Advent facts for kids
Quick facts for kids Advent |
|
|---|---|
An acolyte lighting Advent candles
|
|
| Observed by | Christians |
| Type | Christian, cultural |
| Significance | Preparation for the commemoration of the birth of Jesus |
| Observances | Church services, completing an Advent calendar and Advent wreath, praying through a daily devotional, erecting a Chrismon tree, hanging of the greens, lighting a Christingle, gift giving, family and other social gatherings |
| Begins | Fourth or (in the Ambrosian and Mozarabic Rites) sixth Sunday before Christmas |
| Date | 3 December 2023 |
| Frequency | Annual |
| Related to | Christmastide, Christmas Eve, Annunciation, Epiphany, Epiphanytide, Baptism of the Lord, Nativity Fast, Nativity of Jesus |
The Season of Advent, which begins on a Sunday about four weeks before Christmas Day, is celebrated by most Christian Churches, as well as some other Christian communities.
It is a time for Christians to prepare themselves for two different things: the celebration of the Nativity of Christ at Christmas and for the Second Coming of Jesus, when he shall rule over all the Earth in peace.
Some people use it as a time of fasting, study, meditation and prayer.
Special Advent Calendars are made for children, with pictures or treats for each day of Advent.
In a lot of countries it is very common to have an advent wreath with 4 candles. In many Catholic and Protestant churches, the most popular colours for the candles are violet and rose. In other Protestant churches, especially in the United Kingdom, it is more common for Advent wreaths to have four red candles (reflecting their traditional use in Christmas decorations). Every Advent Sunday one more candle will be lit so that by the 4th week 4 candles are burning, which is a symbol for Jesus as the light of the world who is coming at Christmas. Sometimes there is a fifth white candle in the middle of the wreath.
In general, Advent is a time when many people are very busy in preparation for Christmas Day, cleaning and decorating, buying food and gifts, writing cards and letters, and cooking the Christmas feast.
History
It is not known when exactly Advent began. However, it was certainly in existence from around the fifth century.
Liturgical colour
Since approximately the 13th century, the usual liturgical colour in Western Christianity for Advent has been violet. The violet or purple colour is often used for antependia, the vestments of the clergy, and often also the tabernacle. On the third Sunday of Advent, Gaudete Sunday, rose may be used instead, referencing the rose used on Laetare Sunday, the fourth Sunday of Lent. A rose coloured candle in Western Christianity is referenced as a sign of joy (Gaudete) lit on the third Sunday of Advent.
During the Nativity Fast, red is used by Eastern Christianity, although gold is an alternative colour.
Music
_2010-07-14_290.jpg)
Many churches hold special musical events, such as Nine Lessons and Carols and singing of Handel's Messiah oratorio. The Advent Prose may be sung. The "Late Advent Weekdays", 17–24 December, mark the singing of the Great Advent 'O antiphons'.
Local rites
In England, especially in the northern counties, there was a custom (now extinct) for poor women to carry around the "Advent images", two dolls dressed to represent Jesus and the Blessed Virgin Mary. A halfpenny coin was expected from every one to whom these were exhibited and bad luck was thought to menace the household not visited by the doll-bearers before Christmas Eve at the latest.
In Normandy, farmers employed children under twelve to run through the fields and orchards armed with torches, setting fire to bundles of straw, and thus it was believed driving out such vermin as were likely to damage the crops.
In Italy, among other Advent celebrations is the entry into Rome in the last days of Advent of the Calabrian pifferari, or bagpipe players, who play before the shrines of Mary, the mother of Jesus: in Italian tradition, the shepherds played these pipes when they came to the manger at Bethlehem to pay homage to the infant Jesus.
In recent times the most common observance of Advent outside church circles has been the keeping of an advent calendar or advent candle, with one door being opened in the calendar, or one section of the candle being burned, on each day in December leading up to Christmas Eve. In many countries, the first day of Advent often heralds the start of the Christmas season, with many people opting to erect their Christmas trees and Christmas decorations on or immediately before Advent Sunday.
Advent wreath
The keeping of an Advent wreath is a common practice in homes or churches. The concept of the Advent wreath originated among German Lutherans in the 16th century. However, it was not until three centuries later that the modern Advent wreath took shape.
The modern Advent wreath, with its candles representing the Sundays of Advent, originated from an 1839 initiative by Johann Hinrich Wichern, a Protestant pastor in Germany and a pioneer in urban mission work among the poor. To deal with the impatience of the children awaiting Christmas, whom he was teaching, Wichern made a ring of wood, with nineteen small red tapers and four large white candles. Every morning a small candle was lit, and every Sunday a large candle. Modern practice only retains the large candles.
The wreath crown is traditionally made of fir tree branches knotted with a red ribbon and decorated with pine cones, holly, laurel, and sometimes mistletoe. It is also an ancient symbol signifying several things; first of all, the crown symbolises victory, in addition to its round form evoking the sun and its return each year. The number four represents the four Sundays of Advent, and the green twigs are a sign of life and hope.
The fir tree is a symbol of strength and laurel a symbol of victory over sin and suffering. The latter two, with the holly, do not lose their leaves, and thus represent the eternity of God. The flames of candles are the representation of the Christmas light approaching and bringing hope and peace, as well as the symbol of the struggle against darkness. For Christians, this crown is also the symbol of Christ the King, the holly recalling the crown of thorns resting on the head of Christ.
The Advent wreath is adorned with candles, usually three violet or purple and one pink; the pink candle is lit on the Third Sunday of Advent, called "Gaudete Sunday" after the opening word, Gaudete, meaning "Rejoice", of the entrance antiphon at Mass. Some add a fifth candle (white), known as the "Christ candle", in the middle of the wreath, to be lit on Christmas Eve or Christmas Day.
The candles symbolise, in one interpretation, the great stages of salvation before the coming of the Messiah; the first is the symbol of the forgiveness granted to Adam and Eve, the second is the symbol of the faith of Abraham and of the patriarchs who believe in the gift of the Promised Land, the third is the symbol of the joy of David whose lineage does not stop and also testifies to his covenant with God, and the fourth and last candle is the symbol of the teaching of the prophets who announce a reign of justice and peace. Or they symbolise the four stages of human history; creation, the Incarnation, the redemption of sins, and the Last Judgment.
In Orthodox churches there are sometimes wreaths with six candles, in line with the six-week duration of the Nativity Fast / Advent.
In Sweden, white candles, symbol of festivity and purity, are used in celebrating Saint Lucy's Day, 13 December, which always falls within Advent.
See also
In Spanish: Adviento para niños
Images for kids
-
Representation of Saint Perpetuus
-
Rorate Mass in Prague Cathedral, Czech Republic
-
Celtic cross at Advent in memorial garden, Bon Air Presbyterian Church, Virginia, US
-
Advent candles
