Introduction to Advent

I have mentioned in other posts that I teach Faith Formation (CCD) at my church. This week's lesson was on Advent. I wanted to share some of the notes that I talked about in class with my readers. The Advent Wreath is a Christian Tradition started in Germany. Many of my notes below are geared towards to the Roman Catholic Church because that is where I teach Faith Formation.

Overview 


Advent is one of my favorite times of the year tied with Lent. They both hold special meaning for me. For Advent, I wanted to put together some interesting tidbits of information for my student's parents. I know how busy life can be with working, raising children, and trying to maintain a home. Then, when we start getting into the Holiday season, it is easy to lose sight of why we really celebrate Christmas.

The other reason for these notes is to explain the tradition of the Advent Wreath. We made wreaths in class this week. This is something that I knew I wanted to do when I first decided to be a Faith Formation teacher. This is a tradition that we follow in my home with my children. They really enjoy it. If you do not participate in this tradition already, give it a try. It only takes about 6 or 7 minutes a night. For my students, I included with the wreath “The Little Blue Book.” It is a book that contains six-minute reflections for each day of Advent and Christmastime. The books were provided by the Church. (If your church does not hand out "The Little Blue Book," you can find the daily Mass readings here.)

Here are some high-level notes about Advent:

• Advent marks the beginning of the Roman Catholic Church year.
• Advent comes from the Latin Adventus meaning “arrival” or “coming.”
• Advent is the season in which we celebrate the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ at his birth and when he will come again.
• The Advent Wreath is one of the traditions that we have to celebrate this season.

Advent Wreath

"Wreaths have always been symbolic of victory and glory. The basic symbolism of the Advent Wreath goes beyond this. It lies in the tension between darkness and light. It represents the long time when people lived in spiritual darkness, waiting for the coming of the Messiah, the light of the world. Each year in Advent people wait once again in darkness for the coming of the Lord, his historical coming in the mystery of Bethlehem, his final coming at the end of time, and his special coming in every moment of grace.” (pg. 47 “Catholic Customs & Traditions: a popular guide” by Greg Dues).

The traditional Advent Wreath consists of an Evergreen wreath and four candles (three purple and one rose/pink). “Three of the candles are purple, reminding us of the penitential nature of the season. A rose or pink candle is lit for the Third Sunday of Advent, also known as Gaudete (rejoice) Sunday. The name is taken from the entrance antiphon or Introit "Rejoice (gaudete) in the Lord always, again I say, rejoice." It is reminding us that the end of Advent is almost here, and we can hardly contain our joy.” (Source)



Light the candles in the following order:

• 1 Purple
• 2 Purple
• 2 Purple and Rose/Pink
• All four candles.

As the weeks progress, the light from the wreath gets brighter and brighter pushing out the darkness and bringing us closer to the light of Jesus and his coming. The wreaths we made in class have four bows (three purple and one pink) and the candle has four bows with the same colors. For those families that did not not have an Advent Wreath already, I wanted to give them an opportunity to try out this wonderful tradition that we as Christians have.

You can buy an Advent Wreath that is already made of you can make one like we made in class. Go to a Craft store and pick up a small wreath, some pink and purple ribbon, and a battery operated candle and make this wreath . Use hot glue to attach the bows to the wreath and candle.

Advent Wreath

Candle 

The idea is for you and your child to match the ribbon on the candle with the ribbon on the wreath. Light the candle and then read the day's reading in “The Little Blue Book” or from where ever you decide to get your scripture. When you get to Christmas, put the candle in the center of the wreath and then do the readings in the “Little Blue Book,” if you have one, for the rest of the Christmas season which runs through January 9th 2011.


Author's Thanks: I want to say thank you to my wife for tying all of the bows for my class' wreaths and candles, and for gluing the bows onto the candles. She also made a beautiful Advent Wreath for the Classroom too. I will post a picture after next week's class. Goofy me forgot to take a picture before I took it to the Church.