NEW CALENDAR VERSION

The Nativity Fast should be a period of calm and joy as we prepare for the birth of our Lord, but instead it often becomes hectic amid the demands of the Christmas season. Regain peace and purpose with a guided planner just for the forty days of the Winter Lent!

Holly & Ivy is a planner for Orthodox Christian families to use from Advent through Theophany. This practical and devotional guide includes fasting information for each day, as well as special planners for spiritual and practical concerns: family goals, prayer, almsgiving, dietary fasting and meal planning, gratitude, memories, budgeting, daily planners for Thanksgiving and Christmas, and forty Activity Cards with daily activities to use as you count down the days of Advent in your little church. The Advent Planner includes six study guides for reflecting on the season: Entrance of the Theotokos into the Temple, Thanksgiving, St. Nicholas Day, Sunday of the Forefathers, Christmas, and Theophany.

This is a printed paperback booklet that will be shipped to you (click here for a printable PDF version).

PLUS! You also receive a bonus download of forty activity cards to print and use with (or as!) an Advent Calendar; a printable individual gratitude list for the entire season, so that each family member can record their own reflections; and a printable Christmas card tracker.

Each letter-sized, softcover 64-page planner includes:

• Family goal planner with prompts to help you discuss and decide on your spiritual and practical plans this year
• Calendars for November–December 2024 and January 2025, with feasts and fasting for the New Calendar (click here for the Old Calendar version)
• Lenten Pantry organizer to prepare for the fasting season
• Six weeks of meal planning pages with daily fasting designations
• Family gratitude worksheet
• Intercession list
• Almsgiving organizer
• Seasonal budget planner
• Thanksgiving menu planner
• Thanksgiving grocery list
• Thanksgiving potluck organizer
• Thanksgiving Day hourly schedule
• Christmas gift planner
• Christmas menu planner
• Christmas grocery list
• Christmas potluck organizer
• Christmas Day hourly schedule
• Gift shipping organizer
• Thank you list
• Six study guides with an overview, Epistle and Gospel readings, hymns, and questions for reflection for the days of Entrance of the Theotokos into the Temple, Thanksgiving, St. Nicholas Day, Sunday of the Forefathers, Christmas, and Theophany
• Memories worksheet with prompts for recording special memories from this year and ideas for next year
• 40 activities to do each day as you count down to Christmas
• 40 activity cards to cut out and use as you count down the days
• Notes
• Bonus download: forty activity cards to print and use with (or as!) an Advent Calendar; a printable daily gratitude list for the entire season; and a printable Christmas card tracker
• Designed and manufactured in the USA
• Please expect 5-7 business days for order processing

OUR PLANNERS ARE UNIQUE

Every product we make has a single origin: the daily liturgical life of Orthodox Christianity. But we manage the design and production of our products from top to bottom, as well. Everything we make is bespoke—designed by us and proudly produced in the USA just for Parousia Press.

WHICH CALENDAR?

Unsure which calendar you need? NS is the New Calendar, which means you observe the feast of Nativity (Christmas) on December 25. OS is the Old Calendar, which means you observe Nativity on January 7.

More questions? See our FAQ for answers.