With Christmas just around the corner we are already around halfway through Advent. Avent is the period preceding the Christmas period. The word 'Advent' comes from the latin Adventus Dominiand means 'the coming of the Lord', better known as the Christian Judgement Day. The period of Advent starts four Sundays before Christmas Day. The first Sunday of Advent marks the beginning of a new Church year, and historically, Advent has been a time of spiritual reflection. Nowadays, Advent is more commonly associated with Advent calendars than Judgement Day, so let's take a closer look at what Advent actually is.
The History It is believed that Advent has been observed since the fourth century. Originally it wasn't associated with the birth of Christ, but it was a time when people who converted to Christianity readied themselves for baptism.
It wasn't until the Middle Ages that Advent became associated with the Second Coming, aka the future return of Christ where he will judge his enemies and reward the faithful. Back then, the period lasted from November 11th until Christmas Day. It was considered a season of Lent where Christians devoted themselves to prayer and fasting. The Orthodox Eastern Church still observes a similar Lenten season, just starting from November 15th.
While many Christians still view Advent as a period to prepare for the Second Coming, in the past 50 years or so, it has also become a time of anticipating the Nativity, aka the birth of Jesus Christ.
Advent Celebrations One popular way to celebrate Advent is with an Advent wreath. Advent wreaths originated in the folk traditions of northern Europe where people lit candles on wheel-shaped bundles of evergreens. Both of these elements were supposed to symbolize ongoing life. Eastern European Christians then adopted the practice, and by the 16th century, the Advent wreaths were pretty much as we know them today. The traditional Advent wreath consists of a ring of evergreens with four purple bows on it. It also contains three purple and one rose-colured candle. Historically, purple was an expensive colour to make and therefore associated with royalty, so the Roman Catholic Church uses it to honour Jesus. The three purple candles in the Advent wreath symbolises hope, peace and love. These are lit on the first, second and fourth Sunday of Advent. The rose candle symbolises joy and is lit on the third Sunday. However, as Advent wreaths are informal things, a lot of people use candles of different colours; some use blue to symbolise the colour of the night sky just before dawn, while others use white candles. Some people also add a fifth candle, this one white, and place it inside the wreath. This candle is lit on Christmas Day and is associated with angels and the birth of Jesus.
Another popular Advent tradition is the Advent calendar. It is a tradition that started in Germany in the late 1800s and quickly spread worldwide. The original calendars had images from the Hebrew Bible behind the small doors. Nowadays, chocolate calendars are much more popular, however, the calendars with religious imagery still exists.
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