Wreaths, candles, and countdown calendars, getting ready for Christmas. These may be things that come to mind when you hear the word Advent. While these are all important traditions associated with the season, they aren’t the full story. Advent has ancient roots and rich teachings and practices that are still relevant and beneficial for Christians today as they prepare to celebrate Christ’s birth at Christmas.
When and how long is Advent?
Advent is the season of the Christian calendar that comes directly before Christmas. Its name comes from the Latin word, adventus, meaning “coming” or “arrival.” Advent is a time when Christians engage in expectant waiting as they anticipate the coming of Jesus Christ. This expectant waiting often includes focused Scripture reading, prayer, and worship. The goal is to both prepare yourself for the celebration of Christ’s first coming (on Christmas) and engage in hopeful anticipation of Christ’s second coming (when Christ will usher in the new heaven and earth, Revelation 21).
The Advent season falls at the beginning of the traditional Church calendar and kicks off the new liturgical year. The first day of Advent is always the 4th Sunday before Christmas. In the Western Christian tradition, Advent can start as early as November 27th and last 28 days. It can also start as late as December 3rd and last only 21 days.
Historical Roots and the Evolution of Advent
The exact origins of Advent are unclear, but scholars can confirm that by the 4th century, Christians in a handful of regions were observing a season of preparation during the weeks before Christmas and Epiphany. In its earliest days, Advent was a season of penitence and fasting. A central focus of the season during the 4th and 5th century was the preparation of new believers for baptism. In her book Advent, Fleming Rutledge notes that there was little connection between the season of Advent and any sort of preparation for Christmas at this time.
However, by the 7th century, the connection between Advent and Christmas had become more pronounced. In the weeks leading up to Christmas, believers were encouraged to reconcile themselves with God—through practices like prayer, fasting, and confession—in preparation for celebrating Christ’s birth (or the first coming).
By the Middle Ages, Advent had developed an additional pronounced emphasis on preparing believers for Christ’s second coming as well. Since then, it has been the custom to pray, read, and reflect on Old Testament Bible readings that prophesied the first coming of Christ, and New Testament Bible readings that tell of the story of Christ’s birth, as well as passages that foretell the second coming of Christ, when the fullness of God’s kingdom will be ushered in on earth.
Words of Hope follows these traditions in our devotional guide each year. Explore Advent Bible readings, adult devotional guides, and family devotional activities (including crafts!) with Words of Hope.
Advent has long been an established season of the Roman Catholic Church calendar. However, after the Reformation in the 16th century, Protestant denominations varied in their observance of the season. Denominations like the Anglicans and Lutherans continued to follow the liturgical calendar and observed the season to a lesser extent, however, many other Reformed, Anabaptist, and other Protestant traditions did not observe Advent in any meaningful way until more recently.
Over the last fifty years, in reaction to the ever-expanding celebration of Christmas in the West, Christians across traditions have shown a revived interest in observing Advent. Rutledge explains, “The dissonance between the culture and the church’s mission in the Advent season has widely been noted, but not until recently has heightened Advent observance been called upon as a countermeasure.”
Today, many Christians chose to observe Advent in order to focus their spiritual lives during an often hectic and over-commercialized Christmas season. Advent devotionals and practices help them intentionally keep the “coming of Jesus Christ” the central focus during the busy and often overwhelming holiday season.
How do Christians Observe Advent?
Christians observe Advent in several ways, both in church together, and as individuals and families. Many congregations incorporate Advent related Bible reading and reflections into their liturgy, worship, and sermon planning.
Advent Wreaths
Lighting of Advent candles is another common congregational practice. Many churches display Advent wreaths in their sanctuaries that contain five candles—one for each Sunday of Advent and a fifth candle to be lit on Christmas Eve. Advent wreaths are a relatively recent Advent tradition, with origins only dating back to the mid-19th century in Germany.
Each Advent candle represents a weekly Advent theme—Hope, Peace, Joy, and Love.
- On the 1st Sunday of Advent, Christians light the Hope or Prophecy candle, and believers are called to reflect on the Hope of Christ’s comings.
- On the 2nd Sunday of Advent, Christians light the Peace or Bethlehem candle, and believers are called to reflect on the Peace of Christ’s comings.
- On the 3rd Sunday of Advent, Christians light the Joy or Shepherd’s candle, and believers are called to reflect on the Joy of Christ’s comings.
- On the 4th Sunday of Advent, Christians light the Love or Angel’s candle, and believers are called to reflect on the Love of Christ’s comings.
- On Christmas Eve, Christians light the Christ candle as a symbol of Christ’s light entering the world on Christmas Day.
Some families and individual Christians use Advent wreaths in their homes as well, often as part of personal or family devotion time. Advent devotions, like this free series from Words of Hope, are also a popular Advent practice. Advent devotions help Christians ground their spiritual journey during a season of the year that can often be full of busyness, distraction, and stress.
Advent Calendars
Finally, Advent calendars are another modern practice that is growing in popularity in North America. Advent calendars are particularly useful for families seeking to disciple children in the meaning and importance of the season. Unfortunately, most Advent calendars sold in stores begin on December 1st (which is not necessarily the first day of the Advent season) and are used primarily as a “countdown” to Christmas Day. While this anticipatory practice is not bad in and of itself, it can take away from the depth and importance of this season as a time of waiting and preparation, not only for the coming of Christ, but for his second coming.
Words of Hope’s Advent activity calendar, “Waiting with Joy“, helps both adults and children think about how to celebrate Jesus, and share the good news of Jesus with others.
It is a common temptation during Advent to focus only on preparing oneself for Christmas. When discussing Advent wreaths, Rutledge shares this helpful Advent wisdom, “When the Advent wreath [or any other practice] is used to distinguish Advent from Christmas, that is useful; but when it is taught and understood almost entirely as a way of preparing for Christmas, it loses any relationship to the eschatological, future-oriented nature of Advent…” (Rutledge, Advent, p. 3). Christians are called to look past Christmas during Advent and consider their lives in light of both the first and the second comings of Christ.
Conclusion
Although Advent is often misunderstood, and sometimes even dismissed, as nothing more than “pre-Christmas” season, it holds rich significance in-and-of-itself when practiced in its fullness. This Advent season we invite you to ponder God’s past, present, and future actions in his world and take time to reflect on:
- the state of God’s world before the coming of Jesus Christ,
- the gift of Jesus Christ’s first coming,
- and the glory of Jesus’s Christ’s anticipated second coming.
