4 Holiday traditions to start with family this year
The winter holidays are full of meaning, wonder, love—and religious traditions passed from generation to generation. As we return to some of our pre-pandemic rituals, we have an opportunity to infuse something old, borrowed, and new into the holiday season. Here are a few faith traditions to consider celebrating this year.
Calendars
Create a calendar of fun, faith-filled activities for the month of December, or create a calendar full of 2021 photos for 2022 as a reminder of how far we’ve come since the peak of the pandemic. The traditions of calendars have links to Advent, a time set aside for Christians to prepare for Christmas. It typically begins on the Sunday nearest to November 30.
Long ago, many Christians felt the importance of celebrating Christmas needed more than only one day. They felt there should be a period of preparation beforehand to extend the reflection and reverence and mark off each day before Christmas. This allowed a deeper focus on the meaning of the event and teach children the enormous significance of Christmas. Today, families display Advent wreaths and calendars in their homes.
Candles
Create personalized candles, photo candles, or homemade scented candles that speak to the holidays. They not only make great gifts but bring light to your traditions. Many religions already encompass the lighting of candles during special holidays and celebrations. Candles are used during Hanukkah, the Jewish festival of light, as well as in the winter celebration of Kwanzaa.
Many people believe the varied use of candles is a symbol of the light from heaven that signifies the sun’s light and warmth in the middle of dark winters. Some believe candles symbolize divine light and represent love, prayer, passion, and hope. Candlelight also represents the path of life and stands for spirituality, devotion, and faith.
Carols
Music is a huge part of this time of the year. For some, the season doesn’t start until they hear the tunes. Create a time and space to sing holiday songs or host karaoke for your loved ones, take part in a caroling service at your or another place of worship, or serenade neighbors on your block with holiday cheer.
The singing of carols has a long history beginning as a pagan tradition during celebrations of the winter solstice. Christians began using the tradition of singing carols in celebration of the birth of Jesus, changing the carols from pagan songs to religious songs.
It wasn’t long before music composers began writing Christmas hymns, later calling them Christmas carols. Over the decades, the singing of Christmas carols moved from homes and churches to the streets in public celebration of this holiday. The tradition of singing Christmas carols in public and even door to door still continues to this day.
Cards
This is something you can do digitally, but there’s just something nostalgic about receiving something in the mail that’s not junk. Create fun or silly cards, add a holy text, and send, send, send to your loved ones. Consider sending a card or letter to a grandparent, someone in your circle that doesn’t have any family, or someone incarcerated. It just might brighten their whole holiday season.
The tradition of sending cards to family and friends at Christmas dates back to the 19th century in England. It was common for students to send letters home to their parents bragging about their school accomplishments in hopes of receiving gifts and rewards in return. Over time, this turned into a tradition of sending cards and letters in praise of all that was accomplished the past year as well as evidence for hoped-for rewards. It wasn’t until cards were created and marketed as “Christmas cards” that they began to be used as such. Billions of people still send Christmas cards every year.
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