8 Picture Books to Inspire Advent Service and Traditions

Happy second week of Advent!

If you enjoy seasonal picture books as much as we do, please enjoy coming along on a look back of our first week of Works of Mercy Wise Men adventures from the first week of Advent.

As is our tradition here, we've been journeying along through Advent with our Works of Mercy Wisemen getting into picture books and reminding us each day of ways we might prepare our hearts and homes for Jesus, sometimes through choosing Corporal and Spiritual Works of Mercy to act upon and sometimes by living our own family traditions. 

{Disclosure: Some links which follow are affiliate ones.  Should you click through them to make any purchase, we may receive compensation at no extra cost to you.}

On the first day of Advent, our Wise Men sat atop our copy of  If He Had not Come.  They had some purple markers and papers with them there at our Happy New Liturgical year breakfast table. Thus, we decided that they were hinting that we might each reflect upon our own shortcomings, think of ways we might improve ourselves in the new liturgical year, and write a commitment down.  So, we did!

On the second day of Advent, our Wise Men were rifling through our box of Jesse Tree ornaments and looking at a page in Kristoph and the First Christmas Tree. 

We decided that they were reminding us that, due to snafus the day before, we had never picked out a branch in the woods to set up as our Jesse Tree and, therefore, had not been hanging our ornaments and praying for those that made them for us.  So, after lessons and work, we made time to go find a branch just before dark.

On the third and fourth days of Advent, some crazy life happenings took over and an overnight at Grammy and Grampy's happened, so our Wise Men opted to get into our keys instead of a book, reminding us to pray for the living and the dead as we took care of commitments and quelled the rising chaos of life.

On the fifth day of Advent, it was St. Nicholas' feast day, and the children awoke to two new books and a CD set for our home library along with some small treats in their shoes.

Excited by the new books, our Wise Men decided to make up for missing the third and fourth days of Advent, and, so,split up to draw our attention to three different things.

One brought the star we always put above one of our nativity sets right up to our new copy of The Christmas Miracle of Jonathan Toomey, a favorite book we used to take out of the library every year and now happily own.

My children quickly decided that Wise Man was hinting that we should make time to unwrap each of our nativity sets and to put pieces of them up around the house as a way to prepare our home for Christmas.

Another Wise Man held a Jesse Tree ornament and was looking at a copy of Jesse Tree, another book we have taken out of the library for years and now own a copy of.  

We decided this Wise Man was reminding us that we needed to catch up on reading Scripture, putting up Jesse Tree ornaments, and praying for those who made them.  So, we did.

We also went through all the Advent Chain strips we've taken down so far this Advent and put hung the ones we have acted upon on our Jesse Tree while putting the couple that we have yet to accomplish on our table as a reminder.

The final Wise Man sat atop a pile of Saint Nicholas books, including The Legend of Saint Nicholas, a different The Legend of Saint Nicholas, and Saint Nicholas.

He was surrounded by oranges, cheese, bread, paper, and scissors, so my children immediately knew that we were to make paper snowflakes and a basket to secretly gift a neighbor as have every St. Nicholas day since the year we organized a St. Nicholas playdate where we introduced this tradition.

On the sixth day of Advent, I neglected to take a picture of our Wise Men vignette. However, since the Wise Men were standing atop a copy of The Christmas Coat: Memories of My Sioux Childhood and lugging an empty canvas shopping bag, my children decided this meant we were supposed to find clothing, shoes, or other items we no longer need to pass along to someone who could use them. 

 So, we set a timer for fifteen minutes and filled the bag as quickly as we could. Then, we immediately took a photo of what was inside the bag and posted it in several groups online to see if anyone wanted any or all of the things we'd collected.

On the seventh day of Advent, our Wise Men sat atop an image of the nativity from the beautiful The First Christmas book.  Because it was also our oldest's birthday, we knew the Wise Men were telling us to pray extra for him and to celebrate his birth.

And that brings us to today - the eighth day of Advent.

This morning the Wise Men sat among Giving Tree tags, gifts to give, and "Why We Give Gifts at Christmas" in A Child's Book of Christmas. 

The children knew it was the day we give gifts to our church's Giving Tree program for the children whose tags they'd picked off the tree the week before Advent.  They always enjoy doing this.

And, I always enjoy the pause we take (almost) daily during Advent to quiet ourselves for picture book read alouds, chatting, and deciding what Work of Mercy, virtue, or tradition we might act upon.

Our Works of Mercy Wise Men has become a beloved anchor of Advent for us as we revisit favorite picture books, read new ones, and spend time together preparing hearts and homes for Jesus.

If you'd like to read about our other Works of Mercy Wise Men ideas, please click through the images below to find some of our some past ideas.

More ideas!

May your second week of Advent be filled with service and special moments as you prepare yourself to encounter Jesus - past, present, and future - and rejoice that the Lord is near!

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Get Your Free Prayer for the Child in the Womb Copywork and Consider Offering Spare Change to Spare a Life

Happy New Liturgical Year!  We pray your Advent has opened with plenty of time for prayer, preparation, and joyful anticipation of the commemoration of when Christ was born, of His coming to us daily through grace and through the Eucharist, and of when Christ comes again.

This morning, as we began celebrating Advent, a baby bottle again took a place on our table as a daily reminder to pray and give alms to the unborn and their families.

For years now, my children have eagerly picked up a baby bottle from a bassinet in the back of our church to take home and fill from Advent through Epiphany.

Doing so, has become a meaningful Advent tradition in our home that we initially enjoyed in conjunction with our family's Count, Pray, and Give initiative, and, now, participate in more simply - just dropping spare change into the bottle through Advent and Christmastide and having the bottle sit on our table as a continual reminder to pray.

This year, I have also made a Prayer for the Child in the Womb copywork set, using the words of a prayer from the Irish Catholic Bishop's Conference.  I share it here in case your children would like to use it for your family or classroom.

Get it here.

The FREE Prayer for the Child in the Womb Copywork Set includes the prayer in print and cursive, as well as lined sheets to copy it on.

We are grateful to the Respect Life Committee at our church for introducing us to the Spare Change-Spare a Life Baby Bottle Campaign and pray that by sharing about it here, you may be inspired to initiate a similar tradition in your home, co-op, church, or community.

May we each choose life 
in every decision we make! 

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3 Jars Can Help Your Children Remember to Pray, Fast, and Give

Pray, fast, and give.

Pray, fast, and give.

All through Lent
As learn, love, and live,

We pray, fast, and give.

For years now, we've been singing versions of this made up ditty during the 40 days of Lent, often in conjunction with filling our Pray, Fast, and Give Jars.

Randomly, this morning, my daughter began singing the song, perhaps in anticipation of the coming Lenten season or perhaps because we have been doing a lot of praying and fasting this past week while fighting fevers.  Whatever the reason, after my my daughter sang the ditty, I asked her if she could explain how we make and use our Pray, Fast, and Give Jars, so I could share it here.  She was happy to do so.

{Disclosure: Some if the links which follow are affiliate ones. Should you click through them and make any purchase, we may receive compensation at no extra cost to you.}

My Daughter Explains Pray, Fast, and Give Jars

To make our Pray, Fast, and Give jars we used three small glass babyfood jars. First, we nailed a hole in the lid.  Then, we took paper and wrote "pray" on the first...

 

..."fast" on the second, and "give" on the third. 

We used purple, because it is Lent.  

Then, we glued these papers onto the jars, and, near them, we put birdseed.   

Every time we pray, fast, or give during Lent, we put a seed (or bean) into a jar, depending on whether we prayed, fasted, or gave.  Then, on Easter, the jars "grow" lollipops , symbolizing the sweetness of Jesus' love, and we throw our seeds of sacrifice to the birdies.

We first heard about a similar thing on Holy Heroes, where they use one big jar for their family and use beans that turn into jelly beans.  We changed from jelly beans to lollipops, because when we went gluten-free, casein-free, and dye-free, lollipops we could have were easier to find. 

We changed to bird seed so we could feed the birds, too.  And, we like to have three jars - one for praying, one for fasting, and one for giving - because we like to see how much each one gets.  Usually praying has the most.  We need to remember fast and give more - especially fasting!

I think other people with children can enjoy this tradition.  It's fun and also supports praying, fasting, and giving, because you have something visual and concrete to do every day during Lent, and, then, can rejoice and enjoy lollipops on Easter!

Through the Years with Our Pray, Fast, and Give Jars

As many traditions do, our family's tradition of using Lenten Jars has morphed through the years.  We've adapted how many jars we use, where we place them, and what we put in them according to the needs and ideas of each given Lenten season.  However, even as these practical details have changed from year to year, one thing has not:  Pray, Fast, and Give Jars have become a staple Lenten tradition for us which reminds us daily to focus on the penitential practices. 

We began using Lenten Jars in 2010 before my third child was born.  That year, I was out of purple paper on the day we made the jars, so, we used green, instead, (since we were just coming out of Ordinary Time) and decided to decorate the papeer with our names, hearts to reminds us to love Jesus through sacrifices, and the words "pray", "fast", and "give" written in penitential purple.  Then, throughout Lent, we dropped up to three beans a day into our jars,  depending on if we remembered to pray, fast, and give during that given day. 

To help us remember our penitential focus, we also posted the words "Pray", "Fast", and "Give" above our jars using purple paper letters that I'd cut out and let the children affix smiley stickers on. (That is where the last of my purple paper went that year before making the jars.).  The smiley faces reminded us that Jesus smiles when we offer him our sacrifices.

Then, on Easter of that year, our beans disappeared and were replaced with sweet, long-lasting treats - lollipops - to symbolize the enduring gift of Jesus' love.   Plus, the Lenten purple cloth below the beans turned to Easter white, the word "alleluia" re-appeared along with a wish for happy Easter, and an image of the risen Jesus came out, too.

This first experience of using our Lenten Jars proved effective in helping us to reflect upon and keep track of our efforts at prayer, fasting, and almsgiving throughout Lent, and, of course, the children loved discovering their efforts transformed into joy and sweetness on Easter.  So, in 2011, we decided to make new jars.

That year, with a baby in the house, we kept the jar-making simple by just wrapping jars with purple paper that the children used foam stickers, markers, and crayons on.  We placed these under a cross of paper the children painted purple which acted as a reminder to pray, fast, and give alms throughout the season.  The children also added other bits of decor - mostly homemade - to the display as Lent unfolded, including crosses and sacrifice beads.

Then, on Easter morning, the purple tablecloth beneath the Lenten Jars was replaced with a white cloth, Easter cards that the children had received were placed on the table, an image of a risen Jesus appeared, and angel crafts the children had made came to the fore to remind us of the angel in the Bible that announced Jesus had risen.  Plus, of course, the lollipops grew.

During Lent 2012, we transitioned from using a single Lenten Jar per person to be filled with up to three beans a night to a using set of three Pray, Fast, and Give Jars for the entire family, which we filled whenever we remembered to do so after praying, fasting, and giving.  

After making our jars, we set them out with a bin of beans (hidden under a purple cloth), a Lenten nature craft of three crosses, and an image of Jesus carrying his cross.  

The kids could not wait to start using the jars and began praying, fasting, and looking for opportunities to give right away.

The "big kids" also got a bit over-zealous helping their baby brother to use our Pray, Fat, and Give jars..  Yep, the beans went everywhere - and, with them, a message was carried.

After cleaning those beans up - and finding stray bean after stray bean for days - there were still plenty to drop in our Pray, Fast, and Give Jars when we made sacrifices, so, of course, on Easter morning, the children were thrilled to discover that their jars had grown Easter sweetness and so had the hill where they had placed their nature-crafted crosses.  Homemade butterflies, an image of the risen Jesus, unburied "Alleluia's", and liturgical year wheel completed the scene.

In 2013, before we'd even made our jars, my daughter began praying at the table where they'd be placed. Then, my oldest son suggested that we change what we put in our Pray, Fast, and Give Jars from beans to birdseed.  So, that is what we did. 

I cannot find a photo of our 2013 Pray, Fast, and Give Jars out on our Lenten prayer table, but I was able to find this shot of the table transformed for Easter morning with lollipops growing out of our seed bowl and jar filled with seeds of sacrificial love.  (Note: I learned from the prior year and put out a much smaller container of seeds than I had of beans the year before!)

In 2014, our living room configuration changed and, so our prayer table disappeared, to be replaced by a cubby on our learning shelves.  Unfortunately, I cannot find a picture of how our Pray, Fast, and Give Jars looked there, but I do have a photo of the kids making the jars - which, by then, had become a quick and easy - yet still enjoyable - process since we'd been doing it for several years.

Then, instead of keeping our jars tucked onto the cubby shelf on Easter morning, they got moved over by our Easter baskets.

Lent 2015 found our Pray, Fast, and Give Jars moving to the kitchen table on a tray of seed (which we would not recommend to families with wee ones who might eat or get too overzealous with such a set up, nor to those with pets or pests.) We found that this placement prompted us to actually make sacrificial acts of prayer, fasting, and giving throughout our days better since the display was right where we cook, eat, and often do lessons or crafts.

Soon, a crucifix joined the scene, tucked into the small basket in which we placed strips of paper from completed sacrifices from our Lenten Chain. 

Then, on Easter lollipops grew from our seeds of sacrificial love (which went out to feed our feathered friends), and they also appeared in the little basket nearby.  Our buried-and-resurrected "Alleluias" became a backdrop for the scene, and some paper plate pencil topper Easter lilies, white candles, and opened paper Easter tombs that one of the kids had made completed our not-picture-perfect-yet-perfect-enough-for-us Easter vignette.

In 2016, our jars moved to the shelf between our living room and our dining room, however, I neglected to take any photos of them until the labels had come off, the seeds had been spread outside, and the children had gotten into the sweet reminders of Jesus' love.  You can see here, though, that we decided to add a small statue of a risen Jesus near to our Easter morning display.

Lent 2017 was a rather crazy time for us since, among other things, we had recently lost Nana and Daddy was recovering from a surgery. Plus the children were preparing for and competing in their first Destination Imagination competition and, well, there was just a lot going on in our heads, hearts, and lives.  So, to be honest, even though it was only a year ago, I cannot recall if our Pray, Fast, and Give Jars remained on the shelf or made their way back to the table.  I do know, however, that during a somewhat stressful Lent, our tradition of using Pray, Fast, and Give Jars reminded us daily to offer up our hardships and to keep focusing on prayer, fasting, and almsgiving.

By the time Easter came, we were all ready to savor the sweetness blooming from our jars, which were tucked at the top of our Easter morning table.  We also rejoiced in the sweetness of knowing Jesus, indeed, rose again.  Darkness never triumphs.

So it is that for almost a decade now, we have enjoyed our tradition of Pray, Fast, and Give Jars, and undoubtedly, will continue to do so for many years to come. Especially last year, they proved to us how a simple tool - three jars, some paper, some markers, birdseed, and lollipops - can work to focus us on the penitential practices of Lent and the joy of Easter.  Our Pray, Fast, and Give Jars have certainly become an enduring and meaningful tradition for us.  Perhaps your family might borrow the idea.

Whatever traditions you and yours practice, may your Lenten journey be a meaningful time or prayer, fasting, and almsgiving!

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