Advent Traditions Roundup: 8 Popular Catholic Devotions for Families (+ Free O Antiphons Printable!)

Advent marks the beginning of the liturgical year and is a wonderful time to start embracing liturgical living if you haven’t already. Still, whether you’re new to it or fairly familiar, it can be challenging to keep track of the various devotions, feasts, and fasts that take place during this short season.

To make it easier, I’ve put together a concise list of some of the most popular Advent Catholic devotions, along with a brief explanation of each - and how our family likes to celebrate them - to help you decide what might be a good fit for your own home.

🌲The Advent Wreath

Its likely that this is where liturgical living in the home was born, around the humble Advent Wreath. Consisting of a simple circular wreath of evergreen, the Advent wreath symbolizes God’s eternal nature. The candles represent each Sunday in Advent and the virtues of Faith, Hope, Love, and Joy. They also symbolize the light of Christ, growing brighter as more candles are lit, culminating in the Christ Candle—a white candle placed in the center of the wreath on Christmas.

At its simplest, this tradition can be practiced by lighting the appropriate candles each day, usually when the family is gathered together. It’s customary to sing “O Come, O Come, Emmanuel” during the lighting, and to read an Advent devotional or say family prayers before extinguishing the candles.

We like to use the wreath as our Advent “baseline.” At a minimum, we light the candles and sing “O Come” daily, but it also provides the perfect setting to include other Advent traditions as we are able from the following devotions (Here are my favorite Advent candles!).For more on the symbolism of the Advent Wreath and ways to practice it in you home, check out this article!

🪵 The Jesse Tree

“Then a shoot will spring from the stem of Jesse, And a branch from his roots will bear fruit” (Is 11:1)

The Jesse Tree tradition follows the story of salvation, from Adam and Eve through the birth of Christ. Ornaments representing various events or people from Jesus’ lineage are placed on a “Jesse Tree,” and the Bible story for each event is read or told.

This tradition has never been standardized, so there are many variations. Some published versions begin on December 1 for simplicity, others include optional days to cover the entire season of Advent, some focus more on people, others on events. This can make it tricky if you want a set of Jesse Tree ornaments to match a devotional book perfectly.

The essential elements of the Jesse Tree devotion are simple: identify Old Testament stories that foreshadow Christ’s coming and use objects—either homemade or purchased—as ornaments to represent them. There’s no right or wrong way to do this!

One of the easiest ways to coordinate readings and ornaments is to use a premade schedule with matching ornaments (like the affordable printable one in our Advent Playschool Kit!). We’ve also enjoyed Kendra Tierney’s Jesse Tree book, ‘O Come, O Come, Emmanuel’, which includes the Bible verses in the text for simplicity. While there is a printable ornament set that accompanies it, we opted to make our own using wooden tags and felt markers. This is also a really cute book and magnetic ornament set for littles!

The key to incorporating this beautiful devotion is not to overthink the schedule. Feel free to adjust which event, reading, or ornament you use each day to fit your chosen method—or what’s manageable for your children’s ages. Since we don’t always get to it every night, I sometimes pick the characters we most want to highlight as we progress through Advent.

We display our ornaments on a small standing tree until our real Christmas tree goes up on Gaudete Sunday. If you set your tree up earlier, you can add the Jesse Tree ornaments directly to it, making it a fun way to gradually decorate as Advent unfolds.

In our home, we read the Bible passage and hang the ornament after lighting the Advent wreath.

You can read more about the Jesse Tree and its variations here.

🌟St. Andrew Christmas ‘Novena’

Sometimes called the Christmas Anticipation Prayer, this is a simple prayer that is traditionally said 15 times a day starting on the Feast of St. Andrew (hence the name), November 30th, through Christmas. Its not really a novena as its not 9 days, but it is a beautiful way to pause and contemplate in adoration the moment of Christ’s birth.

I’ll be honest, I don’t think I’ve ever remembered to pray it 15 times for its entire length, but I’ve still found it an edifying way to ground myself in the wonder of Christ’s coming and pray for a special intention. The Prayer itself is quite beautiful:

"Hail and blessed be the hour and moment in which the Son of God was born of the most pure Virgin Mary, at midnight, in Bethlehem, in the piercing cold. In that hour vouchsafe, I beseech Thee, O my God, to hear my prayer and grant my desires, [mention your request here] through the merits of Our Savior Jesus Christ, and of His Blessed Mother. Amen".

I’ve found the easiest way to incorporate this into our home rhythm is to say it before each of our mealtime prayers, which is a great way to keep the focus of advent throughout the days leading up to Christmas. If you really wanted to get in the 15 repetitions, you could also say it 5 times at each meal to break it up.

You can read more about the St. Andrew’s Christmas Novena here!

🌾Straw for Baby Jesus

Straw for Baby Jesus is the practice of putting a piece of straw in an empty manger every time one makes a sacrifice or does a good deed over the course of Advent, thereby making a soft cozy bed for Baby Jesus on Christmas morning.

This can be a great visual for children, who may struggle with understanding exactly how to make a sacrifice or what effect it may have. Some kids are very encouraged to go out of there way to do small acts of love, with the incentive of getting to place a straw in the manger.

Years we have done this, we have stressed secrecy to avoid competition amongst children (and in the hope it actually inspires virtue instead of vice 😅). I’ll make the ‘straw’ accessible so that they can put a piece in as they see fit, without micromanaging the experience for them.

We typically use a small box for the manger, some crinkle cut paper filling as the hay, and one of our baby dolls wrapped in a swaddle blanket for Baby Jesus. If you’d prefer a less DIY option, There are some premade sets that are really cute for purchase!

🕯️The Rorate Mass

The Rorate Mass is celebrated in honor of the Blessed Virgin Mary during Advent, its name taken from the opening words of the Introit—“Rorate Caeli,” meaning “Drop down, ye heavens.” Offered before dawn with the sanctuary lit only by candles, the Mass slowly brightens as the sun rises, symbolizing the coming of Christ, the Light of the World.

This devotion stands out to me as a way to enter into Mary’s own Advent - her quiet, hidden journey as she carried Jesus in her womb, waiting in prayerful expectation for His birth. It reveals how she gently leads us to her Son, especially in moments of stillness and silence. The Rorate Mass invites us to consider how Mary may also be guiding us in our present Advent, preparing our hearts for His coming again.

I encourage you to look for a local parish that may be offering a Rorate Mass near you this Advent! Its typically held on a Saturday morning, and many parishes are resurrecting this older tradition.

👼The ‘O Antiphons’

These are the Antiphons for the Magnificat prayed during Evening Prayer in the Liturgy of the Hours from December 17–23. Each antiphon highlights a different title of Christ drawn from Old Testament prophecies. Together, they express the Church’s proclamation that Jesus perfectly fulfills every one of these ancient promises.

Many parishes schedule Evening Prayer (also called Vespers) during these days for the faithful to join in praying them together. This can also be done at home!

The verses of “O Come, O Come, Emmanuel” are taken directly from the O Antiphons, so we like to pair this devotion with our Advent wreath by singing the corresponding verse each day. To make this simple, we’ve created a free printable that includes all the verses of the hymn along with the dates and titles of the O Antiphons - so you can follow along seamlessly throughout the week!

🎄Christmas Novena

This one is a true nine-day Novena! Its prayed from December 16th -24th , and includes the ‘O Antiphons’ so its a great way to combine the two practices. Its hard to find as much about this option online, but it is arguably older and more rooted in Catholic tradition than the Jesse Tree, while also walking through the Salvation story of the Old Testament. It includes an opening Responsory Prayer, Psalm, Scripture Reading, Magnificat with daily antiphon, and closing prayer (here’s the full text of the novena). Because it coincides with the same days and evening prayer, this is a great way to pray the ‘O Antiphons’ as well.

We have never practiced this devotion in our family, as it is a bit long for the age of our children in past years (15-20 min). I do hope to try it this year though! Before writing her simplified Jesse Tree book, Kendra Tierney wrote this blog post highlighting why her family actually prefers this devotion to others, which might be helpful to consider when deciding for yourself.

🗓️Advent Calendar

This one isn’t exactly a devotion, but it’s probably the most common Advent tradition. In secular culture, Advent calendars usually offer a treat or small trinket each day, but we try to avoid that since Advent is a penitential season.

Still, it’s helpful to have a countdown so the kids can see how long it is until Christmas (and so we don’t have to answer that question a dozen times a day!). This year, we’re planning to use the Christmas Countdown chain from the All Saints Play Advent Playschool kit, which includes both religious and practical Advent activities.

I often come across creative and charming Catholic Advent calendar ideas for children—everything from wrapping and reading a Christmas or Advent book each day (even reusing books you already have) to simple sticker countdowns like this one.

Feel free to get creative with whatever works for your family. Anything that provides a fun visual for the days leading up to Christmas—and fits your family’s goals and abilities—can make the season more meaningful.

☕In Conclusion

With so many meaningful Advent traditions, it’s hard to choose just a few! Some years we manage almost all of them, and other years we stick to the essentials. What’s most important to remember is that these devotions are valuable only insofar as they help us prepare our hearts and homes for the coming of Christ at Christmas - and for His second coming in the future.

✨What are your family’s favorite Advent traditions or devotions? Share them in the comments below!

With Thanksgiving coming just a few days before Advent begins, make sure to check out ‘Cultivating Thankful Hearts This Thanksgiving and Beyond for Catholic Families’ on the blog!

And don’t forget to check out the All Saints Play Advent and Christmas Bundle if you haven’t already. It’s a wonderful aid in practicing some of our favorite Advent devotions.