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.

This Friday marks the feast of the Dormition of the Theotokos. Preceded by a two week fast, this feast commemorates the death and assumption into heaven of the Theotokos. I find it especially important to celebrate this feast in the home as it teaches children an appropriate attitude towards death. Through Christ, death is not the end but the beginning and Mary’s assumption beautifully demonstrates the joy and glory of new life that comes to those who have reposed in the faith.

Greeting the Day: Icons are an absolutely wonderful tool to use to teach children about the faith. All 3 of my children have been visually drawn to them since they were small babies and have enjoyed hearing the stories surrounding them as they have grown. During prayer time, tell the story of Mary’s dormition to your children using a print out of an icon.

Afternoon Fun: It is customary in many churches to bring flowers to the liturgy to be blessed. For a fun outing, either take your children to a florist to pick flowers or have them pick wildflowers all on their own. At home, help them arrange the flowers into two bouquets. Take both to the liturgy to be blessed. Leave one at church and bring the other home to adorn your icon corner. If you have extra blessed bouquets, take them to neighbors and tell them that it is in honor of the feast.

Around the Dinner Table: Make it a point to discuss at the table that in this feast, we celebrate that what happened to Mary is something that can happen to all who live a life of humility, love and obedience.

Memory Verse: Luke 11:28 “He replied, “Blessed rather are those who hear the word of God and obey it.”

Greeting the Day: Although this is really an activity that will take more than a day, I think it is a great and simple way to demonstrate the concept of change. There are many variations on this project (you can use carrots, potatoes, onions, papaya seeds), but since my kids are preschoolers, we are sticking with simple beans. Get a clean, glass jar with a lid. Have your child wet a cotton ball or paper towel folded up to fit the jar. It should be damp, but not soaking wet. Place the cotton ball at the bottom of the jar and have your child sprinkle a few dried beans on top (any kind will do. You can mix them up for more variation). Place in indirect sunlight. Over the next week, watch how the seed changes. With sun and water, the seed with sprout and grow into a plant. You can translate this concept into talking about how we ourselves can change and grow through participating in the sacraments, fasting and prayer. We too can bear fruit.

Afternoon Fun: This is a fun art project for little ones. Take a plastic that can be sealed. Place in the bag all sorts of materials: flour, shaving cream, liquid soap, etc. Add a little paint: use a few different colors. Fill the bag no more than a 1/3 full. Seal tightly. Let your child squish it all up. Shake it all up. Talk about how the material inside changes as the child touches it. The colors form new colors as they mix together.

Around the Dinner Table: Fruits are traditionally blessed on this day, particularly grapes and other soft fruits. Why grapes? They show physical transformation and represent a religious transformation (i.e. wine). So, take plenty of grapes with you and your children to liturgy to be blessed. At dinner, light some candles and place them on the table to symbolize the light of Christ and enjoy the blessed fruits with your family while having a discussion of the significance of the fruit in light of the feast of the Transfiguration. If you are feeling ambitious, you can place some of the grapes out to dry and spend the next few weeks watching them change into raisins.

Memory Verse: Matthew 17:5 While he was still speaking, behold, a bright cloud overshadowed them; and suddenly a voice came out of the cloud, saying, “This is My beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased. Hear Him!”

I was told this during a confession once. I had been talking about some sins I struggle with that have been negatively affecting my mothering. Fears, passions, habits. My confessor told me this to comfort me. To encourage me. In mothering my children, I will struggle. But I must strive to not give up in that struggle. The struggling is good. It is a part of our salvation. “To fall is to sin. To stay fallen and not try to get up is devilish.”

It is both a humbling and scary thought that the life I lead is what I give to my children. Afterall, I know my weaknesses and there are many. I do not wish to pass them to my children, but it seems inevitable. My confessor agreed with me; the life that I lead is what I give to my children. But there is hope in this. He told me that it is the habits I have, the fears I confess, the passions I express…what I demonstrate is what I give. My spiritual struggle as a mother is to not indulge these.

He spoke to me about this particularly in regards to some fears I have. He told me that I need to not pass on these fears to my children. It is my duty as a mother to protect my children from my fears. Not that they will not struggle with any fears themselves, but I need to teach them to trust in God through my example. Although I may not overcome these fears, I can choose not to indulge them. I can choose not to express them. And in doing so, I not only teach my children to trust in God but I am actively battling against my fears.
It is hard being a mother. It is hard just being human! But the unique position of the full time caretaker is that you are constantly being observed. That is draining. The struggles that one normally has just by oneself can seem so much more burdensome when eyes are constantly watching. But, on the other hand, this is a very, very blessed position to be in because it gives you consistent motivation outside of yourself to encourage you in those struggles. My children, just by being my children, are helping me fight spiritual battles. I can choose to strive to strengthen my little army, guiding them through example to trust and obey God, or I can choose not to and face the consequences. Although I cannot guarantee that my children will have faith, I can, through the acting grace of God, equip them with the tools to be saints. And, then, well, the choice is theirs.

So I will continually pray, Lord Jesus Christ Son of God, have mercy on us sinners. Help me to struggle and, when I do fall, give me the strength to stand up and fight again.

The following activities are tried and true and my children get a real kick out of them. They love story time (especially when Ma and Pa make a real effort to ‘act’ out the stories) and messy art is always great. So, have fun and God bless you on this Feast day!

Greeting the Day: Getting all the family out the door on time for church can be quite an ordeal. After two years, my husband and I have finally found a solution that works for our family and gets everyone out the door on time and in good attitudes (very important!). My husband readies himself first in the morning while I get the kids dressed. Then he takes all the kids out of the house on a walk or to a park while I ready myself and pack the activity bags. I meet them at the park and we continue on together. Although this solution might not work for every family, I do think it is a good idea for every couple to have a Sunday Morning Action Plan. For this particular Sunday, include in the morning activities a story time. Read stories about Saints Peter and Paul to your children. Talk to your children about how these two saints will be celebrated at the liturgy for their contributions to the early church.

Afternoon Fun: For a fun summer activity, make some sidewalk paint and go out with your children and paint the sidewalks with stories of Peter and Paul serving as the basis.

Around the Dinner Table: Now, it is a Ukrainian custom to eat Mandryky (meaning ‘to wander’)on this feast day due to a legend that Peter and Paul were sustained by these rolls while traveling for missions. If you are energetic, you can make them. If you’re lazy (like me!), go ahead and buy some yummy rolls that resemble Mandryky (as much as is possible) and feast on them with supper.

Memory Verse: Matthew 16: 18-19 And I tell you, you are Peter, and on this rock I will build my church, and the gates of Hades shall not prevail against it. I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven, and whatever you bind on earth shall be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven.

Greeting the Day: As the feast is on a Sunday and getting out the door on time for church is hard enough with children without the addition of extra activities, let us just try to get to church on time. (o:

Afternoon fun: Have your children help decorate for the party and bake a birthday cake. Great party decorations could include rose petals scattered across the table and home to symbolize the tongues of flame, a wooden or paper cut out dove hanging from the ceiling, candlelight and lots and lots of green! Wear green, bring in plants, hang green streamers! For the Orthodox, green is the color of life and the color for the Holy Spirit.

Around the Dinner Table: On feast days, I think it appropriate to read the day’s scripture readings prior to the meal and to sing the hymn of the day (or a Western hymn appropriate for the feast). The readings for Pentecost are Acts 2:1-11; John 7:37-52, 8:12. Now after dinner, there must be cake and there must be presents (after all, it is a birthday party!). But these presents have a special twist. Give your children tiny gifts to symbolize the fruits of the Holy Spirit. I would suggest picking one fruit (or two) each year to focus on. For example, you might pick ‘Generosity’ and give your children little packets with things to give to a homeless person (like a hygiene kit). Or you might, for older children, choose self-control. Give them a favorite candy and if they can manage not to eat it for a week, then tell them they will get another candy. The gifts can be more light-hearted and fun too! You might give your child a gift and explain that it is for a kindness they performed earlier in the week, or for their patience during a certain event. Regardless, use this as an opportunity to explain some of the virtues/fruits of the Holy Spirit.

Memory Verse for the week: But the Holy Spirit will come and help you, because the Father will send the Spirit to take my place. The Spirit will teach you everything and will remind you of what I said while I was with you. John 14:26

***Matt Cuthbertson suggested in a comment on a previous post that I gather various pictures of icon corners in your homes to post and use as examples. I really like that idea and would like to include them in a series on prayer in the home sometime in the near future. Since I am not quite sure how to obtain those pictures via email without possibly inviting spam, if you are interested in having pictures from your home used in the series, please post a comment providing a link to an online public gallery with the pictures from your home. Thank you and happy feast day!

Tags: It\'s, party, time!, Pentecost, style,, The, feast, of, Pentecost,, Pentecost,

This Thursday, June 5th, marks the feast of Holy Ascension. As stated so beautifully in the Apolytikion, it is a feast of joy. Our risen Lord spent 40 days on earth with his disciples and left them with the great promise of preparing a place for us and of the coming Holy Spirit.

O Christ our God, You ascended in Glory and gladdened Your disciples by the promise of the Holy Spirit. Your blessing assured them that You are the Son of God, the Redeemer of the world.

I am sure all our family schedules vary considerably. Some of us work, some of us are full time homemakers. To answer the varying flexiblities of each family, I will try to offer a variety of activites for you to choose from or to jumpstart your own creativity. The activities I suggest will fall under 3 categories to loosely correspond with morning, afternoon and evening prayers: greeting the day, afternoon fun, and around the dinner table. The idea is to build these activites around a daily ritual of prayer. Afterall, spiritual education and outreach are most valuable when accompanied by prayer!

Greeting the Day: It is a popular custom to take a hike up hills or mountains on Ascension Day to commemorate Christ and the Disciples climbing up Mt. Olives. The Swedes have a tradition of getting up very early in the morning and going to a forest glen to hear birds singing at sunrise. Dependent on when the sun rises in your city, you might want to try some variation of this. Maybe start a morning hike at sunrise and end on top of a hill with a picnic breakfast. Or if time is short, awake your family early and say morning prayers somewhere outside where you can watch the sun rise and hear the birds greet the day with you. If you can’t take a hike in the morning, take one later in the day.

Afternoon fun: Most of the afternoon fun activities will be more craft oriented. I have borrowed the following idea from a British Catholic custom. In the Catholic Church, there is recorded an English custom of a processional involving a banner bearing a lion at the head and a dragon at the rear to symbolize Christ’s triumph in his ascension over the evil one. So, the project for Ascension Day is to make a Banner of Triumph. Here are two links for paper plate lion and dragon crafts. After your children have completed the craft (with or without your help depending on their ages), go ahead and attach them to a banner with the words “Christ is the Victor!” or something of that sort written on it. Then, at the end of the day before extinguishing the Paschal candle, make a processional around the house during prayer time singing the hymn “Christ is Risen from the dead” one last time. Then, hang the banner on the wall until Pentecost and extinguish the Paschal candle together before bedtime.

Around the Dinner Table: One fun tradition is to eat a bird for dinner in memory of how Christ ‘flew’ to heaven. If you were able to make the Lion and the Dragon crafts with your children, continue to follow the plan outlined above. If you were unable to make the banner, go ahead and make the final Paschal procession without one. Before extinguishing the candle, though, go ahead and read the readings for this feast day together as a family. The readings for the feast come from Luke 24:36-53 and Acts 1:1-12. If your children are small, use a children’s bible so that the story is more understandable. Discuss with your children what Christ’s promise was to his disciples and what he commanded his disciples to do.

A good verse to memorize together as a family this week is:

MARK 16:15 & 19 NIV
He said to them, “Go into all the world and preach the good news to all creation. … ” After the Lord Jesus had spoken to them, he was taken up into heaven and he sat at the right hand of God.

Have a wonderful feast day!

I mentioned above that I have 3 little ones (4 and under, mind you) and so time limits me to focusing on just the Twelve Great Feasts of the year and the major fasts. And we already have two coming up real quick! However, that will be subject for another blog very soon. For now, here are some simple ideas to help start coloring your homes with the richness of our faith:

1. Although these can easily be purchased, if you are budget conscious like myself, print out the different icons for the Feasts and Fasts and have them laminated. During the appropriate season, bring out each icon to adorn your prayer altar.

2. Start coordinating your housekeeping with the church year. I think it very appropriate to schedule deep cleanings prior to the major fasts of the church. Spring cleaning before Lent. Summer before Saints Peter and Paul. Fall before the Dormition and winter before the Nativity Fast.

3. If you are really adventurous, buy appropriately colored place-mats, table runners or candles to adorn your dining area during the church year. Follow the colors of clergy vestments as outlined here. Have your children redecorate the home as the church seasons change.

4. To prepare yourself and your children for the Feasts and fasts, choose one verse from the scripture readings for the particular feastday and spend the week(s) preceding memorizing it together as a family. Read it a meal time and prayer times to help the little ones. Print out the scripture in large type and hang it on your prayer wall as a constant reminder.

5. This is one of my favorite things we do in our home. I got the idea from Making God Real in the Orthodox Christian Home by Anthony Coniaris (I highly recommend it): A prayer chain! Hang a piece of thin rope or some ribbon on the wall near your prayer altar. Attach photos of family, friends or people who are in need. This serves both as a visual reminder to encourage us to constantly pray for others and as a useful tool for the little ones during prayer time. Allow them to hold the photos and encourage them to pray for the people in the photo they are holding. Here is a photo below to serve as an example (this is when we were first putting it together…it’s jam packed with photos now):

These are just a few ideas to get started with and I am always open to more. Together, let’s start sweeping into our homes the seasons of the church year!