When the Church celebrates the liturgy of Advent each year, she makes present this ancient expectancy of the Messiah, for by sharing in the long preparation for the Savior's first coming, the faithful renew their ardent desire for His second coming.

Catechism of the Catholic Church #524

Seasonal color:  Violet for the 1st, 2nd & 4th weeks

Rose pink for the 3rd week

Advent is best season of the year, in our humble opinion. When family and friends hear this, they think we are crazy. After all, this is the time of high stress, parties, and all the hectic Christmas preparation. How can this possibly be the best of times?

When you start celebrating Advent, your whole perspective changes. The season achieves its purpose of quiet expectation, penitence, and joy. Here's how we got started.

When my husband and I first got married, we tried to incorporate both of our family traditions into our Christmas celebration. His family put up a Christmas tree soon after Thanksgiving, my family on Christmas Eve. My family had lots of other holiday decorations, not so many in his family. At first we did it all - a small early Christmas tree, lots of holiday decorations, and a grand Christmas Eve Christmas tree. I loved it all at first; he was a bit of a Scrooge because there was too much "junk" everywhere. After our first child was born, I had to agree with him. She got into EVERYTHING!

We decided to just focus on Advent for a change. It took several years to feel comfortable with backing away from the traditional pre-Christmas hype, but it has made the actual Christmas season fantastic.

The Advent wreath is simply an evergreen wreath surrounding 4 candles. Traditionally there are 3 violet candles and 1 rose candle, although sometimes we do see 4 blue candles used. The first week of Advent we light the first violet candle. The second week, the first and second violet candles. The third week we light the rose candle in addition to the 2 violet candles. Rose symbolizes joy - the darkness is ending and we now have more light than dark, since now more than half of the candles are lit. The fourth week we light all the candles. The Light of the world is coming soon!

The Advent calendar is also fun. Some calendars have little windows that can be opened up every day from December 1 through December 25. We have a felt calendar that we re-use each year. The kids take turns putting felt decorations on the felt tree. I know this calendar is not as religious as some, but at least the decorations for the tree are angels, bells, candles, etc. Okay, we admit it, there is also a felt Santa Claus!

The Jesse Tree is an old tradition, but relatively new for us. This year we have an artificial table-top tree to decorate. Each day of Advent we put the special home made ornament on the tree and read the corresponding Bible story. Some days we feel creative, so draw our own pictures. Other days we use the ornaments that are already decorated. Feel free to use the paper ornaments we've made. (See below)

• Click here for the list of Bible passages. We like to use stories from our New Catholic Picture Bible/No. 435/22 rather than read the specific Bible passages. The pictures keep the attention of the younger children. Most, but not all, of the stories are in the Picture Bible, so it is very convenient. 
• Click here for decorated ornaments
• Click here for undecorated ornaments

This is probably the most difficult for most people to imagine - putting up the tree just before Christmas! I've heard lots of excuses for putting up the tree early. Getting to enjoy it longer, it's an expected decoration for parties, it's one less thing to worry about as Christmas approaches...

Give delaying the tree until the 4th week of Advent a try for a year or two. You may be surprised how much more relaxing December can be. If you prefer artificial trees, waiting should not be a factor - you can put it up and take it down whenever you want. If you prefer real trees, waiting has a definite advantage - saving money! Tree lot owners would rather sell Christmas trees at a cheaper price later than just throw them away. Just don't wait until the tree lots have closed! Cutting down your own tree can also be a great family adventure if you ever get the opportunity.

We have learned that it is best for us to put the tree in the stand as soon as we get it to keep the tree as fresh as possible and make sure the stand fits. We've had a few panicky Christmas Eves when the tree trunk was the wrong size for the stand. My husband has built a few last-minute stands out of the scrap wood in the shed. I suppose it is a good thing he is a pack rat!

We still put up other holiday decorations, but little by little, rather than all in a rush. By the time Christmas Eve arrives, we are ready for the real Christmas spirit!

Pick a convenient day during the 4th week of Advent for the entire family to help decorate the tree. Have special food that you only make on Christmas Eve (We eat hot dogs wrapped in crescent rolls, shrimp with cocktail sauce, and fudge, but probably should not admit it). Reminisce about your favorite ornaments. Enjoy all the traditions that work fine early in the season; they'll work just fine a little later, too.

One year we were decorating and several neighborhood kids dropped by. They were all shocked that we were only beginning our holiday decorating. They all ended up helping and we had a great time. Fortunately, we had plenty of food!

Put up the manger around this time, too. We like to wait until Christmas Day to put the Baby Jesus in the stable. We wait until Epiphany to add the Wise Men. (More on this during the Christmas season)

If you're on a tight budget, this really helps. Better yet, it can emphasize the real meaning of Christmas to your entire family.

For close friends we send cards and exchange small, often homemade, gifts. My husband makes Limoncello, a lemon liqueur, which is always popular!

For our family members we try to give family-oriented gifts, like movies and popcorn, pictures, etc. My sister-in-law likes to donate money in our name to her local animal shelter. Believe it or not, our kids really appreciate this. I doubt they want everyone to do this, but a little of it gives them a good feeling.

We tell our children that we have so many wonderful gifts, there is no need to ask for much for Christmas. They may ask Santa Claus for one gift, and that's it. They do get gifts from other relatives, so it's far from bare under our tree. Santa Claus usually adds a few family gifts, such as a DVD for family night, as well. We just try to keep the focus on the birth of Jesus. My husband and I do not give the kids extra gifts, but we do give them gift certificates for dates. We schedule a time between Christmas and Lent to go out with each child individually to a special place. Sometimes it's the book store, sometimes McDonald's, or maybe the skating rink. We set aside that special time to enjoy each other one-on-one. It is wonderful for all of us, it makes the dark, cold winter cheerier, and it is much easier on the pocketbook. 

We started this when our children were very young, so never had to go through the shock of an extravagant Christmas followed by a meager Christmas. You may want to make this a gradual change over a few years if you expect difficulty.

Take some of the money you save by keeping Advent low key, and donate it to Catholic Charities, the St. Vincent de Paul Society, or other deserving charitable organization.

Give yourself the gift of the Sacrament of Reconciliation. This is often the sacrament people avoid like the plague. If you haven't received this sacrament lately, try again. The emphasis is no longer merely on confession, although admitting your sins is still an important part of the healing process. Now the emphasis is on reconciliation, overcoming your sins and bringing you closer to God. What better way to lighten your soul and prepare for the Light of Christ?  

Give Advent a chance. Light your Advent candles at meal times, open your Advent calendar every day, and keep the gift-giving low key. Practice some charity and repentance. After all, Advent is a time to remember the first coming of our Lord, as a humble human being. It is also a time to prepare for the second coming of our Savior, in glory.