Ways to celebrate the spirit of Advent and Christmas around the archdiocese

Every year over 300 horses carrying members of various cowboy clubs from the Chicago area make their way to place a rose at the Shrine of Our Lady of Guadalupe in Des Plaines as part of a pre-celebration for the feast day on Dec. 12. This year the event takes place on Dec. 7 at 1 p.m. (Karen Callaway/Chicago Catholic)

A procession of semi-trucks makes their way to Shrine of Our Lady of Guadalupe in Des Plaines as part of a pre-celebration for the feast day on Dec 12. This year the event takes place on Dec. 7 in the evening. (Julie Jaidenger/Chicago Catholic)

A mountain of flowers brought by thousands of pilgrims through the night are placed by statues at the Shrine of Our Lady of Guadalupe in Des Plaines, on Dec. 12. The shrine is the most visited U.S. shrine to Our Lady of Guadalupe, and the second most-visited in the world after Mexico’s Basilica in her honor. (Karen Callaway Chicago Catholic)

A woman prays in front of a creche in 2012 in Chicago's Daley Plaza. (Karen Callaway, Chicago Catholic)

Children carry parols (star-shaped lanterns fashioned out of bamboo and colored paper to form a three-dimensional star) in the entrance procession during a Simbang Gabi Mass on Dec. 20, 2018, at Old St. Mary’s Church in Chicago. Simbang Gabi, one of the oldest and most popular Filipino Christmas traditions, is a nine-day novena to the Blessed Mother that culminates on Christmas Eve to welcome the birth of Jesus Christ. (Karen Callaway/ Chicago Catholic)

The exchange of oplatki Christmas wafers is a Polish tradition that dates back hundreds of years when bread was scarce and exchanging it with neighbors was a gesture of goodwill. (Karen Callaway/Chicago Catholic)

Cardinal Cupich was the main celebrant for Midnight Mass at Holy Name Cathedral, 735 N. State St, in Chicago on Christmas Eve. WGN-TV/Channel 9 has broadcasted this Christmas Midnight Mass live for over 30 years. (Karen Callaway/ Chicago Catholic)

Men dressed as the Three Kings ride on horses leading a procession of Chicago Catholics of Polish decent from St. Ferdinand Parish to St. Ladislaus Parish in Chicago in celebration of the Feast of the Epiphany. Caspar, Melchior and Balthasar were the three kings (also known as the Three Wise Men) who brought the baby Jesus gold, frankincense and myrrh when they saw the star over Bethlehem. (Karen Callaway/Chicago Catholic)