Advent and Christmas Archives - Equipping Catholic Families

Equipping Catholic Families…for January 2018

December 28, 2017 by Monica McConkey Leave a Comment

Equipping Catholic Families for January Saints!

Welcome to our monthly summary of crafts and family traditions related to the Monthly Devotion, Key Feast Days and the appropriate Season of the Liturgical Calendar.

Feast of the Holy Family (December 31)

Key Feast Days in January:

Solemnity of Mary (January 1) Mary Crafts, In the Arms of Mary
World Day of Peace (January 1)
St. Basil the Great (January 2)
St. Gregory Nazianzen (January 2)
Most Holy Name of Jesus (January 3)
St. Genevieve (January 3)
St. Elizabeth Seton (January 4)
St. John Neumann (January 5)
St. Andre Bessette (January 6)
Epiphany of the Lord (January 7) Felt Kings Tutorial
St. Raymond of Penysfort (January 7)
Baptism of the Lord (January 8)
St. Hilary (January 13)
St. Anthony of Egypt (January 17)
St. Sebastian (January 20)
St. Agnes (January 21)
Day of Prayer for the Unborn (January 23)
St. Francis de Sales (January 24)
Conversion of St. Paul (January 25)
St. Timothy and St. Titus (January 26)
St. Angela Merici (January 27)
St. Thomas Aquinas (January 28)
St. John Bosco (January 31)

Season of the Liturgical Calendar: Christmas!

12 Days of Christmas ends January 5th
Sock Baby Jesus
Nativities

New Year Resolutions and

Season of the Liturgical Calendar: Ordinary Time!

Get organized with 2018 Planners and Calendars! Convert your family calendar to be Catholic with the Calendar Saint Stickies Craft Kit ($15 PDF download with permission to copy for home use!)

Filed Under: #CatholicCrafts, Advent and Christmas, Arma Dei Shoppe, DIY Crafts, Family crafts, Family Fun, Feast Day Fun, Journal Stamps, Liturgical Calendar Crafts, ordinary time, prayer, Printables, Saints Tagged With: catholic crafts, Catholic Printables, Feast Day Fun, liturgical calendar, Mother Mary

Merry Christmas from the McConkey family

December 26, 2017 by Monica McConkey Leave a Comment

We hope you’re having a Merry Christmas

and we wish you every grace and blessing for the New Year!

Interesting fact…in Canada, we have FEWER Holy Days of Obligation but we hold on pretty tightly to the ones we still have.

Next Monday is the Solemnity of Mary and although the precept to attend Mass is abrogated in the US, it remains a Holy Day of Obligation here in Canada…so we adapted our handy Mass graphic from this past weekend…to reflect next weekend’s Masses for the Feast of the Holy Family and the Solemnity of Mary.

Filed Under: Advent and Christmas Tagged With: family fun, liturgical calendar, Mass, Mother Mary

2nd Week of Advent and Bambinelli Sunday!

December 14, 2017 by Monica McConkey Leave a Comment

This 3rd Sunday of Advent is Bambinelli Sunday! Check out the Bambinelli we made a few years ago after reading this beautiful book about this old Catholic tradition: Feast Day Fun: Bambinelli Sunday

Filed Under: Advent and Christmas, Catholic Crafts, DIY Crafts Tagged With: Advent, Feast Day Fun, liturgical calendar

DIY Advent Wreath with Dollar Store Votive Candles

December 3, 2017 by Monica McConkey 1 Comment

Well, I wasn’t able to make our Advent wreath this year with our Parish Women’s Group, so when I saw Kendra’s quick DIY Advent Wreath at Catholic All Year with Dollar Store Votive Candles, I just couldn’t resist.

Filed Under: #CatholicCrafts, Advent and Christmas, DIY Crafts, Liturgical Calendar Crafts Tagged With: Advent, catholic crafts

The Peace of Christmas: Quiet Reflections from Pope Francis by Diane M. Houdek

December 1, 2017 by Monica McConkey Leave a Comment

Equipping Catholic Families with…Book DeBriefs is a series of book reviews on awesome Catholic books published by Franciscan Media* and its imprint Servant Books, both offering excellent spiritual reading to boost prayer life, devotion and Faith.

Filed Under: Advent and Christmas, Reviews Tagged With: Advent, review

Equipping Catholic Families…for December!

November 23, 2017 by Monica McConkey Leave a Comment

Equipping Catholic Families for December Saints!

Welcome to our monthly summary of crafts and family traditions related to the Monthly Devotion, Key Feast Days and the appropriate Season of the Liturgical Calendar.

Key Feast Days in December:

St Francis Xavier (December 3)
St John Damascene (December 4)
St Nicholas* (December 6)
St Ambrose (December 7)
Immaculate Conception (December 8)
St Juan Diego (December 9)
Our Lady of Loretto (December 10)
Our Lady, Queen of Angels (December 11)
St Damasus I (December 11)
Our Lady of Guadalupe (December 12)
St Lucy (December 13)
St John of the Cross (December 14)
O Antiphons (December 17-23)
Bambinelli Sunday (December 17)
Expectation of the Blessed Virgin Mary (Dec 18)
St Abraham, St Isaac, St Jacob (December 20)
St Thomas, St Peter Canisius (December 21)
St John of Kanty (December 23)
The Birth of Jesus (December 25)
St Stephen (December 26)
St John Apostle (December 27)
Holy Innocents (December 28)
St Thomas Becket (December 29)
Feast of the Holy Family (December 31)

*Check out the St Nick Bundle at the Arma Dei Shoppe available only until November 25th!

Season of the Liturgical Calendar: Advent!

Advent Resources in the Catholic Mom Bundle (see more details below!)
Anticipating Advent: Prep for Advent: Summary of Crafts and Activities
Keep Christ in Christmas: read Him, look for Him, pray to Him, visit him, share Him, give for Him; live for Him Keep Christ in Christmas

The Advent Calendar

The Advent Calendar is a great way to countdown the days until Christmas. You’ll find lots of chocolate covered ones in the stores now, but you can make your own and fill it with dollarstore Nativity figures, holy medals, Saint pegs, Super Saints, printable Advent Quest challenges and of course your favorite treats or chocolates. There are so many ways to make an Advent Calendar (including this one we made years ago) and we found 35 [Awesome} DIY Advent Calendars here.

Filed Under: #CatholicCrafts, Advent and Christmas, Feast Day Fun, homemade gifts, Liturgical Calendar Crafts, wooden painted saints Tagged With: Advent, catholic crafts, Catholic Printables, Feast Day, Feast Day Fun, Saints Activities

Equipping Catholic Families…with awesome resources for Catholic Moms!

November 18, 2017 by Monica McConkey 1 Comment

Sorry, the Catholic Mom Bundle is no longer available …but stay tuned for the first ever Easter Catholic Mom Bundle as Lent and Easter approach…

I am participating in the first ever CatholicMomBundle of awesome Catholic resources available for this week only! You will see my Special Edition Prayer Journal Prompts and Prayers craft kit among the 12 e-books, smartphone wallpapers and mom and marriage e-courses.

Filed Under: Advent and Christmas, Arma Dei Shoppe, Catholic Gifts, Catholic Resources, Sale Tagged With: Catholic Printables, GIVEAWAY, sale

Equipping Catholic Families …for Advent!

November 16, 2017 by Monica McConkey 3 Comments

This Sunday is the Feast of Christ the King…the last Sunday of the Liturgical Year, which means that Advent will be here very soon! It’s time to dust off the Advent Candles (make sure we have them!) and the Jesse Tree ornaments and the Advent Calendar!