The Jesse Tree is a beautiful Advent tradition that many Christian families take part in each year to prepare for the birth of Christ at Christmas. For Catholics of the Byzantine Rite , the “Advent” period of preparation before the celebration of the Birth of Jesus is 40 days long, and begins on November 15 th every year. It is known as the “Nativity Fast,” or “Philip’s Fast,” because it begins the day after the feast of the Apostle St. Philip, and includes a period of fasting to help prepare our hearts and souls for this important feast day.
Because this “Advent” period is 40 days long, many of the typical Jesse tree ornaments and readings don’t last long enough for Byzantine Rite Catholics who desire to take part in this activity! Since Byzantine Rite Catholics and Eastern Orthodox Christians both observe the Nativity Fast, a great source for Jesse tree Bible readings for each day is the website of the Antiochian Orthodox Christian Archdiocese of North America . You can follow these excerpts, or pick your own readings!
I’ve also included printable ornaments based on these readings (with a few minor changes), which you can color yourself. Simply print out the ornaments on card stock pages, color and cut them out, and use a hole punch to create a hole in the top of each ornament, to which you can then attach a string or ribbon of your choice.
Now I would like to share the Bible stories for each of the 40 days and the corresponding ornament.
Byzantine Jesse Tree Symbols And Ornaments:
Day 1: The Creation of the World
Ornament: Earth being held by hands
Day 2: Creation of Man
Ornament: Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden
Day 3: The Fall of Adam and Eve
Ornament: Apple with a bite
Day 4: The Story of Noah
Ornament: Dove with a branch in its break
Day 5: Abraham
Ornament: Sky with stars
Day 6: Sacrifice of Isaac
Ornament: Bundle of sticks
Day 7: Jacob’s Ladder
Ornament: Ladder
Day 8: Joseph and his Brothers
Ornament: Well
Day 9: Joseph’s Rise to Power
Ornament: Cow
Day 10: Israel’s Blessing for Judah
Ornament: Lion
Day 11: The Infant Moses
Ornament: Baby in a basket
Day 12: Moses and the Burning Bush
Ornament: Burning bush
Day 13: The Plagues
Ornament: Frog
Day 14: Moses Parts the Red Sea
Ornament: Parted Sea
Day 15: Water in the Wilderness
Ornament: Staff with water and the rock
Day 16: The Ten Commandments
Ornament: Stone tablets
Day 17: Ruth
Ornament: Wheat
Day 18: Birth of Samuel
Ornament: Horn trumpet
Day 19: Samuel and Eli
Ornament: Oil Lamp
Day 20: David the Anointed King
Ornament: Sheep
Day 21: David and Goliath
Ornament: Slingshot
Day 22: The Psalms of King David
Ornament: Lyre
Day 23: King Solomon
Ornament: Crown
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Day 24: Elias the Prophet
Ornament: Burning stone altar
Day 25: Jonah the Prophet
Ornament: Whale
Day 26: The Story of Tobias
Ornament: Fish
Day 27: Prophecy of Emmanuel
Ornament: Scroll
Day 28: A Shoot Springing from the Root of Jesse
Ornament: Sprout
Day 29: Visits of Kings Foretold
Ornament: Three Crowns
Day 30: The Story of Daniel
Ornament: Rock Smashing a Statue
Day 31: 3 The Three Holy Youths
Ornament: Three Figures Surrounded by Fire
Day 32: God’s Dwelling
Ornament: The Ark of the Temple
Day 33: Prayer of the Prophet
Ornament: Mountain
Day 34: Wisdom, Word and Power of God
Ornament: Open Book
Day 35: Birth of the Savior and the Star Foretold
Ornament: Star of David
Day 36: The Story of Zachariah
Ornament: Censer
Day 37: The Annunciation
Ornament: Archangel Gabriel
Day 38: The Visitation
Ornament: The Blessed Mother with St. Elizabeth
Day 39: Saint Joseph
Ornament: A saw
Day 40: Journey to Bethlehem and Birth of Jesus
Ornament: Baby Jesus
Download Your Free Byzantine Jesse Tree Symbols And Ornaments Here!
The free Byzantine Jesse Tree Symbols and Ornaments pack is now available to download completely for free! To grab your copy now, just click the blue button below.
NOTE- This file is being hosted here with written permission from Carrie Chuff. It is not to be republished or redistributed in any way. It is for personal use only. By downloading this file, you are agreeing to these terms.
An even more comprehensive preparation for the Nativity Fast can be found in ByziMom’s “The Jesse Tree” book, and the ByziMom website which includes more in-depth activities for the Nativity Fast!
More Resources:
You can find all of the Catholic Icing resources about Jesse Trees here
You can find more resources for Byzantine moms here
About Carrie:
Carrie Chuff is a wife and homeschooling mother of six children. As a young woman, she spent five years of formation in a Roman Catholic convent of active/contemplative religious Sisters whose apostolate included retreats and catechesis. After realizing God had other plans, she left and later met and married her husband, Derek. Eventually, they both rediscovered their Eastern Catholic heritage and embraced it fully as members of the Ukrainian Greek-Catholic Church, a Byzantine Rite Eastern Catholic Church which is in full Communion with Rome. She resides with her family in Hollidaysburg, Pennsylvania.
You can find Carrie’s charming videos about her time in the convent and more on her TikTok page and you can follow her Instagram here.
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