Here are two books we are enjoying this Advent Season  in our family! 

1.Saint Francis Celebrates Christmas — My kids love this story about where the nativity began!

This Christmas book for children tells the true story of the world’s first nativity scene. The scene was created by Saint Francis of Assisi nearly eight hundred years ago to help his townspeople celebrate the miracle of Christmas. Retold in the style of a folktale, the story follows Saint Francis and his friend John as they prepare to reenact the manger scene on Christmas Eve. St. Francis Celebrates Christmas might be a Christmas book for children, but adults are sure to benefit from this history lesson on the origins of the nativity scene.

2.Advent Storybook: 24 Stories to Share Before Christmas  — We read one story each night as we count down to Christmas!  The stories are beautiful, and each story has a powerful lesson for kids and adults. 

 Benjamin Bear is so impatient for Christmas to come. To help the time pass more quickly, his mother tells him that every day when he opens a door on his Advent calendar she’ll tell him a story—twenty-four stories all about another little bear and his long, arduous journey to Bethlehem. The little bear, led by a glittering star, meets many others on his travels across hot deserts, snowy mountains, and through dark, lonely nights. His adventures, filled with acts of heroism and kindness and many small miracles, show him the path to the Christ Child. And by journey’s end Benjamin Bear—and all youngsters who share the stories and their simple morals along with him—will understand and celebrate the true spirit of Christmas.

What resources are you using this Advent Season in your families?

Becky Eldredge

Becky is an Ignatian-trained spiritual director, retreat facilitator, and writer. She is the author of the Busy Lives and Restless Souls (March 2017, Loyola Press) and The Inner Chapel (April 2020, Loyola Press). She helps others create space to connect faith and everyday life through facilitating retreats and days of reflection, through writing, and through spiritual direction. With nearly twenty years of ministry experience within the Catholic Church, Becky seeks to help others discover God at work in the every day moments of people’s lives by utilizing St. Ignatius’ Spiritual Exercises and the many gifts that our Catholic faith and Ignatian Spirituality provide.