Another Advent is almost upon us! At Catholic All Year we are BIG believers in getting all of your Christmas shopping done before Advent starts so that you can actually focus on Advent and not on watching sales. In this guide you'll find gift ideas from all of your...
Seven Catholic Advent Traditions, and which ones will work for your family
Advent is coming! What to do, what NOT to do . . . these are the questions. I think I can help. Here are my seven favorite Catholic Advent traditions with pros and cons of each to help you decide which ones will work for your family and personal circumstances this...
St. Nicholas Catholic Book Stack
Hey, you ever announce you're going to start blogging again and then behind the scenes stuff goes sideways and then your dad has a stroke and you spend the beginning of Advent dealing with hospitals for the second year in a row, but this time it's 2020 so you can't...
The Ultimate Liturgical Library Post: Saint Books for All Year Long
YOU ASKED FOR IT! This is probably my most requested not-yet-posted post ever. So here it is: Every single read aloud we use on saints' days all year long! (This post contains affiliate links. If you make a purchase through those links, I receive a small commission,...
Lent vs Advent: Penance or Preparation, Counting Down or Counting Up
Mailbag Question! Q: I've heard people talk about Advent and Lent both being seasons of penance during the liturgical year. Can you help me understand how to explain the differences in the seasons to my family, and how to observe them in the home? A: Ooh, good...
Jesse Tree Dropout? Try the REAL Nine-Day Christmas Novena!
Why yes this IS a new blog-do . . . 💁♀️ What do you think? I really REALLY love this tradition. With my book out and the approximately 4672 radio and print interviews I have done in support of it, I am very often asked what is my favorite liturgical living in the...
Rogation and Ember Days and Vigils: in case you were starting to think you had this liturgical living thing down
I've been Catholic for forty-one years, actually making an effort for seventeen, a liturgical living devotee for eleven, and blogging about it for five. And . . . I just found out about Ember Days. As I was researching feast days for the Catholic All Year...
How to do Santa Without Lying to Your Kids
This is the time of year I start getting emails and Facebook messages from parents who are trying to decide how to handle the cultural traditions surrounding Christmas, and how to balance them with their Catholic faith. There is genuinely a lot of worry that they'll...
A Little Feast of the Immaculate Conception and a Little About Feasts
Today is the Feast of the Immaculate Conception, which is a Holy day of Obligation. Yes, even though it's a Monday. Go ahead, run to Mass. We can do this when you get back. Okay, back? Obligation fulfilled? Your reward is this free printable: also, this one:...
Not Believing in Santa Claus is Like Not Believing in Jesus . . . or George Washington
It's the million-dollar Christmas question, right? And I've been asked it many times in the lead-up to Advent and Christmas: Do our children "believe" in Santa Claus? But . . . I don't think it's the right question. Hang in here with me. Seriously, let's look at what...
The Ten Things I’m Glad My Kids Got for Christmas
I've already written about how we are planning a more simple and a more toy-free Christmas than we've had in the past. Not because we are AGAINST toys but because we have reached the natural conclusion of a few years of more mindful toy-buying, more discerning...