The Advent Season

Advent is the liturgical season that precedes and prepares for Christmas. It is a season of hope and of longing, of joyful expectation and of peaceful preparation. Many symbols and traditions are associated with Advent, especially the Advent Wreath with its four colored candles (three purple and one pink), but also Advent calendars, special Advent music, food, processions, and other traditions that may vary from one culture or region to the next. Here are a few interesting things to know about Advent:

When and how long is Advent?

• For most Christians, the Advent Season always begins four Sundays before Christmas; so it is rarely four full weeks long, but only between three and four weeks, depending on what weekday Dec. 25 happens to be in a certain year. If you want to see the details, take a look at this table.
• The First Sunday of Advent, which marks the beginning of the new liturgical year for the Church, could be as early as Nov. 27 or as late as Dec. 3.
• The Third Sunday of Advent is traditionally called “Gaudete Sunday” (from Latin, meaning “Rejoice!), because the “Entrance Antiphon” of this Sunday’s Mass is taken from Paul’s letter to the Philippians: “Rejoice in the Lord always; again I say, rejoice! The Lord is near.” (Phil 4:4+5b)
• The Fourth Sunday of Advent could be as early as Dec. 18, a full week before Christmas (as in 2016 and 2022), or as late as Dec. 24, making it the same day as “Christmas Eve” (as in 2017 or 2023).
• Advent technically ends on the afternoon of Dec. 24, since that evening, Christmas Eve, begins the Christmas Season.
• Most Eastern Orthodox and other Eastern Christian Churches have a “Nativity Fast” (now often called “Advent Fast”), which usually lasts forty days before Christmas; it may begin on Nov. 15 (for those Churches that celebrate Christmas on Dec. 25), or in late November (for those Churches that celebrate Christmas on Jan. 7 or 8).

What does the word “Advent” mean?

• When capitalized, “Advent” usually refers to “the coming of Christ into the world” or to “the liturgical period preceding Christmas”; it may also refer to the “Second Coming” of Christ (the “Advent of our Lord”).
• In secular English, “advent” (not capitalized) may refer to any “coming” or “arrival,” especially of something so important that it radically changed a whole culture (e.g., “The advent of electricity” or “The advent of the computer age”).
• The word is derived from the Latin adventus (“arrival, approach”), made up of the preposition ad- (“to, towards”), the verbal root ven- (from venire, “to come”), and the suffix -tus (indicating verbal action).
• The word is very similar in many other European languages: Advent, Advento, Avent, Avvento, Adviento, etc.

What are the traditional colors of Advent?

• In the Roman Catholic Church, the official liturgical color for most of the Season of Advent is violet. Only on the Third Sunday of Advent is a rose (pink) colored candle lit, as a symbol of joy; the priest may also wear rose vestments on this Sunday.
• Many Anglicans and some Protestant Churches use blue instead of violet throughout Advent, although they may also use rose/pink on the Third Sunday.
• Other church decorations (altar cloths, banners, etc.) will often have combinations of violet, pink, and blue throughout the season. Liturgically-minded churches will avoid greens and reds (the secular Christmas colors), and will wait until the Christmas season to use decorations with white, silver, and gold colors.

What is an Advent Wreath?

• Many churches and families prominently display an evergreen wreath with four candles throughout the Advent Season.
• It is traditionally made of some type or mixture of evergreens (fir, spruce, juniper, holly, etc.), symbolizing the continuation of life in the middle of the cold and dark winter (in the northerly latitudes, at least).
• Advent wreaths traditionally include three purple/violet candles and one pink/rose-colored candle, which are arranged evenly around the wreath, although some people use four violet or four white candles.
• Only one purple candle is lit during the first week, two in the second week, three (incl. the pink one) in the third week, and all four during the fourth week of Advent; the gradually increasing light symbolizes the approach of Christmas, the birth of Jesus, the light of the world.
• Since the rose candle is not lit until the Third Sunday of Advent, it is best to start on the First Sunday of Advent lighting the purple candle located directly opposite the pink one, and then to continue clockwise around the wreath in the following weeks. Thus, one could go in the following orders: 1-right, 2-front, 3-left (rose), 4-back; or 1-front right, 2-front left, 3-back left (rose), and 4-back right.
• Some Christian traditions assign specific symbolism to each of the candles:
  1) The Prophet’s Candle, symbolizing Hope;
  2) The Bethlehem Candle, symbolizing Faith;
  3) The Shepherd’s Candle, symbolizing Joy;
  4) The Angel’s Candle, symbolizing Peace.
• Some churches and families add a fifth candle (white) in the middle of the wreath for Christmas Eve or Day; others continue using the same wreath throughout the Christmas Season, replacing the colored Advent candles with fresh candles that are white or gold, symbolizing the arrival of Christ, the light of the world.
• Click here for an explanation of the History of the Advent Wreath, by Fr. William Saunders.

What are the liturgical readings for the Sundays of Advent?
Each of the four Sundays of Advent has its own special readings and characteristics:

• First Sunday of Advent – The readings look forward to the “End Times” and the coming of the “Day of the Lord” or the “Messianic Age”; the Gospel is an excerpt from the Apocalyptic Discourse of Jesus in one of the Synoptic Gospels.
• Second Sunday of Advent – The Gospel readings focus on the preaching and ministry of John the Baptist as the precursor or forerunner of Jesus, the one who came to “Prepare the Way of the Lord,” by calling the people to turn back to God.
• Third Sunday of Advent – The Gospel readings continue to focus on John the Baptist, who talks about the one who is to come after him, while the first and second readings convey the joy that Christians feel at the world’s salvation through the incarnation of thje Savior.
• Fourth Sunday of Advent – The Gospels tell of the events that preceded and prepared for the birth of Jesus, including the dreams of Joseph (Year A), the Annunciation (Year B), and the Visitation of Mary to Elizabeth (Year C).

What are the liturgical readings for the Weekdays of Advent?
There are actually two sets of weekday readings for the Advent season:

• Readings for the weekdays in the first three weeks, but only up to Dec. 16: the Gospel readings are excerpts from various chapters in Matthew and Luke; the first readings are mostly from the book of the prophet Isaiah.
• Readings for the weekdays from Dec. 17 to Dec. 24: the Gospel readings cover all of Matthew 1 and Luke 1, sequentially; the first readings are selected thematically from various prophetic books of the Old Testament.
• The weekdays from Dec. 17 to Dec. 24 also make use of the “O Antiphons,” not only during Evening Prayer in the Liturgy of the Hours, but also in the Alleluia verse before the Gospel at Mass.

What other liturgical celebrations can occur during the Season of Advent?
Several “Feasts” and “Memorials” of saints can be celebrated on the weekends of Advent, but most of them are omitted if the usual date happens to fall on a Sunday in a particular year, since these celebrations are considered less important than the Sundays of Advent. (click here for details)

• Nov. 30 – Feast of St. Andrew, the Apostle – may occur just before or during the first week of Advent, depending on the year.
• Dec. 6 – St. Nicholas – although the day is only an “optional memorial” on the Roman liturgical calendar, this popular saint gave rise to the gift-giving tradition now associated with “Santa Claus”; in certain countries, Dec. 6 is still a day when parents give simple gifts (often fruit or nuts) to their children.
• Dec. 8 – Solemnity of the Immaculate Conception of the Blessed Virgin Mary – a “Holy Day of Obligation” in the United States; if Dec. 8 falls on a Sunday, this Solemnity is transferred to Monday, Dec. 9.
• Dec. 12 – Feast of Our Lady of Guadalupe – only ranked as a “Memorial” in much of the world, but considered an important “Feast” in the United States and many Latino countries.
• The “Memorials” of several other saints can be celebrated during Advent, but only if they fall on a weekday, not on Sunday:  St. Francis Xavier (Dec. 3), St. Ambrose (Dec. 7), St. Lucy (Dec. 13), St. John of the Cross (Dec. 14), and a few other “optional memorials” (St. John of Damascus, St. Nicholas, St. Juan Diego, St. Damasus I, St. Peter Canisius, and St. John of Kanty)