Food For Thought: Advent

    How do you do,

    You may have seen me mention in blog entries of being Catholic and I will bring up something that is brought up and celebrated among Catholics, and a few other Christian denominations. Advent is generally defined as "(1) a coming into place, view, or being, arrival: (2) the coming of Christ into the world." (Dictionary.com). In fact, the word even comes from the Latin word "Adventus" which means "coming." To most of y'all who don't share the same faith as I, you can say the name indicates the arrival of Christmas. In Catholic theology, it is more than the arrival of Christmas, but the anticipation for the arrival of the reason for the season. It is also the beginning of a new liturgical year. 

    As with Hanukkah and Kwanzaa, Advent is the winter celebration with multiple candles to lit on each day, though the number is reduced to four. Each candle doesn't cover one day a week and leave three unaccounted for. Actually, they stand for Sundays. The first candle can be lit as early November 24th, being near the Feast of St. Andrew the Apostle (November 30) and the last is lit as late as December 24th. In short, any time before Christmas and after Thanksgiving is Advent Season. In the honor of the name, the candles are called Advent candles and they are generally purple and pink. These pictures can give you a clear picture of what they look like and in what order they are lit in the Catholic doctrine. 

First Sunday of Lent.

Second Sunday of Lent

Third Sunday of Lent

Fourth Sunday of Lent

   Not featured in the pictures is a center candle that is lit on Christmas Day. It can be white to symbolize purity. The purples are obviously of royalty since for the longest time a cloth with purple dye was a luxury only kings could afford. The rose candle is meant to symbolize Gaudete Sunday, which is the counter point to Lent's Laetere. Yet, in Germany it was interpreted that the first purple is Isaiah prophesying the Birth of Christ. The second is the Bible. Third candle, which to Catholics is the rose colored candle, represents the Virgin Mary, thus adding femininity to the equation. Normally, the Virgin Mary is illustrated with blue. The fourth candle is to represent John the Baptist. Thus, we have the written and spoken word on the arrival of Christ, plus His Mother. Another reason for purple was to show a repentant color that was less exciting than the brighter colors which is why some Protestant denominations use blue instead of purple.

   Outside of the pictures, the candles are often arrived on a wreath. This is perhaps the one item in the equation that has pagan elements, being from the practice of using boughs of evergreens during the winter festival of Saturnalia. Coincidentally, the last week of Advent happens during the week of Saturnalia. Unlike the Christmas wreath, the Advent one is not hung up on doors but is used as the center piece of a table and the standing place of the candelabra. Now, the wreathe, or crown would be a better word for it, can be found at home in the States, but in some places it is only kept in churches.

   The candles are not the only part of Advent. Advent, like Lent, is a time for fasting and prayer. It fact, it was once done to fast during this period until Christmas in what was called St. Martin's Lent, since it was to happen near St. Martin's day, excluding Saturdays and Sundays. Even the Catholic Church had it as a fasting season until 1917. Anglican and Lutheran churches also fasted and then relaxed on it. Eastern Christians have used the season to abstain from eating meat and dairy. Devotional prayers are sometimes done in churches. In Germany, they also light little candles on oranges, which they call a Christingle. There were other things done among the faithful during Advent such as not abstaining from dancing. In short, most tend to not go to parties or host them in this period. 

     Mass is also done differently during Advent. In the Catholic Church, the Te Deum is excluded, as is the Gloria. At the same time, the Gospel reading is preceded by the Hallelujah, unlike in Lent. It is during this season that one hears "O Come, O Come Emmanuel" in Mass, also, along with "Ave Maria." It was once the idea to not have a wedding during Advent, also, as the solemnization was not possible. People could still get married during Advent, it's just that the whole is downplayed. Other things on the Mass are found here.

    Not everything in Advent is about fasting and prayer. Some elements of Christmas also happen during Advent. Some people would take the chance hoist up Christmas decorations as early as the first week, which is when Christmas shopping commences. Some parts of the US will see decorations up as early as Thanksgiving. Some houses will even have the tree up and decorated early in December, instead of waiting until Christmas Eve. People also have traditions of lighting candles outside of the four to count down the days until Christmas. This is also used in Europeans with the Advent Calendar with is often torn off and a piece be burned. Of course, most Advent Calendars bought in stores will have pictures of Christmas images and twenty-four doors. Inside of each door is a piece of chocolate to be tasted on the date of the door opening. This last type was a relatively modern concept, becoming popular in the eighties. Other things have happened like bonfires in a field of haystacks.

    Advent is observed as well as celebrated by Christians. It allows one to prepare for Christmas in a traditional manner as it does mean the arrival of Christ into the world. In this secularized country, this period is the period when stores have all the Christmas sales going for the Christmas shopping; when people take out the lights, inflated Santas, and Frostys, and place them across their houses and yards; when radio stations begin to blare all the "Holiday music" while television channels have marathons of Holiday specials that last for days. A few other celebrations happen along with Advent in other countries. For example is St. Lucia Day where in Sweden they have a girl dress up as the martyred saint and lead a parade of candles at the break of dawn and then they all sample some toasty buns. Sometimes, the Jewish holiday of Hannukkah happens during Advent and seeing it with a Jewish friend is a good homage to Jesus' heritage. These are but just parts of the season to observe and for Christians it will all be the observance that will lead to the celebration, the appetizer to lead to the main course, and the overture that will lead to the symphony.