Advent Traditions

While it is definitely not the pageantry of this season that brings true joy, nevertheless there are some practices that we as individuals and the church as a whole can embrace, which can help to foster this joy during this season.  Here are some brief explanations of some very common Advent practices.  

The Color Purple

In liturgical churches, the color purple symbolizes preparation and penitence, so you will see the color purple being used in our church and in many others during the season of Advent. The color reminds us that as we wait for Jesus to come again and to judge the world with righteousness and truth, we are called to prepare ourselves to meet the Lord, and that means looking into our hearts and asking God for transformation and renewal.  As the traditional first Sunday in Advent Collect says, 

Almighty God, give us grace to cast away the works of darkness, and put on the armor of light, now in the time of this mortal life in which your Son Jesus Christ came to visit us in great humility.

So as we come into our worship space each week and go about our lives during the rest of the week, we are called to find spaces of self-reflection.  Let the color purple remind us of this, for only as we are real with ourselves and real with the Lord can we find that deep and abiding joy that God would like to give to us.   

Also, consider decorating your house in purple this year. My tradition over the last few years has been to decorate my home with purple (i.e., tablecloth, placemats, Christmas ball ornaments, etc.) and to switch over to the traditional greens and reds of Christmas after the third Sunday of Advent when we highlight the joy of this season.

The Advent Wreath, Advent Spiral, and Christmas Lights

The traditional Advent wreath is in a circle, which symbolizes God’s eternity.  Each Sunday in Advent, we light a new candle.  This progressive lighting represents the great Light that has dawned in the land of darkness (Isaiah 9). It symbolizes our hope and our waiting for the coming of Christ – both for the celebration of His birth and His Second Coming.  Three of the candles are in the traditional penitential purple, but the fourth candle, which we light on the third week, is pink and represents joy.  All of the candles symbolize one of the virtues that God awakens in us: hope, love, joy, and peace.  As for the middle candle which is white, it is the Christ candle, which is lit on Christmas Eve and symbolizes that the Light of the World has come.

In recent years, some people have also taken up lighting an Advent spiral. Instead of lighting a candle each Sunday, one lights a candle each day in December.  The progressive lighting marks time just as an Advent Calendar does and again reminds us of Jesus, the Light that is dawning in the darkness of our world.  The lighting of the candle each day often corresponds with our time for daily prayer and devotions, either as a family or as an individual.

Much like the candles we light on Advent wreaths, the lights we put up on our trees and our houses also represent the Light of Jesus coming into this world of darkness.

So as we light the candles in our Advent wreaths at church and at home this year or as we appreciate the Christmas lights all around us, let us remember Jesus the true Light of the World who is the source of our salvation and joy.

Lessons and Carols 

The Anglican Lessons and Carols Service is a traditional service that churches hold sometime in December (either in Advent or Christmas).   This service features reading of Scriptures and singing of Advent and Christmas Carols.  The Scriptures and music take us through Creation, Fall, the Call of Israel, the Waiting for a Messiah, and the pregnancy of Mary (and all the other wondrous events that go with that).  Through this service, we are reminded of God’s faithfulness over the millennia as we prepare to celebrate the birth of Jesus and as we wait for Jesus to come again to bring peace and justice into this world.  

The Jesse Tree

The Jesse tree serves a similar purpose as the Lessons and Carols but it is generally a practice that is done at home with the family.  Each day, usually starting on December 1st, children and adults with child-like imaginations read an Old Testament story and hang an ornament on a Jesse tree, which symbolizes the shoot that arose out of the stump of Jesse (Isaiah 11:1), which of course was Jesus.  Like the Lessons and Carols, the Scriptures take us through Creation, Fall, the Call of Israel, the Waiting for the Messiah, and the pregnancy of Mary, but it spends most of its time in the Old Testament since there are 25 days to reflect on these stories of God’s faithfulness throughout time.   As we reflect on this faithfulness, the true joy of the season arises in our hearts as we remember God’s love and promises.

Nativity/Manger Scene/Creche (Crib)

The word Nativity is derived from the Latin word “natal”, which means birth. Credit for the first Nativity scene is given to St. Francis of Assisi where he staged a living Nativity in Greccio, Italy in 1223 AD. Since that time, believers around the world have set up stationary and living Nativities during the seasons of Advent and Christmas to represent Mary, Joseph, the baby Jesus, and the others who would come to pay homage to Jesus over the first two years of his life. Families who set up a Nativity in their homes sometimes put all the figurines in place at the same time; others wait and add new pieces to the scene each week to reflect the waiting nature of Advent and to represent the journeys of Mary and Joseph, the Magi, and the shepherds. Jesus is placed in the center of scene on Christmas Eve, when we celebrate his birth.