?

The reality is that until the boys are older, I am the primary target of all the religious education. Until I started reading up on domestic church family activities I had no idea how much I didn't know about the traditions of the Catholic church. Following the feast days helps dip a toe into Church history while using the liturgical colors helps us prepare for the big calendar events: Lent, Advent, Christmas and Easter.

Advent

After a little scrambling I got our Advent wreath up in our dining room. I was determined to have some sign of Advent around here since I decided not to put garland around our door. You wouldn't believe how difficult it is to find purple and pink candles this time of year!

The white candle in the center is our Immaculate Conception candle representing Mary. I'm jumping the gun on this one a little since the Feast of the Immaculate Conception isn't until December 8th, but I'm planning to be a little busy that day giving birth. I carved out a small space in the candle and hid a little baby Jesus inside behind some ribbon. On Christmas I'll remove the covering to represent the birth.

Since Tim and I got married, we've made the choice to really focus on Advent up until Christmas Vigil on December 24th. Advent is chock full of special feasts (St. Francis Xavier, St. Nicholas, St. Lucy....) and traditions (Advent songs and prayers, Jesse tree...) and I hate to miss the joy of antipation in the rush to celebrate Christmas. With Christmas shopping, parties, and music starting in early November now in the popular culture, it often feels as if we are swimming up the culture stream on this one.

I know that Xavier is too young to "get" a lot of what we're doing but I feel like it is part of my job as a homemaker and mother to create our own domestic church environment. He and his siblings will be able to say that we've been celebrating saints' feasts and Advent "for as long as they can remember." Besides, the commemorations are as much for me and my husband as they are for the kids.