During the Advent season, we prepare to celebrate Christmas by focusing on waiting well and making more room in our souls for Jesus. Although it is a penitential liturgical season, there are several special Advent feast days that the Church has sprinkled into the December liturgical calendar. You won’t want to miss celebrating these occasions in your home, family, and parish community because they fit beautifully with the Advent and Christmas season. Here are the top Advent feast days for 2025––from the pink week of the Advent wreath to the feast day of the real Santa Claus––and how to celebrate them! 

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St. Nicholas, December 6th

The legendary Santa Claus came from Greece, was a 4th century bishop who defended Christian teaching against heresy at the Council of Nicaea, and a saint of the Catholic Church. Celebrating his feast day is a great way to recall his spirit of generosity while keeping Christ as the focus of Christmas day. The association between St. Nicholas and chimneys comes from his secret generosity to a man who was so poor he nearly had to sell his three daughters into slavery. Legend says that, after being a generous benefactor to save the first two daughters, the good bishop sent the bag of coins for the third daughter down the chimney. 

Celebrate St. Nicholas Day by leaving your shoes out or stockings hung for St. Nicholas to fill (wink wink) with chocolate coins or other small gifts. 

Our Lady of Guadalupe, December 12th 

On December 12, 1531, the Blessed Mother appeared to Juan Diego, an Aztec Indian on his way to Mass in the hill country near Mexico City, and gave him a sign for Bishop Zumarraga of Mexico City, who did not believe the apparition. In addition to an array of roses found only in Spain, Juan Diego’s tilma bore an image of her as the woman described in the book of Revelation: clothed with the sun, standing above the moon, surrounded by stars, and soon to give birth to a son. Bishop Zumarraga agreed to honor her request for a church, and within a decade over 8 million Aztecs converted. Our Lady of Guadalaupe is the patroness of the unborn and of the Americas. Her image on Juan Diego’s tilma has lasted to this day, and many tiny details make it deeply significant and miraculous.

Celebrate Our Lady of Guadalupe by arranging a bouquet of roses to place before a statue of Our Lady or in a prominent place in your home, and offer a prayer in her honor.  

Gaudete (“Joy”) Sunday, the 3rd Sunday of Advent

The date of Gaudete Sunday is moveable, but it is the third Sunday of Advent every year. Gaudete means “joy” in Latin, so this Sunday is meant to be a little foretaste of the rejoicing of Christmas amid the more penitential season of Advent. The tradition of keeping Gaudete Sunday as a joyful midpoint in Advent dates back to medieval times. On this Sunday, you might see your priest wear a rose color vestment (it looks pink, but is correctly called rose), and we light the rose candle on the Advent wreath, a pleasant reprieve from the purple of the other weeks, as a reminder that Christ’s coming is near! 

Celebrate Gaudete Sunday by wearing pink––uhh, rose! If you like to decorate your home later in the holiday season, this is a great day to set up your Christmas tree, string lights, or start making cookie dough. 

St. Lucy, December 13th

St. Lucy, also known as Santa Lucia, was a virgin and martyr from Sicily in the Early Church. Her name means “light,” and she is the patron saint of trouble with eyesight because her persecutors tortured her by gouging her eyes out. Italy, Sweden, and Scandinavian countries have special traditions for celebrating her day. There’s a story that St. Lucy used a wreath of candles on her head to light her way through the catacombs as she brought food to persecuted Christians hiding there, a famous Swedish tradition involves young girls wearing white gowns, red sashes, and a circlet of candles on their heads.  

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Celebrate St. Lucy with St. Lucia’s braided bread and or St. Lucia buns, or you can fall back on classic cinnamon rolls for the same idea.

The saints and feasts that we celebrate during Advent and near Christmas all point us to Jesus. The generosity of St. Nicholas, the light of St. Lucy, the maternal love of Our Lady of Guadalupe, and the delight of Gaudete Sunday remind us how to draw nearer to the Lord during this holy season.