A Primer on Advent

The Word: Advent comes from a Latin word meaning “coming.” We use the word “advent” in English, too, but not to describe a routine or mundane arrival. Advent describes the arrival of something momentous and new that will transform our lives. The season of Advent anticipates Jesus’ first and second comings—his incarnation and birth in a stable in Bethlehem and his coming again as judge at the end of time.

A New Church Year. It seems remarkable and significant that our church year does not begin with Jesus’ birth, but with this season of waiting and hope. We begin, not with the gift, but with the promise. Keeping Advent is the best antidote for the Christmas frenzy. Living Advent leads to a Christmas filled with awe and mystery and joy.

Keeping Advent in the Church – Liturgical Colors. This time of year, we cannot escape the signs of Christmas in our everyday lives, nor do I think we necessarily should. My tree will go up next week. But in the church we keep a strict Advent. You will see no Christmas decorations nor sing any Christmas carols until Christmas. It is Advent now.  We are waiting for Christmas.

The use of liturgical colors is one way we commemorate the different seasons of the church year. The colors enhance the teaching role of the seasons, and they are a rich part of our worship life. But, interestingly, they are not mandated by the church and are not uniformly observed throughout the Episcopal church. Nowhere in the Prayer Book or the Canons does it say anything about seasonal colors.

The use of colored vestments in worship developed in the medieval Roman Catholic Church. The practice was completely abandoned by the Church of England at the time of the reformation. In the mid 19^th century, under the influence of the Oxford movement, more elaborate and colored vestments began again to be used in Anglican churches. At that time most Episcopal Churches adopted the color scheme either of the contemporary Roman Catholic Church or the medieval usage of Sarum cathedral in England.

I grew up with Violet for advent and Lent. Violet or purple is associated with times of penitence. I once heard liturgical purple described as “mitigated black.” A reminder of the blackness of our human hearts without repentance and God’s forgiveness. Purple is also a royal color and certainly in Advent would have associations with Jesus’ second coming as King to judge the earth.

I first became aware of the usage of blue for Advent as a parishioner at Christ Church Cathedral in 1986. The change is in recognition of the reality that Advent and Lent, though both times of preparation, are very different in character and in the way we experience them. Our experience of Advent looks forward mostly to Jesus’ first coming, his birth in Bethlehem. At CCC the purple vestments were adorned with a crown of thorns, certainly appropriate for Lent, but less so for the anticipated birth of the Christ child. Remember, the refrain of the greatest of Advent hymns is “Rejoice.” This is a different season from Lent.

Blue was the color used for Advent at the medieval cathedral of Sarum (Salisbury) in England. To use blue for Advent is to reclaim that rich tradition. Blue is Mary’s color and Mary and her expectancy are focal points of our observance of Advent. Remembering Mary reminds of us of Advent’s hopeful expectancy. My own blue chasuble is a light blue, like the blue often associated with Mary.

Blue is also the color of dawn, the color of the sky as new light breaks into the darkness. Advent is about the birth of light into the darkness. I’m reminded of a line in Amahl and the Night Visitors when the Three Kings sing, “Have you seen a child the color of wheat, the color of dawn?” The child they are journeying to find is the color of wheat, the color of dawn. Our Advent vestments here at St. John’s are a deep blue, the color of dawn.

The Advent Wreath. As we celebrate the season of Advent in worship here in the church, we use an Advent wreath. But the Advent wreath, I think, is most significant as a tool for Advent worship in the home. Advent, perhaps more than any other season, offers wonderful opportunities for worship in the home. The Advent wreath is a tool for worship at home.

I’m reminded of the Jewish celebration of the Passover. That celebration takes place primarily at home. The whole family, all generations, gather around one table. (There is no kiddie table in the kitchen for Passover!) Everyone has a role; everyone participates in the prayers; everyone shares in worship. The Advent wreath provides this same sort of focal point for worship at home.

Which is the main reason, as we made Advent wreaths today, I stipulated one per household. This was not just to be frugal. The Advent wreath is the focal point of worship in the household. It is not a decoration. You do not need one for each room. (And Christmas decorative elements are not appropriate on an Advent wreath.) It is not a craft project, where each person makes his or her own. There are lots of fun opportunities for that in Advent and Christmas. Whether you live alone, as I do, or with other family members, the Advent wreath is where the household comes worship in Advent. Every household should have one. Each household should have only one.

And use it for worship. Say the Advent collect. Read a passage from Scripture. Sing O, come, o come Emmanuel. Turn off the TV. Take a deep breath and do Advent worship at home. Light one candle the first Sunday of Advent. The second Sunday of Advent light that first candle and another so that two are burning. Then on the third Sunday, light three; then four. As Advent passes, the light grows stronger and stronger, brighter and brighter, as we anticipate the birth of God’s true light.

There is symbolism in the wreath itself. It is circular, having no beginning or end. God’s love for us has no beginning or end, but is with us always. Advent wreaths are covered in evergreens. Eternal life is God’s gift to us. That life knows no winter or death.

The four candles can be a variety of colors: three purple and one pink; four blue; or (my least favorite) three blue and one pink. These colors are the liturgical colors of Advent. Purple is certainly still an acceptable color. And if we use purple and focus on Advent’s penitential character, it is a common custom to use pink for the third Sunday in Advent, Rose Sunday. If purple is mitigated black, then pink is mitigated purple, and provides a more joyful note for one Sunday.

If you are using blue for Advent, the focus is already less penitential and more joyfully expectant throughout Advent. Therefore pink really isn’t needed as a one-Sunday “break” or “refreshment”.

I’m reminded of a story I heard from a family who were parishioners at my first church. The adult son in the family told the story. He said that it was a custom in their family to tie the Christmas tree to the wall. They had always done it, and when he was grown, married and had a family of his own, he still tied the Christmas tree to the wall. When I asked why, he said that when he was a boy growing up, they had a cat… Well, the cat was long gone, but the story and the tradition continued.

If we are using blue for Advent, the need for Rose Sunday is gone, but if you remember the story, if you grew up with the tradition and cherish it as a tradition, there is nothing wrong with continuing it.

Advent is a season of hopeful anticipation. The season teaches us to be people who wait hopefully. This is part of our Christian character year round, but the customs and activities of Advent worship make this hopeful expectancy a part of our lives. We have been promised joy. With Jesus’ birth, we will be given joy. Keeping Advent teaches us to expect joy. Recently on TV I saw a piece related to the current economic difficulties so many people face. And they said that in our material culture, this would be the Christmas that people would grieve for all of the things they did not get. Advent teaches us to expect joy. Advent helps us to be people who will not grieve what we do not get, but will be ready to celebrate what we will get… the joy of our Savior’s birth.