Spiritual Practices for the season of Advent

This past season of ordinary time has left me feeling both dry and full to overflowing... it has been anything but ordinary and dull.

While I have learned so much, these have been the most trying times I can remember--from adjusting to a move, a change in lifestyle, a painful pregnancy and a new addition to the family to a deeper understanding of those things which I must leave behind in my quest to see God and be with Him always which have been hard to let go of.

Now advent is upon us and I am so excited! I feel a renewed sense of satisfaction in my family and while the situations that I find myself in are not ideal in the sense that they are not "the way I would have done things," I recognize fully that they are exactly as they "should be" for all of our spiritual growth, and I am thankful for that since I want to partner always with God in what He is doing.

Advent is exciting! While the rest of the world is putting up Christmas trees and decorating houses, Catholics are waiting in bare houses marked only by gorgeous candled wreaths, in hushed anticipation of the magic of the season. Long after they have tore down their tree and resumed daily living, we will be sitting in awe of the incarnation and exchanging gifts of love in thanksgiving for the miracle of Christmas. We are meditating, reflecting on the story of the Incarnation and it's meaning in our lives. We are repenting, taking the time each day to acknowledge that we are sinful and in need of a coming Savior. We are preparing the way for the Coming of the King. It's exciting and sobering at the same time, reminding us of what we do daily as we await the second coming.

Aside from advent traditions, for which any number of sources are available, I've been thinking a lot about advent practices- things which I can do to make advent more meaningful for me this year. It's fun teaching the kids about God through traditions, but it's life changing putting into practice those things which we are talking about with our traditions.

So, this year, for advent, here are the things I am doing:

I'm going back to reading evening prayer from the Liturgy of the Hours with my children.

I'm starting each day with St Patrick's breastplate.

I'm praying a rosary in their rooms as they go to sleep after their story, which I start off with the day's reading from Fr Gabriel's Divine Intimacy, a Carmelite devotional.

I am reading them the traditional readings instead of the Novus Ordo readings for the day and we are doing one activity based on the readings (like, coloring/drawing etc)

We are keeping track of things we can offer up and things we can make reparation with.

I am going to try to encourage everyone to do weekly confession.

In doing these things, I hope to instill in them a sense of the sacred work we undertake as we wait for the coming of the Lord. This, in turn, allows to experience the moment when our joy is truly complete.