How to Prepare for Christmas: Celebrate St Nicholas Day and Embrace Advent Traditions

St Nicholas Day holds a special place of importance in Catholic homes, especially those with little children. As the patron saint of youth, St. Nicholas’ visit beautifully emphasizes the spirit of sacrifice and preparation during Advent — making hearts ready for the coming of Christ at Christmas.

What better way to teach children to prepare their hearts for Jesus than to invite St. Nicholas into your home? His small gifts and encouragement help spread out the excitement of Christmas and keep the focus on the Reason for the season.

Ways to Celebrate St Nicholas Day

If you cannot arrange for a personal visit from the holy patron of youth himself, a heartfelt note left by St. Nicholas can work just as well. His message might include:

• That he has come from heaven.
• That he is their special patron and is praying for them.
• That he would love to hear how they are preparing their hearts for Christmas.

Children can respond to St. Nicholas by writing letters or even telling him in person about the sacrifices they are making during Advent. A beloved tradition is the straw box: a way for children to physically offer their good deeds. Each time a child makes a sacrifice — like an act of obedience, sharing, or helping with younger brother or sister — they place a piece of "straw" into a manger to make a soft bed for Baby Jesus on Christmas morning. These small challenges remind children to keep Advent as a true preparation period, growing in love and selflessness.

A festive touch: attach a chain of yellow construction paper to cards made from last year’s Christmas cards. Each time a child makes a sacrifice, he can take a chain off and place it in the crib creating a soft bed of "hay" for Baby Jesus on Christmas morning.

Preparing for Christmas During Advent

Catholics around the world observe the four-week season of Advent to prepare for the feast of Christmas.

Remembering that we "fast before the feast," this season calls for extra penance, prayer, patience, and charity.

The best way to prepare your heart for Christmas is through daily sacrifices, prayer, and tending faithfully to your everyday duties — no small task during this busy, often commercialized holiday as seen in Merry Anne Bright. Staying focused on the heavenly prize helps keep the joy of the season alive.

Advent Wreaths

One of the most beloved Advent traditions is the Advent wreath, made of evergreens and four candles: three purple and one pink. The evergreens symbolize the eternal life Christ promises, and the wreath’s circle shape reflects God's eternity — He has no beginning and no end.

Each week of Advent, a new candle is lit:

• First Week: The youngest child lights the first purple candle.
• Second Week: The oldest child lights the first and second purple candles.
• Third Week (Gaudete Sunday): The mother lights the pink candle, symbolizing joy.
• Fourth Week: The father lights all four candles.

Prayers accompany the lighting of each candle, drawn from the Gradual of that Sunday's Mass.

A creative idea: make personalized Advent placemats! Using clear contact paper, Christmas cards, stickers, and our printable Advent wreath prayers, design a special mat for each family member. These mats help keep Advent prayers and focus at the center of daily family life.

Jesse Tree

Another beautiful Advent tradition is the Jesse Tree. Think of it as a calendar that traces the lineage of Christ and connects the Old Testament to His birth.

Starting December 1st, a new ornament symbolizing a scripture story is added to the tree, reminding families of God's promises and preparing hearts for the Savior.

The tradition draws inspiration from the prophecy of Isaiah:

"And there shall come forth a rod out of the root of Jesse, and a flower shall rise up out of his root." (Isaiah 11:1)

The Jesse Tree offers a daily reminder that Christmas is about the fulfillment of God's promise.

Celebrate the Feast of the Immaculate Conception With a Candy-Themed Party!

Two days after St Nicholas Day comes the feast of Our Lady's Immaculate Conception on December 8th. This feast is a wonderful opportunity to form your children's interior life and celebrate the gift of Mary, conceived without original sin. Through a special grace of God, Mary was preserved from all stain of sin, making her a fitting vessel to bring Our Lord into the world.

This day is about honoring Our Lady—and what better way to do that than with a sweet, joyful celebration that mirrors her purity and sweetness? A candy-themed party is a festive and meaningful way to capture the spirit of this feast!

Faith-Filled Traditions for the Day

Start the day by going to Mass and praying the Rosary as a family. If you can, visit a shrine or a grotto dedicated to Our Lady.

Within your home, renew each family member’s consecration to the Immaculate Heart of Mary. Take some time to teach your children about original sin, the effects of baptism, and the importance of striving to keep their baptismal innocence throughout their lives.

Consecration To The Immaculate Heart Blessed Virgin Mary - Queen of Heaven and earth, to your Immaculate Heart, the channel of all graces, we consecrate our children, (here list names) whom we have received from God's goodness. We offer them to you, that you may present them to your Divine Son, that you may take them under your loving maternal protection, that you may preserve them from dangers, that you may keep them from all sin, that you may make them grow in piety and in all virtue, so that they may always be worthy to call themselves your children. May they grow daily in wisdom and grace, may they go through life having you always as their refuge and their Mother. May all virtue shine in them and may they never offend your maternal heart. May the Eternal Father look upon them with delight and see in them a ray and reflection of your Immaculate Beauty.  As today they gladden our home, so may they one day gladden the Eternal Home, which we pray will be theirs. Amen

Gingerbread, Candy, and the Sweetness of Mary

The tradition of baking gingerbread cookies or constructing gingerbread houses fits beautifully with this feast. The spices used—ginger, cinnamon, cloves, and vanilla—fill the house with the odor of sweetness, a scriptural image often applied to Our Lady. In the Canticles of Canticles, phrases like "odor of spices" and "sweet ointments" have been seen as foreshadowing the purity and beauty of Mary.

The sweet decorations on a gingerbread house—candy drops, gumdrops, and icing—can remind us of the sweetness of a life lived in grace, the innocence of baptism, and the eternal joy that awaits in Heaven.

If some of the children are done before the others, you can entertain them with coloring pages of December saints. Print a free St Adelaide coloring page and angel coloring pages here!

Tip: Consider leaving a gingerbread house kit on St Nicholas Day so the children can build it in anticipation of the Feast of the Immaculate Conception, two days later!

How To Host a Candy-Themed Party for Our Lady

A candy party adds an extra layer of joy to this Marian celebration, especially for children! Here’s how to throw a candy-themed party centered on honoring Our Lady.

Decorating Tips

Pizza is super easy to serve and clean up for large gatherings. You can serve Christmas cookies (including gingerbread men) but the focus of the party should be building gingerbread houses. You can also use peppermint swirl decorations, candy garlands, and faux snow to give your space a whimsical, sugary touch—all pointing back to the theme of Mary's sweet purity.

By combining the tradition of honoring Our Lady with a candy-themed celebration, you create a day that's both fun and filled with rich Catholic meaning. The sweetness of the day mirrors the purity of Our Lady and helps children build beautiful, lasting memories centered on faith, family, and joy.

Let the fragrance of gingerbread, the sparkle of candy, and the innocence of your children’s laughter be a fragrant offering to Our Queen on her special day!