First Sunday of Advent

Theme: Hope (and boy, do we need it this year).

You never take a vacation without preparation.

Neither do most people go into Christmas without a little preparation. Shopping, baking, wrapping, decorating, and more are all part of Christmas prep. But if you celebrate Christmas as a religious holiday, there's more to it than that. Advent is a time of reflection, to prepare hearts for the birth of Jesus Christ.

Advent was originally a 40-day period, like Lent, and fasting, except on Sunday, was common. Now Advent begins on the fourth Sunday before Christmas. The longest Advent period happens when Christmas is on a Sunday, and begins November 27. The shortest Advent happens when Christmas is on Monday, beginning December 3.

Several Christmas-y holidays fall within the Advent period, including St. Nicholas Day and St. Lucia Day. St. Thomas' Day also used to be a pre-Christmas holiday until the church moved it to another month. "Thomasing" was practiced as children went "a'souling" for soul cakes on that day, a combination of trick or treating and caroling.

Here are some Advent and Christmas customs in other countries:

• Advent Period Begins: The Most Beautiful Hungarian Christmas Traditions

• Advent Traditions in Germany

• Six Quirky Italian Advent Traditions

• A Guide to Advent in Britain

• How Do We Celebrate Advent in France? 

• Seven Unique Spanish Christmas Traditions 

• 25 Surprising Facts about Christmas in the Netherlands 

• Christmas in Brazil 

• Posadas and Other Mexican Christmas Traditions