Good Deed Advent Wreath with Prayers and Carols

This is a fairly simple wreath to make and there are a few options for setting it up.  You'll need six candles or votive holders in white, purple, red, green, blue, and gold (or approximate colors).  These can be set into a holder (Ours is a wooden circle with 6 round holes for the votive holders, and 4 little feet. You could also just place votive holders in a circle or use a Styrofoam circle and press pillar candles into it.) Use the template to print leaves and berries with activities for your children or family to do.  Pick one (or one per child) each day to build your wreath through Advent.

The readings below are taken from a little booklet we received from our first parish when we became Orthodox.  I'm not sure who created, but they get all the credit.  I've corrected some typos and oddities here and there, but it is not my original work.  It is, however, a great family tool to use for advent, and I'd like to share it with all of you.

First Sunday of Advent

            Reader: This first candle is green to remind us of the faith we have in God that He will keep His promise to send His Son.

            Verse: One Advent candle now we light

                        To show the coming gift of light.

                        Bring unto our darkened sight

                        The Your holy Light.

            Reading: The Prophecy from Isaiah 9:1, 5-6; 40:3-5; 52:7

            Prayer: Gracious God, as the world that sat in darkness looked forward to Your coming, so we on this First Sunday light a candle to show our anticipation.  May Your coming to our souls rid us of the darkness of sin and pride and light in us the flame of love and service to others. Amen.

            Carol: O Come, O Come, Emmanuel

Second Sunday of Advent

            Reader: The second candle is blue to remind us of the hope we have that Christ will come into our lives to bring joy and peace.

            Verse: Now, the Advent lights are two,

                        And our vows we shall renew,

                        As pilgrims over field and stone,

                        To seek the Christ and find our home.

            Reading: The Promise from St. Luke 1:5-31

            Prayer: Come, Lord, into our tired, sinful world.  Put a smile on our lips and joy in our hearts.  Take away our sadness for our hope is in You.  Amen.

            Carol: Joy to the World

 

Third Sunday of Advent

            Reader: The third candle is gold to express love. As we light this candle, let us recall the words of St. John when he said that, "God so loved the world, that He gave His only Son, come into our lives to bring joy and peace." 

            Verse: Now, three Advent candles burn

                        To comfort aching hearts that yearn

                        Beneath the sky or in a cell

                        That Christ will come with them to dwell.

            Reading: The announcement to the Virgin Mary St. Luke 1:26-38

            Prayer: Heavenly Father, help us to remember Your great Gift to all people at the Holy Nativity -- Your Blessed Son Jesus.  May His love enter our hearts now and always and flow out from us to all.  Amen.
            Carol: O Come, All Ye Faithful 

Fourth Sunday of Advent

            Reader: The fourth candle is white reminding us of God's desire to give us peace. It is not the kind of peace that people try to make because that peace sometimes fails. Rather, it is the peace that comes from Jesus who is called the Prince of Peace.
            Verse: Four candles before us burn,

                        And we come to Him, the Prince of Peace.

                        We ask in prayer for hearts to turn,

                        So love may grow and war may cease.
            Reading: Psalm 4; Philippians 4:6-7
            Prayer: O Christ, You are our Peace. You broke down the wall that separated us from God. Now, there is no condemnation for those who are in Christ. Teach us also to be peacemakers in our world.  Amen.
            Carol: Silent Night

 

Fifth Sunday of Advent

            Reader: The fifth candle is purple reminding us of our need to repent before we can meet the coming Christ.  "Repent, for the kingdom of God is at hand."
            Verse: Five candles we now light

                        As we struggle in this fight.

                        Let us now turn our heart

                        That love may enter and sin depart.

            Reading: Preparing the Way: Mark 1:1-8, 14-15

            Prayer: Lord, help us to make straight the way for You to come to us when we celebrate Your Holy Nativity.  Grant us Your grace that we may be rid of our selfish pride and our many sins.  Grant us tears of repentance so that we may be restored in our communion with You.  Amen.

            Carol: O Holy Night

Sixth Sunday of Advent

            Reader: The sixth candle is red reminding us that Christ, who came to Bethlehem and who will come again at the end of the age, comes to us now in the Sacrament of Holy Communion.  He was born in Bethlehem so that we might ask Him to come and be born in our hearts.

            Verse: Six candles now we light

                        Reminding us of Christ,

                        Who came as a babe

                        Us all to save.

            Reading: The Coming of the Word: John 1:1-18, 6:52-58

            Prayer: Lord, help us to welcome You into our hearts and lives when we celebrate Your Holy Nativity.  Grant us Your grace that we may also find you in our encounters with our fellow man.  And grant that one day we may be fully in communion with You in the age to come.  Amen.

            Carols: O Little Town of Bethlehem and Away in a Manger

On Christmas light a white candle in the center of your wreath and pray the following prayer From the Festal Menaion; hymns from the Third Hour and Matins.)

            Before Thy, birth, O Lord, the angelic hosts looked with trembling on this mystery and were struck with wonder: for Thou who hast adorned the vault of heaven with stars hast been well pleased to be born as a babe; and Thou who holdest all the ends of the earth in the hollow of Thy hand art laid in a manger of dumb beasts. For by such a dispensation has Thy compassion been made known, O Christ, and Thy great mercy: glory to Thee.

Today Christ is born of the Virgin in Bethlehem. Today He who knows no beginning now begins to be, and the Word is made flesh. The powers of heaven greatly rejoice, and the earth with mankind makes glad. The Magi offer gifts, the shepherds proclaim the marvel, and we cry aloud without ceasing: Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, good will among men.

Carols

Second Sunday:


Third Sunday:



Fifth Sunday (This one is actually just one that I thought was "cool." I love Weezer, and I had no idea they made a Christmas album...until last night. This isn't my favorite version of the carol, but I do like it.):

Sixth Sunday:

Festal Life Cycle Chart

As the mother of two young daughters who love to do craft projects and art, I'm always looking for new project ideas, especially those that allow me to teach them a little more about our faith while they're having fun. Over the years, I've found many small projects to help celebrate and teach about individual feast days. Such projects have been great for telling the story of each feast, but they lack the ability to present the larger context of Orthodoxy. They don't tell the whole story. That is why a few years ago, my older daughter Hummingbird and I made a "life cycle" chart of the 12 major feasts and Pascha. This is a great project that offers some flexibility for accomplishing it. It can be done all at once or throughout the year as each feast day approaches. And while it would be the perfect start to a new church year (or school year if you do home school), it can be started at any time of the year. That's the great thing about the perpetuity of the Orthodox story, and that's exactly what this project is designed to teach. Once the chart is complete, you can return to it at each feast day and illustrate the lasting nature of the Church and what she teaches us about the life of Christ. It is important to show children that although the events happened only once in an earthly sense, they are forever happening now in a timeless way. This is why many festal troparia are in the present tense, as is that of Pascha -- Christ is risen from the dead, trampling down death by death, and upon those in the tombs bestowing life.
To do this project you will need a poster board, construction paper, or other large paper. You will also need icons for each feast day; icon cards are great, but you can also print out thumbnail images in a pinch. And finally, you'll need a pencil, and markers or colored pencils, and optional stickers for embellishing. If you're doing this with a young child, you'll need to do most of the work, leaving the gluing and embellishing for little hands, but older children can take a more active role in the process.
            Step 1: Draw a large circle on your paper. It need not be perfect, but there are plenty of great options for tracing -- plates, bowls, round pans -- if you'd like it to be.
            Step 2: Glue on the icons. Pascha should be in the center of the circle. Place the Nativity of the Theotokos at the top and follow the circle around, adding each icon in calendar order.
            Step 3: Label each icon. At the very least this should include the name and date of the feast, but it could also include the troparion or kontakion, or a list of important figures (ie. Jesus, the Holy Spirit, the Father, and John the Baptist at Theophany). You could even start with just the name and add more details to the label each year as your children grow. We wrote in our labels, but you could also print out labels to glue on, thereby giving the little ones more work.*
            Step 4: Embellish. Let your children add their own personal touch by adding a title (The 12 Great Feasts or The Life of the Church in Feasts, perhaps) or border with markers or stickers.
*Steps 2 and 3 can, of course, be done together for one icon at a time if you're doing this bit by bit throughout the year.
When you're done, your project may look something like this. Whatever its final form, you will have a festal memento to which you can return feast after feast, year after year, as your children continue to grow in the faith.