Family Advent Customs

Family Advent Customs by Helen McLoughlin is a classic Catholic guide reprinted from 1954 that helps families celebrate Advent as a sacred season of preparation rather than mere pre-Christmas bustle. It offers simple, time-honored customs—lighting the Advent wreath, stirring the plum pudding, filling a straw-lined manger with good deeds, singing hymns, and keeping special feast days like St. Nicholas, the Immaculate Conception, and St. Lucy—to draw children and parents into the rhythm of the Church’s year.

Blending devotion, practicality, and warmth, McLoughlin shows how home life can mirror the liturgy through prayer, song, food, and craft. From the first Advent candle to the Christmas Eve blessing of the crib and tree, each tradition turns ordinary family activity into a joyful act of faith, teaching that the true spirit of Christmas begins with watchfulness, gratitude, and preparation for Christ’s coming.

36 page booklet