How the Four Candles of Advent Prepare Us for the Holiday Season

Advent Helps Us Prepare For Christmas

"Today in the town of David a Savior has been born to you ..."

-- Luke 2:11 (NIV)

When I was a young girl, I was given a Christmas wreath consisting of four candles placed within a circle with red ribbons intertwined with green garland.

This wasn't just your usual Christmas wreath. This one was known as an Advent wreath.

It was exciting to me, as each week as Christmas approached we lit one of the candles on the wreath and, in keeping in the spirit of the true reason for the season, read a passage of scripture depicting the Advent of the birth of Christ from of the book of Luke. As the candle burned brightly, we pondered the blessed event.

Another Advent activity I enjoyed -- and still do -- is keeping an Advent calendar. Each calendar has a picture that depicts Christmas in some special way and a small box that you open each day from the first to the 25th. As we open the box, we receive a surprise on the other side.

About 10 years ago, I discovered one that contained a morsel of chocolate behind each box.

Others I have discovered contain a whole host of items, from coffee to jewelry.

I grew up with the ones that simply had a date behind each box to remind us the day was approaching. I enjoyed them just as much.

Over the years, I had different artwork on my calendars. Some had traditional winter scenes of sparkling wonderlands. One year I even had Charlie Brown and the gang singing Christmas carols on the main scenery. My favorites are that of the glorious manger scene.

However we like to enjoy our countdown to Christmas, it is important we keep in mind that Dec. 1 to 25 is known as Advent, which means, "coming." As the "holy day" approaches, what we celebrate is the coming of Christmas Day and the blessed birth of our savior, Jesus Christ.

With this in mind, in keeping with the Advent celebration, we can view the whole seasonal celebration with the joy and enthusiasm of the true meaning of Christmas.

• Annettee Budzban is a Christian author, speaker, life coach and nurse. She can be contacted at annetteebudzban@aol.Com or (847) 543-8413.

For Christians Of All Persuasions, Advent Is A Season Of Preparation

Amid the seemingly endless seasonal details demanding Christians’ time and attention — holiday parties, travel, gifts, decorating and more — spiritual preparations for the celebration of Jesus’ birth can get lost.

Even for the most devout, the four-week season of Advent –\— beginning this year on Sunday, November 27 — often is less about anticipation of the coming of the Messiah on Christmas Day and more about celebrating Santa Claus and the secular trappings of the season.

All about liturgy

In the Catholic Church, Advent is a liturgical season similar in tone and content to Lent, says John Prust, director of the Office for Family Life and Spirituality for the Roman Catholic Diocese of San Diego.

“Advent, like Lent, is a personal journey, a chance for us to look inward and prepare for Christ as the baby Jesus coming into the world,” Prust says. “We have the opportunity to go inward so that when Christmas Day comes, we are ready.”

For Catholics, the 12 days of Christmas begin on Christmas Day and extend through Epiphany on Jan. 6, when the three kings are said to have followed the star to Jesus’ manger. Each Christmas tradition has symbolism, he adds.

“Often we celebrate Christmas beginning in November right after Black Friday, but our traditions remind us that, really, Christmas is not here yet.”

The church’s liturgical calendar mirrors the journey of life, Prust says.

“While there’s a tremendous focus on celebration, Christmas has many social justice themes associated with the child born in a manger, as helpless as you can get. The nature of how Christ comes into the world emphasizes how we are called to serve those in similar circumstances.”

Advent calendars are used in many Catholic homes to help families remember that the four weeks leading up to Christmas are a time of spiritual reflection and preparation. Each week and candle has a theme: The first candle symbolizes hope; the second candle represents faith; the third candle, in a rose shade, symbolizes joy; and the fourth candle represents peace.

“Advent reminds us of what Christmas is all about,” Prust says. “We can get carried away with commercialism, or we can intentionally prepare our hearts for Jesus’ birthday.

Monthlong celebration

“We take a Biblical approach to Advent and celebrate throughout the entire month of December, specifically preaching through the story of Jesus’s birth and all the events leading up to it,” says All Peoples Church Worship Pastor Stephen Gulley. “Messages and singing at our Sunday services will reflect on the beauty and gift of Jesus at Christmas.”

Gulley says the church’s Dec. 7 tree-lighting event outside the church building will kick off the Christmas season for his members. A non-traditional Christmas show featuring ballet, tap and hip-hop dance, contemporary Christian music, poetry, and many other creative expressions takes place in the church’s outdoor tent at all three services on Dec. 11.

“Advent per se is not something we do as a whole church,” he says. “We are using the inspirational message about the goodness of God in giving us His son.”

December finds the church changing colors on campus to reflect the season, and ministers preparing each service to ensure the arc of Jesus’s birth is included.

“This year’s theme is Experience the Hope of Christmas, and for us it starts with what we want to be practicing as we set to table for the season,” Gulley adds, noting that the church operates a food distribution ministry and emphasizes service to the less-fortunate. “Jesus was poor and a refugee when he was born.”

Faith as foundation

Barrabas Road Church on Ronson Road intentionally has just one service each Sunday, says Senior Pastor Matt Smith, so that the congregation can look at one another and see the Body of Christ.

And while the church does not celebrate the season of Advent, “for the month of December, each sermon begins and ends in referencing the incarnation,” Smith explains. “It is always relevant, wherever you are in the Bible.” Members will culminate the celebration of Christmas at the service held Dec. 25.

The Christmas season is an important time to remind Christians that they embody faith, he adds. “Christmas is a reminder that every year, even when things get dark, God is always working in the background. “He brought forth His son in the perfect time and the perfect way.”

Events

This year, the Roman Catholic Diocese of San Diego’s Office for Evangelization and Catechetical Ministry offers a bilingual Advent Evening of Prayer at 6:30 p.M. Dec. 1 at St. Elizabeth Seton Parish in Carlsbad, featuring a meditation, music, and reception presented by Sister Rose Marie Tulacz. Known as the Nun with a Nikon, Sister Tulacz is a member of the Sisters of Notre Dame and the founder of Notre Dame Creations, a ministry of liturgical and fine art photography and spirituality. $15. (858) 490-8232. Sdcatholic.Org/event/bilingual-advent-evening-of-prayer/

All Peoples Church will kick off the Christmas season with a Dec. 7 tree-lighting event at 6:30 p.M. Outside the church building at 5577 University Ave. At three Sunday services on Dec. 11, the All Peoples Christmas Show will feature music, dancing, drama and comedy in a family-friendly variety format. Allpeoples.Churchcenter.Com/registrations/events/1488603

What Is Advent—and Why Do We Mark It With Treat-filled Calendars?

 © Photograph by Peter Gercke. Picture alliance/Getty In the weeks before Christmas, churches around the world celebrate Advent—a season of reflection and preparation for the birth of Jesus Christ. Candlelight Advent wreaths like this one inside the Sankt-Petri church in Magdeburg, Germany—signify light in the dark days of winter.

During the darkest days of winter, Christians prepare for one of their religion’s most important holidays during the season of Advent. Lasting roughly four weeks, it’s a season of candlelight, reflection, and expectation—a chance to get ready for Christmas, the celebration of the birth of Jesus Christ.  

 © Photograph via Bettmann Archive/Getty In 1953, U.S. President Dwight D. Eisenhower's three grandchildren joined in an appeal for sales of Advent calendars that had been imported from Germany by the National Epilepsy League.

The season’s dates vary from year to year. In 2022, Advent begins on Sunday, November 27, and ends on Saturday, December 24.

The origins of Advent

Advent gets its name from adventus, the Latin word for “arrival.” As the Christian church solidified in the fifth century A.D., so did traditions around December 25. Historians have tracked the first formal Advent celebrations to northern Italy, where churchgoers observed a weeks-long preparation for Christmas that involved fasting, prayer, and reflection on Christian values.

Eventually, that preparation became known as Advent. By the sixth century, Christians in France celebrated a five-week “St. Martin’s Lent” that included fasts and abstaining from sexual intercourse leading up to Christmas.

Advent is now considered the first season of the liturgical year, the church’s annual cycle of feast days and Scripture readings. Much like their ancestors, modern Christians see it as a season of preparation in honor of Christ. Advent is celebrated on four consecutive Sundays, beginning on the Sunday closest to November 30 and ending on December 24, Christmas Eve.

Each Sunday has a traditional meaning and prayers and readings assigned to it; they represent, in order, the Christian virtues of love, joy, hope, and peace. For believers, Advent represents a multi-faceted period during which to prepare for the birth of Christ, celebrate faith in and conversion to Christianity, and anticipate the eventual resurrection of the son of God.

The Advent wreath

Considered a season of light in the dark apex of winter, Advent is symbolized in the church by a candlelit evergreen wreath. In 1838 Johann Wichern, a German Lutheran pastor, began using this wreath to help his congregation count down the days until Christmas. (The surprising history of Christmas trees—a tradition that likely also took root in Germany.)

The modern Advent wreath has four candles. The first two and the fourth are purple, Advent’s traditional color. The third candle is pink, representing the halfway point of Advent and the joy of the coming holiday.

Christians traditionally pray, sing, and light an additional candle on each Advent Sunday until all of the candles are lit on the fourth Sunday. A fifth, white candle known as the Christ candle sometimes sits unlit in the center of the wreath; it is only lit on Christmas Eve.

Advent calendars

Another German Advent tradition is the Advent calendar. During the 19th century, adults began helping children count down the days until Christmas. Beginning on December 1, some German Lutherans made chalk marks on doors in anticipation of the entry of the Christ child, and other parents created homemade ways to count down involving snacks and Bible verses.

In 1908 German printer Gerhard Lang produced the first printed Advent calendar. In his childhood, his mother had handcrafted a calendar with cardboard doors and candy inside. Lang adapted the idea for the printing press, and his wares became extremely popular in Germany. But World War II-related shortages and Nazi Germany’s secular rebranding of Christmas almost killed off the printed Advent calendar.

After the war, another German printer, Richard Sellmer, obtained permission from American occupying forces to print a 1946 Advent calendar. He used his contacts with Americans to introduce the Advent calendar in the United States, and with the help of President Dwight D. Eisenhower, who was photographed opening one with his grandchildren in 1953, they became increasingly popular in the U.S.

Even though Advent technically begins in late November, modern Advent calendars typically start on December 1 and have small doors or boxes containing pictures, trinkets, or food like chocolate to be opened and consumed in the leadup to Christmas. Retailers have invested big in the Advent calendar game, and consumers can choose Advent calendars centered around beauty, popular characters, or even consumption.

Like other Christmas traditions, Advent calendars became increasingly secularized in the 20th and 21st centuries. But its traditions remain a fun way for both kids and adults to ramp up Christmas delight during a dark, wintry month.