St. Lucia Buns & Swedish Glögg Wooden Play Food
The Mini Catholic Kitchen (specifically this St. Lucia Buns (Lussekatter) & Swedish Glögg Wooden Play Food Set) is my FAVORITE Shining Light Dolls new toy release since their Double-sided Advent to Christmas Wooden Wreath Set. It is SO darling!
I could hardly wait to give it to the girls but thankfully St. Nicholas dropped it off this weekend. 😉
As soon as the girls opened the box they were so excited. I grabbed my camera to snap a few photos as they started serving St. Lucia buns and pouring glögg for each other and for me too! Here are a few adorable moments I managed to capture…
St. Lucia, teach us to carry Christ’s light
— warm as glögg, bright as lussekatter —
to everyone we meet.
St. Lucia Buns (Lussekatter) & Swedish Glogg Wooden Set
Save an extra 10% with coupon SHOWEROFROSESBLOG
A Visit from Saint Nicholas
Celebrating St. Nicholas’s feast day has always been a favorite tradition in our home. The kids write their letters to St. Nicholas (and Baby Jesus! – this year both the little girls wrote they are especially praying for Uncle Scott’s soul ❤️) . They tuck their letters into their slippers and wake up to find them replaced with treats – new books, candy coins, gold coins, and a few fun surprises. It’s a simple tradition but such a special one which they always look forward to each Advent.
This year we were down to just five at home, and that number is probably going to drop again next year, but it’s so heartwarming to see how our adult children continue to celebrate this special feast. Our family text string was filled with pictures from a beautiful Rorate Mass at Thomas Aquinas College down in California 😍 , crazy young men sledding in North Dakota 😳, and four pairs of men’s shoes (second son and two friends visiting our oldest right now) in front of a TV screen fire in a small apartment in Arizona filled with cans of Guinness, bananas and chocolate coins. 😂
I hope you all had a blessed feast day however you celebrated!
O good St. Nicholas, you who are the joy of the children, put in my heart the spirit of childhood, which the Gospel speaks, and teach me to seed happiness around me.
You, whose feast prepares us for Christmas, open my faith to the mystery of God-made man. You, good bishop and shepherd, help me to find my place in the Church and inspire the Church to be faithful to the Gospel.
O good Saint Nicholas, patron of children, sailors, and the helpless, watch over those who pray to Jesus, your Lord and theirs, as well as over those who humble themselves before you.
Links to this year’s new books can be found here, this year’s new puzzle here, and the darling St. Lucia Buns!
The little girls also discovered a couple Christmas sweaters and place settings in the kitchen near some more fun seasonal donuts from Krispy Kreme. (We’ve started saving the Cherry Cheese Candy Cane Coffee Cake for Christmas when more of the kids are home.)
Bring us all in reverence to the Holy Child of Bethlehem, where true joy and peace are found. Amen.
“The giver of every good and perfect gift has called upon us to mimic God’s giving, by grace, through faith, and this is not of ourselves.“
St. Nicholas, ora pro nobis!
St. Nicholas Day in the Morning… Last year!
As I was working on uploading pictures from this year’s feast of St. Nicholas, I realized I never finished posting last year’s pictures from St Nicholas Day in the Morning…. adding them now to this digital family scrapbook of ours. ❤️
You can find links to all the books they received this year (2024) here. They also all received new slippers, a new puzzle, and some other little surprises. You can also find our free printable letter to Baby Jesus here.
“Welcome, friend! St. Nicholas, welcome!
Bring no rod for us to-night!
While our voices bid thee welcome,
Every heart with joy is light.
Tell us every fault and failing;
We will bear thy keenest railing
So we sing, so we sing:
Thou shalt tell us everything!
Welcome, friend! St. Nicholas, welcome!
Welcome to this merry band!
Happy children greet thee, welcome!
Thou art gladdening all the land.
Fill each empty hand and basket;
‘Tis thy little ones who ask it.
So we sing, so we sing:
Thou wilt bring us everything!”
– A Song for St. Nicholas by Mary Mapes Dodge from “The Festival of St. Nicholas,” Hans Brinker or the Silver Skates
Scroll though many other St. Nicholas Day posts here.
St. Nicholas, ora pro nobis!
Treats from St. Nicholas
After celebrating the feast of St. Nicholas every year growing up, our older kids now love playing “St. Nicholas” on the eve of St. Nicholas Day. Even at Thanksgiving this year, our oldest son and our college son both asked for bags of chocolate coins to take back with them so they could surprise their friends.
Last year a few of them put together fun little treat bags—just chocolate coins and cuties—and secretly dropped them on friends’ and families’ porches. It ended up being such a fun and easy way to spread a little love just like St. Nicholas!
Our oldest daughter said her favorite part was how “it’s so fun when friends start sending pictures and trying to figure out who did it!” (Even though a couple Ring cameras totally gave them away.) She also added that you should “make sure the families you stop by don’t have dogs… haha!” (… and I told them to make sure they didn’t go anywhere they’d get shot!)
St. Nicholas Treat Bags
Last year our daughter wrote up a “letter from St. Nicholas.” I formatted it, added a picture, and printed them on cardstock, to tuck inside each bag. They’re available for you to download for free here if you’d like to use them too.
- Printable Letters from St. Nicholas
- Treat bags
- Oranges or Clementines
- Chocolate Coins
- or whatever treats you’d like to leave!
Dear Friend,
A little gift is left here for you,
With prayers that are constant
and blessings anew.
An orange for sweetness,
coins of chocolate gold,
Reminders of love
and stories of old.
Through acts of kindness
and love’s holy light,
We honor the Savior
born on Christmas night.
Keep your eyes fixed on heaven,
where true joy resides,
And know that the saints
walk close by your side.
In Christ,
— Your Servant, St. Nicholas
Our 2025 Advent Book Basket and Printable Labels
I’m finally getting around to posting our 2025 Advent Book Basket and Printable Labels! We have had a lot happening lately and I am hoping to share a couple updates soon. I’m so sorry to those who have been waiting for these… At least they will now be in the archives for the next time Advent begins on November 30th!
I do have another giveaway for you, so be sure to scroll to the bottom of this post to enter. The winners of this year’s St. Nicholas Giveaway were just announced as well!
Annual Advent Book Basket
The Advent Season in our home includes so many lovely traditions that have slowly grown over the years including our Advent Wreath, Advent Calendars and Jesse Tree, but one of our favorites is counting down the days with our annual Advent Book Basket. Over the years, we’ve built an incredible home library, including many books in Christmas Mosaic and from our children’s ever-growing list of favorite Christmas picture books. Each year, we add new treasures, especially on the feast of St. Nicholas. (Check out this year’s St. Nick books here!)
The length of Advent ranges from 22 to 28 days, beginning on the Sunday closest to the feast of St. Andrew the Apostle (November 30th) and embracing four Sundays. The first day of Advent can fall as early as November 27th to as late as December 3rd. This year Advent begins on Sunday, November 30th.
I love mixing old favorites with new finds as I decide which books to wrap up each year for our Advent Book Basket. The kids get just as excited as I do, especially when they unwrap their favorites or discover a carefully chosen addition!
This year I asked my husband and our 15 year old to pick out 10 books each from the Christmas bookshelves upstairs for me. I then added three new books (Mr. Willowby’s Head Over Heals Christmas, A Christmas Wish for Little Dala Horse and The Shepherd’s Coat which is also available here) and a couple of my favorites (Christmas in Heaven and The Donkey’s Dream) to bring the total to 25 to wrap up this year.
Note: The Shepherd’s Coat is Also available directly from Word on Fire – Right now there is a 20% off sale on all books and merchandise in their online store through January. If you spend $50, you will also receive a free copy of The Shepherd’s Coat!
Here’s what made the cut for this year’s Advent Book Basket:
2025 Advent Book Basket
Note: As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases.
To use all season: All About Advent & Christmas: Sharing the Seasons of Hope & Wonder with Children
- November 30 – 1st Sunday of Advent: The First Christmas
- December 1: Christmas Farm
- December 2: Mr. Willowby’s Christmas Tree
- December 3: (NEW) Mr. Willowby’s Head Over Heals Christmas
- December 4: The First Christmas Stocking – pull out the stockings to hang
- December 5: Christmas in Heaven – write letters to Christ Child/Saint Nicholas, bake Speculaas or St. Nicholas Cookies, decorate St. Nicholas Chocolate Coins to give to others, and deliver treats!
- December 6 – Feast of St. Nicholas: The Christmas Cookie Sprinkle Snitcher
- December 7 – 2nd Sunday of Advent, Feast of St. Ambrose: The Christmas Candle – Bake a Honeycomb Cake
- December 8 – Solemnity of the Immaculate Conception (Holy Day): The Donkey’s Dream – Decorate Christ Candle for the Immaculate Conception
- December 9 – Feast of St. Juan Diego: Christmas from Heaven
- December 10: The Nutcracker
- December 11: The Little Match Girl
- December 12 – Feast of Our Lady of Guadalupe: Our Lady of Guadalupe Pop-Up Book (Review here – Caution: Very fragile! I keep our pop-ups on a top shelf and don’t let little ones handle them by themselves) – Our Lady of Guadalupe Brunch
- December 13 – Feast of St. Lucy: (NEW) A Christmas Wish for Little Dala Horse – Rorate Mass
- December 14 – 3rd Sunday of Advent/Gaudete (JOY) Sunday: How the Grinch Stole Christmas!
- December 15: An Irish Night Before Christmas
- December 16 – Las Posadas: Angela and the Baby Jesus
- December 17 – Ember Wednesday – O Sapientia: God Bless Us, Every One!: The Story Behind a Christmas Carol
- December 18 – O Adonai: The Ink Garden of Brother Theophane (Not actually a Christmas book, but it’s a beautiful book and was handed to me in one of the two stacks I requested so I decided to keep it. It’ll be fun to read to our kids on the day their uncle enters the Discalced Hermits this year, on December 18th! Please keep Fr. Dennis Gordon in your prayers.)
- December 19 – Ember Friday – O Radix Jesse: (NEW) The Shepherd’s Coat (or purchase direct from Word on Fire –
- December 20 – Ember Saturday – O Clavis David: The Shepherd at the Crib and the Cross
- December 21 – 4th Sunday of Advent – O Oriens and Winter Solstice: The Little Drummer Boy
- December 22 – O Rex Gentium: Little Star
- December 23 – O Emmanuel: Christmas in the Barn
- December 24 – Vigil of Christmas: The Wonder Story from St. Augustine Academy Press
Years ago, I traded our original purple and pink wrapping paper for brown paper decorated with reusable purple and pink ribbons (saved annually). I occasionally repurpose brown paper bags or opt for a roll of brown craft paper from the craft store, pairing it with the ribbon and homemade labels.
We’ll unwrap and read one book each night during Advent, following our family rosary. The rest of our book collection will be placed in additional baskets, ready to be enjoyed throughout the seasons of Advent and Christmas.
If you’d like to use my little labels too, you can download my Advent Book Basket Labels for 2025 over at Dropbox.
(Here it the link to the original ones I made back in 2014 that work again this year – these won’t work with Avery labels)
Once again, I also made it to where they could be printed on Avery 5294 High Visibility Round Labels if you’d rather not have to cut them out. Sadly my printer has been struggling lately, as you can see in the picture, despite new ink cartridges… I think I need to take a pink marker to my pink candles to darken them a bit.
Advent Book Basket Giveaway
And now for our annual Advent Book Basket Giveaway – I have another fun prize package sponsored by Shining Light Dolls to send one of you!
Shining Light Dolls Advent Prize Package
Shining Light Dolls Advent Prize Package – Includes: The Jesse Tree Magnetic Tree and Book Set, Angels We Have Heard on High Shaped Book, The Christmas Nativity Magnetic Play Scene and the Jesus Christ the Deliverer Christmas Anticipation Candle sponsored by Shining Light Dolls ($69.95 Value)
Save 10% at Shining Light Dolls with Coupon Code: SHOWEROFROSESBLOG
Congratulations, Mary V!
Please leave a comment on this post and then enter the giveaway using the giveaway box below.
Shining Light Dolls Advent Prize PackageRead about our family traditions:
The Advent Season in Our Catholic Home
Scroll through past posts featuring our Advent Book Baskets
Click here if you are on the home page to get to comment box: Leave a Comment
Christmas Books for the Feast of St. Nicholas
Thanksgiving came up so fast!!! Family is starting to trickle in from five different states (lots of prayers for all the travelers this week!) and everything is going to get really busy really fast… I’m trying to carve out a little time to finally finish up this post and share our new Christmas Books for this year!
I’m also still hoping to find time to pull together our Advent Book Basket… but in the meantime, and in case I don’t get it posted, for those waiting for the labels, the 2014 labels work again this year! I just transferred them from their old Scribd location to Dropbox here.
Celebrating St. Nicholas Day
On the morning of December 6th, our children wake up to discover their letters to the Holy Child and St. Nicholas have disappeared, replaced with treats in their slippers. New Christmas Books, sometimes new slipper or shoes (when needed) oranges, chocolate gold coins, candy canes, and a note from St. Nicholas himself.
Even though our older kids are teens and young adults now, they still look forward to the new Christmas books each year. After 25 years our collection is huge, yet we always manage to find more beautiful books to add!
Below you will find the list of new Christmas books I picked out for this year.
Note: As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases. Additional affiliate links included to TAN Books, Ignatius Press, Sophia Institute Press and Holy Heroes as well.
For the Family
Christmas Around the Fire from Tan Books
“… Included within are entries from legendary novelists and poets such as Leo Tolstoy, G. K. Chesterton, Charles Dickens, Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, Willa Cather, and more. Also included are profound thoughts from great religious figures such as Saint Bernard of Clairvaux, Pope Saint John Paul II, and Pope Benedict XVI…”
Also available from Amazon here.
For Our Young Adults
Advent & Christmas with the Church Fathers
Devotion to Our Lord in the Womb
During a recent sale at TAN Books I ended up ordering multiple copies of these two NEW releases books to give to all of our older children this Advent. Advent & Christmas with the Church Fathers: A Seven-Week Retreat on the Mystery and the Meaning of the Incarnation for the boys and Devotion to Our Lord in the Womb: The Divine Nine Months for our girls.
These beautiful books are also available from Amazon here and here.
Rose – 15
Little Women: Deluxe Painted Edition
“Experience Louisa May Alcott’s beloved coming-of-age classic like never before with this exclusive deluxe edition of Little Women, featuring enchanting cover art by artist Laci Fowler.“
The Deluxe Painted Editions are so pretty! Rose had been admiring the couple copies I’ve bought in the past (Persuasion for book club and Winnie the Pooh for our oldest son last Christmas) and she recently purchased Frankenstein for a friend’s birthday. She’ll be getting Little Women soon.
Bud – 13
Little Christmas Carol: The Illustrated Edition
“Enjoy Charles Dickens’ beloved masterpiece, freshly imagined within an enchanting woodland realm.”
I tried purchasing this last year and it sold out before I had a chance to get a copy.
Grace – 8
(Also available directly from Sophia Institute Press)
“The Road to Bethlehem is a heartwarming journey of faith, friendship, and the joyous mystery of the Incarnation — told from the perspective of animals who long to be near the Christ Child.“
We have had the old edition of this book since our older kids were little, purchased it nearly 20 years ago, but it’s out of print now. This lovely new edition will be given to our animal loving 8-year-old this year!
Joy – 6
The Word Within: The Ark of the Covenant and Mary
(The BRAND NEW addition to the Old and New Series! Also available directly from St. Paul Center – book review post coming soon!)
“Have you heard of the Ark of the Covenant? Do you know about Mary, too?
One is from the Old Testament, One is from the New.
Both stories are the Word of God, Their messages are true;
But when you see them side by side, A hidden part comes through.“
“In The Word Within, the sixth book in the Old and New series, authors Maura Roan McKeegan and Scott Hahn tell the story of God’s plan of salvation for his people. Just as the Ark of the Covenant was the resting place for God’s Word, written in stone, the Blessed Virgin Mary carried God’s Word, Jesus Christ, within her womb. Together, their stories reveal the amazing gift of God’s mercy. See biblical typology—the Old Testament people, symbols, and events that foreshadow the New Testament—come to life in The Word Within.“
For Mom 🙂
“The Nutcracker and Edwardian-Era England combine to weave a magical tale of love and friendship at Christmastime.“
This one is for me! I’ve really enjoyed quite a few of Roseanna White’s books this year (Shadows Over England series and The Codebreakers Series) and am looking forward to reading this on this Christmas.
More New Books for this year’s Advent Book Basket
(Also available directly from Word on Fire – Right now there is a 20% off sale on all books and merchandise in their online store through January. If you spend $50, you will also receive a free copy of The Shepherd’s Coat.)
“Benji the shepherd boy’s dearest wish is to find the Baby Jesus and give him his most prized possession: a sheepskin coat. What will he do when he discovers a lost little boy trembling in the cold? Should he give the coat away to someone who desperately needs it or keep it in case he finds the Christ child? This story, beautifully told by beloved spiritual writer Caryll Houselander, reveals deep spiritual truths through an encounter with Jesus and a reminder that what we do for the least of these, we do for him. With breathtaking illustrations by Jess Mason, this stunning book will be a favorite Christmas story for families to enjoy again and again.”
A Christmas Wish for Little Dala Horse: A Saint Lucia Celebration
“Little Dala Horse knows nothing of Juletide or of love―he’s just been newly carved as a Christmas gift. He’s eager to learn about the Saint Lucia girl with a crown of glowing candles, the festive star boys, and the cute pepparkakor children. Little Dala Horse jumps into a boy’s pocket and experiences the Saint Lucia pageant for the first time. At first Little Dala is shy and hides, but when a small gingerbread girl is scared to go on stage for her dance, Little Dala finds courage to help her overcome her fear.”
Mr. Willowby’s Head Over Heels Christmas
“The beloved classic Mr. Willowby’s Christmas Tree gets a sequel!
Mr. Willowby’s Christmas Tree has been a holiday favorite since 1963. Now, its generations of fans can read a new Mr. Willowby story, thanks to the discovery of a long lost manuscript and sketches by the creator Robert Barry, lovingly brought to life in a thrilling new picture book.
On Christmas Eve, Mr. Willowby finds himself in a predicament when his Christmas tree delivery gets stuck in a snowdrift. But hope arrives in the form of Barnaby Bear and his woodland friends, who embark on a thrilling mountainside adventure to bring the perfect tree to Mr. Willowby’s parlor. Their journey is filled with laughter, surprises, and the true magic of Christmas, making this story a perfect addition to any holiday collection.”
ORDER NOW FOR CHRISTMAS
Illustrated Classic Christmas Carols from TAN Books will be included in this year’s O Antiphon Treats! Also available at Amazon here.
FREE PRINTABLES
You can download my St. Nicholas labels over at Dropbox with either Black or Green text… And here is the link to my original St. Nicholas Chocolate Coins from 2010 and the updated version in 2019!
MORE TREATS FROM ST. NICHOLAS
Chocolate Coins, Candy Canes and Break Apart Reindeer from Trader Joe’s and darling Ferrero Rocher St. Nicholas Chocolates! We just give him a makeover and add add his miter and crozier!
SAINT NICHOLAS GIVEAWAY
Once again this year I will be hosting some Advent and Christmas giveaways here on the blog: this St. Nicholas Giveaway, the 2025 Shower of Roses Christmas Gift Guide + Giveaway, another Advent Book Basket giveaway and finishing up with another O Antiphon giveaway! Here is the first giveaway in preparation for the feast of St. Nicholas! I might add in an Our Lady of Guadalupe Giveaway too if I can manage it. They will be a little different this year, with losing Rafflecopter and the difficult fall we had with losing my brother (ie: lack of planning on my part) and other big family changes (I’ll share more when I can.) there won’t be as many, but I still have some awesome prizes lined up!
Shining Light Dolls St. Nicholas Day Prize Package
Prize #1 – Includes: St. Nicholas Mini Puzzle, St. Lucia Buns Wooden Play Set, Father Mark Priest Doll, and Memory Match Game – Marvelous Men Series 1 sponsored by Shining Light Dolls ($89.96 Value)
Save 10% at Shining Light Dolls with Coupon Code: SHOWEROFROSESBLOG
Congratulations, Jenniffer T!
New Christmas Picture Books Prize Package
Prize #2 – Includes: Illustrated Classic Christmas Carols and The Word Within: The Ark of the Covenant and Mary ($30.90 Value)
Congratulations, Kristin L!
More Christmas Books Prize Package
Prize #3 Includes: The Shepherd at the Crib and the Cross and The Lion in the Box ($29.94 Value)
Congratulations, Natalia W!
Please leave a comment on this post and then enter the giveaway using the giveaway box below. There will be two winners, one for each prize package!
St. Nicholas GiveawayMore Suggestions from the Archives
- Saint Nicholas & the Nine Gold Coins (2015 Review – Beautiful book!)
- Saint Nicholas: Patron Saint of Children (2023 Review – Another beautiful book!)
- A Child’s Christmas ABC Book (Another favorite!)
- Christmas Mosaic: A Review & Featured Book List
- 35 Favorite Christmas Picture Books for Children
- Feasts & Seasons :: Advent & Christmas Collection
Advent Book Basket and Printable Labels: 2015, 2016, 2017, 2018, 2019, 2020, 2021, 2022, 2023 and 2024
New Christmas Books for the Feast of St. Nicholas: 2009, 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014, 2015, 2016, 2017, 2018, 2019, 2020, 2021, 2022, 2023, and 2024
Stacks of Books on Christmas Morning or Epiphany: 2013, 2014, 2015, 2016, 2017
You can find the rest of our booklists here or scroll through all our past St. Nicholas Day Celebrations in the archives.
Even more St. Nicholas themed gifts can be found in these past posts filled with Christmas Gift Ideas & Stocking Stuffers from 2015, 2016, 2017, 2018, 2019, 2020, 2021, 2022, 2023, and 2024
Read about our family traditions:
The Advent Season in Our Catholic Home
Scroll through past posts featuring the Feast of St. Nicholas
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“All God’s Creatures Got a Place in the Choir” Birthday Party
Back in 2017, our youngest son requested an “All God’s Creatures Got a Place in the Choir” Birthday Party for his 6th birthday, inspired by his absolute favorite song at the time as sung by his all time favorite band, Celtic Thunder. All our kids had “their part” of the song that they had to sing, and they still remember which guy from Celtic Thunder was “their guy!”
I had just gotten home the day before his birthday from a trip to California for my Grandpa Murphy’s funeral. His funeral actually fell on our daughter’s 8th birthday, so this ended up being a double birthday celebration once I made it home. (I’m splitting up the photos into two posts since she picked Little Red Riding Hood for her 10th birthday theme that year. I made two small 6″ cakes and pulled together some treats to go along with each of their themes, instead of one larger cake.)
All God’s Creatures Got a Place in the Choir Birthday
All God’s creatures got a place in the choir
Some sing low and some sing higher
Some sing out loud on the telephone wire
Some just clap their hands or paws, or anything they’ve got now
(Note: Unfortunately the Ostheimer toys have really increased in price in recent years.)
Listen to the top where the little bird sings
On the melodies and the high notes ringing
And the hoot owl cries over everything
And the blackbird disagrees
Singing in the nighttime, singing in the day
When little duck quacks and he’s on his way
And the otter hasn’t got much to say
And the porcupine talks to himself
Dogs and the cats, they take up the middle
While the honeybee hums and the cricket fiddles
The donkey brays and the pony neighs
The old grey badger sighs
Listen to the bass, it’s the one on the bottom
Where the bullfrog croaks and the hippopotamus
Moans and groans with a big t’do
And the old cow just goes moo
Chocolate Cookies with peanuts and upside down Hershey Kisses added immediately after baking.
It’s a simple song, a little song everywhere
By the ox and the fox and the grizzly bear
The dopey alligator and the the hawk above
The sly old weasel and the turtle dove
All God’s creatures got a place in the choir
Some sing low and some sing higher
Some sing out loud on the telephone wire
Some just clap their hands or paws, or anything they’ve got now
All God’s creatures got a place in the choir!
An Intimate Evening With Celtic Thunder
Flash forward to 2025… We finally took our now-teens to see Celtic Thunder last Friday night on October 24th!!! It was truly a dream come true for this guy. And, to quote our 15-year-old daughter from the family text string: “Guys! I’m so excited to finally see one of my first ever crushes! 😂” (Damian McGinty was a little younger back then!)
We had the cheapest seats in the back but the venue was small and we were on the riser section which allowed us to see right over all the heads in front of us! It was perfect and such a fun evening!
And YES! They sang A Place in the Choir. Like I said at the beginning of this post, all of our kids had their assigned “parts” of A Place in the Choir when they were little, and they still remember exactly which Celtic Thunder member was “their guy!”
Our 13-year-old always had to sing “the kid’s” parts (Damian McGinty) and our daughter was assigned to Paul Byrom’s parts, chosen, of course, by whichever older sibling was in charge of “assignments” back then. They knew all the dance moves too!
And the best surprise? Paul (who resigned from Celtic Thunder back in 2010) was actually back for An Intimate Evening With Celtic Thunder Tour this year!
Our kids are growing up so quickly, but I really love when we get these little glimpses of their childhoods all over again… So many wonderful memories, along with all the new ones being made!
You can find more of our past birthday celebrations here.
Advent Candles and More
With Advent beginning on November 30th, just days after Thanksgiving this year and coming up so very quickly, it’s time for my annual reminder to make a few preparations, before Thanksgiving hits, and order your Advent candles if you haven’t already! 🕯️
If you’re looking to order Advent candles for your wreath, there are some lovely options below! The dear nuns at The Cloister Shoppe have beautifully crafted candles ready to ship, and they tend to sell out quickly as the season draws near. You can also check out the 100% Beeswax Advent Candles from Forestville Candle Company, hand-poured by two talented college students.
Be sure to scroll to the bottom for another Wooden Advent to Christmas Wreath giveaway!
100% Beeswax Advent Candles from The Cloister Shoppe
For many years, our family has been ordering the exquisite 100% Beeswax hand-poured tapers created by the talented Dominican Nuns at The Cloister Shoppe. These candles have been the centerpiece of our Advent wreath, casting a warm and comforting glow as we gather for dinner each night throughout the Advent season. The craftsmanship and love put into each taper make these candles a cherished part of our yearly celebrations.
In these pictures, you can see Joseph and Mary making their journey down our Advent Path. Many years ago I decided to create a path down the center of our table for Advent, using our Jesse Tree ornaments for each day of the season. The first year was a simple countdown path made from doilies, but the following year, I incorporated our wooden Jesse Tree Ornaments from Jesse Tree Treasures.
More Favorites from The Cloister Shoppe
Each year, I make an effort to plan in advance and order additional candles to be blessed on Candlemas (February 2). This ensures that we have them ready for the new liturgical year and the upcoming Advent season. Here are some I have purchased over the years:
- Tumbler Jar Candles – The Cloister Shoppe makes amazing Jar Candles. In the past I’ve ordered extras of the Three Wisemen Candle (perfect for Epiphany!) to give as gifts.
- Christmas Tree Creche Candle – I’m not sure I’ll ever be able to actually burn this beautiful candle!
- Beeswax Candles – You can’t go wrong with any of these! I replace our Advent Candles with Beeswax Candles for the Christmas season.
- Bayberry Christmas Eve Candle Gift Box – There is an old colonial tradition of burning a bayberry candle on Christmas Eve. I started with the Gift Box and have purchased replacement candles.
- Peppermint Foot Creme – Love, love, love this stuff!
Click here to visit the Cloister Christmas Shoppe!
Advent Taper Candles from Forestville Candle Company
You can also find gorgeous 100% Beeswax Advent Candles—hand-poured in Lavender and Rose and Deep Violet and Rose by two talented Catholic college students, Abbey and Anna, over at Forestville Candle Company! 🌲
Abbey and Anna sent me a couple of sample sets last year, and we absolutely loved them! Their craftsmanship and attention to detail really shine through.
The Our Lady of Guadalupe Candle in the center is from Clear Creek Abbey. (Also available from Amazon.) While I’ve yet to bring myself to burn it, it adds a lovely touch to our Advent decorations.
This year we’ll be using another set of their lovely Deep Violet and Rose Advent candles.
While you are over there, be sure to check out their Saint Candles which would make great Christmas gifts! Pictured above is Adoring Our Eucharistic Lord with Carlo Acutis and A Light to Guide from Our Lady Star of the Sea. They have many others to choose from as well!
Book pictured above: All About Advent and Christmas: Sharing the Seasons of Hope and Wonder With Children (also available here at Amazon) originally included in my 2023 New Finds for Advent section of my annual gift guide. Highly recommend!
Handmade Advent Candles by the Clear Creek Monks
I also wanted to share these Advent Candle sets that are hand-dipped by the Monks of Clear Creek… but I wasn’t quick enough to finish this post and they have already sold out! You can sign up for a reminder if they end up restocking them.
Advent Candle Crafting for Children
Our children have also really enjoyed crafting their own candles using the 100% Beeswax Advent Candle Kit from Illuminated Ink.
This hands-on Advent project is a wonderful way for children to actively participate in preparing for the Advent season.
You can also order the Advent Candles kit from Holy Heroes along with An Advent Hope. They also carry All About Advent and Christmas if you’d like to get all three from one place!
Save 10% with coupon code GORDON
Advent Wreaths Around Our Home
In our home, we like to set up two Advent wreaths during this special season.
The taper Advent Candles find their place in an Advent Wreath on our dining room table, where we light them each night during dinner, creating a warm and beautiful atmosphere.
Additionally, we have a larger wreath adorning the coffee table in our living room. This one is lit during our family rosary each evening, and we leave it aglow while unwrapping and reading from our cherished annual Advent Book Basket.
I still miss the pillar candles I used to buy from the Benedictine Monks when they were still making them. Currently, I opt for these 3×3 candles in purple and pink. (You can find more Advent Wreath-related posts here.)
There was one particularly ambitious year when I even hung our Advent Wreath like the Von Trapp family! 🕯️🎶
Liturgical Year Calendar: Advent/Christmas 2025-2026
I love these wall posters, especially for the Advent and Christmas season!
Order this year’s from Sophia Institute Press.
Wooden Advent Wreath Giveaway!
The Double-sided Advent to Christmas Wooden Wreath Set from Shining Light Dolls is BACK IN STOCK this year!!! I also have one to give away to a lucky winner! 🎉
To enter, simply leave a comment sharing your favorite Advent tradition or a new Advent resource you’re excited to try this season and then claim your entry using the Gleam box below! Rafflecopter has been discontinued this year so I’m giving this a try to see how it works.
Domestic/US Shipping is included. International residents are welcome to enter but would be responsible for shipping costs. Giveaway ends November 23, 2024 at 11:59PM PST and winner will be announced on November 24th in this post.
Click here if you are on the home page to get to comment box: Leave a Comment
Advent to Christmas Wooden Wreath SetI posted a review of this sweet Wooden Advent Wreath for Children a couple year’s ago here.
You can also save 10% on other toys at Shining Light Dolls with coupon code: SHOWEROFROSESBLOG
While you are over at Shining Light Dolls, be sure to check out all their BRAND NEW Catholic Kitchen toys! I am especially excited about the St. Lucia Buns (Lussekatter) & Swedish Glogg Wooden Play Food Set – definitely will be gifting these to our little girls on the Feast of St. Nicholas!
“It is the beautiful task of Advent to awaken in all of us memories of goodness and thus to open doors of hope.” — Pope Benedict XVI
For more Advent Planning:
The Advent Season In Our Catholic Home
Northern Lights and Lanterns on Martinmas
Where do the weeks go these days? I feel like every time I blink another week has vanished… Has it really already been a whole week since Martinmas? And is Thanksgiving really next week?! Whew… I cannot keep up!
With all of our adult kids (!!!!!) unexpectedly coming home (last minute change of plans for all four of them currently out of state!), I really need to get my act together for hosting Thanksgiving, and then start pulling together a plan for Advent and Christmas, which are suddenly just right around the corner.
Anyway… Martinmas was extra special this year. Just after our lantern walk and sunset, the Northern Lights came out! We got to see them last year for the first time and the little girls started talking about their Northern Light Art Project as well.
We had a lovely new picture book to add to our November book collection, pulled out the Martinmas Lanterns, and headed down to the river to watch the sunset, pray, and read about St. Martin. The girls also asked me to print their favorite St. Martin coloring page from Auntie Charlotte (“and one of St. Martin on a horse too, please!” – found one here) and Sean even got a little bonfire going out back for roasting s’mores.
At one point the girls started singing while re-reading parts of their new book. It was the sweetest! 🎶
Saint Martin, Saint Martin, Saint Martin
Rode through wind and snow;
His horse so fast with him did go,
Saint Martin rode with a cheerful heart,
His cloak around him warm and smart.
In the snow there, in the snow there,
In the snow there sat a beggar near
…
Even though this post is a little late, I wanted to share a these snapshots (so they’re here for the kids to look back on!). If you celebrated Martinmas this year too, I’d love to hear how it went. And if you’re already gathering ideas for next year, I linked our favorite Martinmas books and coloring pages (here, here or scroll through all past Martinmas post here). And now… on to Thanksgiving prep and getting my heart and home ready for Advent!
5 Ways to Celebrate Martinmas
This is another article I wrote ten years ago (back in 2015) for TAN Homeschool on 5 Ways to Celebrate Martinmas. It’s no longer available on their site so adding it here to the blog along with some pictures from over the years!
November 11th is not only Veterans Day in the US and Armistice Day around the world, it is also Martinmas, the feast of St. Martin of Tours!
Born to pagan parents in the year 316 A.D., Martin was raised in Pavia, Italy and was a Roman soldier before discovering Christianity. He was baptized at the age of 18, became a “soldier of Christ” as a monk, and was later declared Bishop of Tours despite his reluctance to accept.
“The most common, and almost universal, harvest and thanksgiving celebration in medieval times was held on the Feast of Saint Martin of Tours (Martinmas) on November 11. It was a holiday in Germany, France, Holland, England, and in central Europe. People first went to Mass and observed the rest of the day with games, dances, parades, and a festive dinner, the main feature of the meal being the traditional roast goose (Martin’s goose). With the goose dinner they drank “Saint Martin’s wine,” which was the first lot of wine made from the grapes of the recent harvest. Martinmas was the festival commemorating filled barns and stocked larders, the actual Thanksgiving Day of the Middle Ages. Even today it is still kept in rural sections of Europe, and dinner on Martin’s Day would be unthinkable without the golden-brown, luscious Martin’s goose.” – Handbook of Christian Feasts and Customs by Francis X. Weiser, S.J.
Here are five ways to celebrate Martinmas at home with your family:
Read About the Life of St. Martin
If your children are anything like mine, they will love the comic style stories from Treasure Chest of Fun & Fact. You can download and print The Mantle of Charity: Saint Martin – Patron of Tailors (3 pages) from Comic Book +.
Update: You can print my pdf of The Mantle of Charity here.
Additional book suggestions can be found in our November Book Basket or scrolling through past Martinmas posts. This year we are adding Martin and the Red Cloak to our collection!
Donate Clothing to the Poor
“The best known legend of his life is that he once cut his cloak in half to share with a beggar during a snowstorm, to save the beggar from dying from the cold. That night he dreamed that Jesus was wearing the half-cloak. Martin heard Jesus say to the angels, “Here is Martin, the Roman soldier who is not baptized; he has clothed me.” – Wikipedia
Inspired by the example of St. Martin, we too can “clothe the naked” (one of the seven corporal works of mercy) by going through our closets and sharing our warm winter clothing with the poor.
Make a Martinmas Lantern or a Lantern Walk
“But undoubtedly the main festivity on St Martin’s Day especially in France and Germany is that of making paper lanterns and carrying them in procession. Children form groups – either informally or as part of an official organization with a band – and walk through the streets with paper lanterns that they have either made or bought. Shops produce a large variety of lanterns depicting everything from spacemen to Mickey Mouse for the processions. Undoubtedly, it is as much a celebration of the arrival of winter, with its long dark evenings, as of St Martin. There are lantern songs and nonsense rhymes to accompany the processions.” – Joanna Bogle, A Book of Feasts and Seasons
Our family loves making beautiful Stained Glass Martinmas Lanterns using glass jars, but you can also find some free printables for creating paper lanterns from the following blogs:
- Paper Lantern and Stained Glass Votive Cover at Our Domestic Church
- Paper Martinmas Lanterns at Wee Little Miracles
- Martinmas Lanterns (made with paper bags) at Waltzing Matilda
You can also create lanterns with balloons! Just blow them up first and set them in a bowl to stabilize while decorating. After the glue has dried, pop the balloon and cut out an opening in which to place the candle. Punch a hole on each side and gently thread the wire through to make a handle.
St. Martin’s Bags (Il-Borza ta’ San Martin)
Children are given a bag full of fruits and sweets associated with the feast, known by the Maltese as Il-Borża ta’ San Martin, “St. Martin’s bag”. This bag may include walnuts, hazelnuts, almonds, chestnuts, dried or processed figs, seasonal fruit (like oranges, tangerines, apples and pomegranates) and “Saint Martin’s bread roll” (Ħobża ta’ San Martin). – Wikipedia
St. Martin’s Bags are quick and simple to make with a bag of Fruit & Nuts from Costco, or just create your own combination of treats.
There is also a traditional rhyme associated with this custom:
Ġewż, Lewż, Qastan, Tin
Kemm inħobbu lil San Martin.
Walnuts, Almonds, Chestnuts, Figs
I very much love Saint Martin.
You can download and print tags with the rhyme included over at Shower of Roses.
Additional Martinmas recipes including Goose with Apple Stuffing for Martinmas, St. Martin Horseshoe Cookies, and Martinshornchecn (St. Martin’s Day Croissants) can be found at Catholic Cuisine.
Family Prayer
Following your lantern walk, warm up by a bonfire, sing songs, and end the evening in prayer, remembering to pray for our veterans and soldiers.
St. Martin, you were first a soldier like your father. Converted to the Church, you became a soldier of Christ, a priest and then a Bishop of Tours. Lover of the poor, and model for pagans and Christians alike, protect our soldiers at all times. Make them strong, just, and charitable, always aiming at establishing peace on earth. Amen.
St. Martin of Tours, Ora Pro Nobis!
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