The Nativity Fast is quickly approaching. In America, it is very hard to follow the fast when everyone else anticipates Christmas with feasting. However, let us try to counteract culture and adopt the rhythm of the Orthodox church year into our celebrations of Christmas. We fast to prepare for our twelve days of feasting from Christmas to Theophany/Epiphany. We fast to remember to pray for humanity and to gather money for charitable works. We fast in anticipation of the feast, made all the more glorious when we are bodies our hungry, our spirits are penitent and our minds are filled with scriptures and prayers.

A great resource to have for Orthodox Advent (and other festal events) is Making God Real in the Orthodox Christian Home by Anthony Coniaris. He gives instructions on how to make an Orthodox Advent Wreath and readings, discussions topics and hymns to sing for each Sunday of Advent.

This year, our family is in England and as we have none of our Christmas decorations this year, we are making everything from scratch (except the tree, of course!)! Here is a list of all the activities we are doing as we prepare for the Fast and for Christmas:

The Advent Calendar: The ones on the supermarket shelf are useless to us! You can buy an Orthodox one or you can be ambitious and make one yourself. Remember that the liturgical colors for the Nativity Fast are red (except for blue from November 21-25 for the Presentation of the Theotokos) and gold for the 12 days of Christmas. You might make a paper chain. We are making a paper collage of various red patterns on a piece of cardboard and will have a different prayer/bible verse or charitable activity written on each day.

The Entry of the Theotokos into the Temple (November 21): Get rolls of construction paper. Unroll and cut slightly longer than child’s height. Have child lay down on paper and trace his/her body. Explain how our body’s our temples for the holy spirit who dwells inside us. Draw/trace a dove in the middle of the body. Have your child color his body. Help the child to memorize: 1 Corinthians 6:19, "…your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit, who is in you"

St. Nicholas the Wonderworker (December 6^th): In the west, St. Nicholas/Santa Claus has become a part of Christmas Eve with stockings opened on Christmas Day. However, St. Nicholas’s feast day is on December 6^th. For lots on information on the history and traditions surrounding this saint, look here. As for our family, we combine some American and older tradtions. We tell a story about St. Nicholas and have the children bake some vegan treats on the 5^th to leave out for St. Nicholas. Of course, we must listen to silly songs about Santa Claus while doing this as we now know who the real Santa Claus is! When they awake, we have stockings filled with candy canes (or candy croziers, one of St. Nicholas’ symbols. All bishops carry staffs, hooked at the top like a shepherd’s crook, showing they are the shepherds who care for, or tend, their people.), pennies, apples, oranges and nuts.

St. Lucy (December 13^th): Our family celebrates Sankta Lucia day each year because our eldest is named Lucy. However, even if you don’t have a Lucy in the house, it is a fun feast to celebrate and is a good day to start Christmas decorations as the name Lucy means light. We put up our Christmas lights every year on this day. In Swedish/Scandinavian tradition (of which my husband descends from), it is traditional for the eldest daughter to awake the family with a tray of Lucia bread wearing a white dress with a red sash and a crown of candles.

Sunday of our Forefathers (this feast is celebrated on the first Sunday after Dec. 11^th. This year it is on December 14^th): This feast is special to our family, as it is my husband’s nameday (Jesse) as well as our godson’s (King David). It also is very suitable to Christmas, as on this day, we set up our Christmas tree (in honor of the tree of Jesse and the root of David) and we pray a special blessing of the Tree. Another reasons to wait till now to set up the tree is that it is supposed to last through Epiphany!

Decorations: Every family must decide for themselves how to appropriately decorate for Christmas. We set up our lights on St. Lucy’s Day and get our tree on the Sunday of Our Forefathers. We spend the rest of the Fast making Christmas decorations and try to decorate our tree on Christmas Eve (I say ‘try’ because often our impatience gets the better of us!). The advantage of waiting to put all your decorations up is that the 12 days of Christmas will seem all the more festive. As we are in England this year and without our Christmas décor, we will be making everything. Here are some of the things we will be making:

· Angel Ornaments

· Paper plate ornaments and tree garlands

· Star ornaments—just cut out stars from cardstock and let the kids decorate them with glitter. Punch a hole at the top and tie a ribbon on.

· Christmas tree Angel topper

· Nativity Scene—As absurd as it sounds, we making one from toilet paper rolls this year. Set up Mary and Joseph first. Add baby Jesus on Christmas and the 3 wise men on Epiphany.

Well, I am sure this is MORE than enough stuff to keep you busy through this fast! May the Lord bless you and grant you a fast that bears much fruit.

The Nativity Fast is quickly approaching.In , it is very hard to follow the fast when everyone else anticipates Christmas with feasting.However, let us try to counteract culture and adopt the rhythm of the our church year into our celebrations of Christmas.We fast to prepare for our twelve days of feasting from Christmas to Theophany/Epiphany.We fast to remember to pray for humanity and to gather money for charitable works. We fast in anticipation of the feast, made all the more glorious when we are bodies our hungry, our spirits are penitent and our minds are filled with scriptures and prayers.

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