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Guide to a Holy Advent

 

How do we prepare our hearts and our minds for the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ? It can be hard to do in a world that has already hung out all its Christmas decorations. Christmas music blares in every grocery store, the streets are already lit up for the holidays, and plenty of people already have their trees up. Keeping a holy Advent can make you feel “out of step” with the rest of the world – and it should! As Christians we are in fact out of step with the world, because we live by the Church’s rhythms and seasons, not the world’s, and being reminded of that can be a good thing.

 

But it can also be a hard thing. That’s why it’s important for us to embrace the full richness of Advent. Advent is not the absence of Christmas; it is the presence of spiritual preparation, peace, and intentionality. While the world is full of frenetic preparations and holiday parties and celebrations and greenery, we sit in quiet. Our altars are bare, our music somber. These surroundings encourage the introspection and reflection that are central to keeping a holy Advent.

 

In Advent, we are not just preparing for the birth of Jesus. Our Lord’s first coming into the world is the focus of Christmastide; in Advent, our focus is on the second coming of Jesus into the world. Advent is when we call to mind and prepare for his coming “with power and great glory” (Matt. 24:30). So for us in the Church, Advent is a time of great solemnity and reverence. We see the joy of Christmas ahead of us, just as we see the joy of our Lord’s Second Coming, but we inhabit the time of “not yet,” the time of preparation, of waiting, and of stillness.

 

Below are six ways to keep a holy Advent in your parish and your home, so that you can fill your soul with spiritual riches in this blessed season.

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1. Advent Wreaths

​​​​​​Advent Wreaths are one of the most common ways that the church

marks the passage of the days and weeks in Advent. Each Sunday,

a different candle is lit, to observe the four Sundays of Advent.

​You can buy forms for Advent wreaths online, but you can also

put together your own pretty easily. Any wreath will do – it can be

made of anything you like.​​​​ All you need to do to make it an Advent

wreath is set it on a table and evenly distribute four candle-holders

around (or in) the wreath.

 

Each Sunday of Advent, another candle is lit on the wreath, until on the Fourth Sunday of Advent, all are lighted. Some people place a pillar candle in the center that is lit on Christmas Eve. You might find that lighting the Advent wreath at the start of each week is a helpful family devotion, maybe on the Saturday evening. Combining lighting the wreath with Evening Prayer or with Compline is a lovely custom. Many families place their Advent wreath on the kitchen table or other place where the family regularly gathers to eat together, and then burn the candles throughout the week.

 

What color should your Advent candles be? There are two liturgical colors associated with Advent. Traditionally, the liturgical color of Advent is violet, like Lent. Both Advent and Lent are seasons of fasting and penitence, and though people often want to see Advent as a “lighter” season than Lent, historically and in practice it has not been. Advent is our “Autumn Lent,” the counterpart of our “Winter Lent” before Easter. Most often, Advent candles are purple, with one exception! You will notice that there is one pink candle. The Third Sunday of Advent is traditionally “Rose Sunday,” a time when our dark purples lighten for a little bit as we joyfully anticipate the coming feast of Christmas. So that’s why sets of Advent candles will have a pink candle for the Third Sunday.

 

In recent years, many churches in the Anglican Communion have embraced a dark blue for Advent. This is meaningful for two reasons. Blue is the color of Our Lady the Virgin Mary, and during Advent we especially call her to mind as with her we await the coming of our Lord. Blue is also helpful for those who wish to differentiate between our two fasting seasons of Advent and Lent, and to emphasize the special character of each. For those who keep a “blue Advent,” it is most appropriate to have simple white candles in the Advent wreath.

 

So which color is correct? Both are fine! Liturgical colors are simply an aid to our devotion, intended to lead us into the proper frame of mind for worship, and as long as your Advent colors are appropriately somber, you should choose whichever resonates most with you.

 

Service for the Blessing of Advent Wreath (in home or church)

 

V. Our help is in the name of the Lord.
R. The maker of heaven and earth.

 

A Reading from the Book of the Prophet Isaiah

 

The people who walked in darkness
   have seen a great light;
those who lived in a land of deep darkness—
   on them light has shined.

For a child has been born for us,
   a son given to us;
authority rests upon his shoulders,
   and he is named
Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God,
   Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.
Great will be his authority,
   and there shall be endless peace
for the throne of David and his kingdom.
   He will establish and uphold it
with justice and with righteousness
   from this time onward and forevermore.
The zeal of the Lord of hosts will do this.

 

Lector: The Word of the Lord.

People: Thanks be to God.

 

Leader: Let us pray.

Lord our God, we praise you for your Son, Jesus Christ: he is Emmanuel, the hope of the peoples, the wisdom that teaches and guides us, the Savior of every nation. Lord God, let your blessing come upon us as we light the candles of this wreath. May the wreath and its light be a sign of Christ’s promise to bring salvation to all that he has created, and to every people and nation. May he come quickly and not delay. 

We ask this through Christ our Lord. Amen.

 

(The blessing may conclude with the singing of a verse from O Come, O Come, Emmanuel.)

 

O come, desire of nations, bind
in one the hearts of humankind;
bid every sad division cease
and be thyself our Prince of peace.
Rejoice! Rejoice! Emmanuel
shall come to thee, O Israel.

 

Our Book of Occasional Services has some suggested readings for the lighting of the wreath each week:

 

Week of 1 Advent

Keep awake therefore, for you do not know on what day your Lord is coming. But understand this: if the owner of the house had known in what part of the night the thief was coming, he would have stayed awake and would not have let his house be broken into. Therefore you also must be ready, for the Son of Man is coming at an unexpected hour.

(Matthew 24:42–44)

 

Week of 2 Advent

The word of God came to John son of Zechariah in the wilderness. He went into all the region around the Jordan, proclaiming a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins, as it is written in the book of the words of the prophet Isaiah, “The voice of one crying out in the wilderness: ‘Prepare the way of the Lord, make his paths straight. Every valley shall be filled, and every mountain and hill shall be made low, and the crooked shall be made straight, and the rough ways made smooth; and all flesh shall see the salvation of God.’” (Luke 3:2b–6)

 

Week of 3 Advent

As the people were filled with expectation, and all were questioning in their hearts concerning John, whether he might be the Messiah, John answered all of them by saying, “I baptize you with water; but one who is more powerful than I is coming; I am not worthy to untie the thong of his sandals. He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire.”

(Luke 3:15–16)

 

Week of 4 Advent

In those days Mary set out and went with haste to a Judean town in the hill country, where she entered the house of Zechariah and greeted Elizabeth. When Elizabeth heard Mary’s greeting, the child leaped in her womb. And Elizabeth was filled with the Holy Spirit and exclaimed with

a loud cry, “Blessed are you among women, and blessed is the fruit of your womb.” (Luke 1:39–42)

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     2. Christmas Crèche (Manger scene)

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In Church, we won’t assemble and bless our crèche until Christmas Eve, but there is no reason you can’t put yours up earlier in your home. For those who put up their crèche during Advent, it is the custom to set aside the figure of the Infant Jesus until Christmas Eve, when he is ceremoniously placed in the manger. (You might want to make a note of where you put it – many is the Christmas Eve I have been frantically emptying drawers trying to remember what I did with Jesus!)

 

Placing the crèche in a spot in your home where you will be able to see it throughout Advent and be inspired to pray near it is a good idea. Consider setting some candles around the crèche and creating a devotional focus there.

 

We will have some manger scenes set up in the Parish Hall this Advent so we can admire some of the beautiful sets our parishioners have collected through the years.

 

 

     3. Christmas Tree and Decorations

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While we don’t “green” our church until Christmas Eve, there is nothing

wrong with anticipating the feast by enjoying decorations during Advent

in your home. It’s true there are lots of traditional Episcopal households

that don’t decorate until Christmas Eve, and some of those households

even follow the medieval English custom of keeping the greens up until

the Feast of the Presentation on February 2.

 

But just like with Advent wreaths and liturgical colors,

there’s not a right or a wrong here. It’s important to follow the custom

that leads to your spiritual peace and joy. However, it’s a good idea to wait at least until the beginning of Advent to put up Christmas decorations; we are not celebrating the generic “holidays” but a specifically Christian feast, so when possible we try to follow the rhythms of the Church’s calendar, not the world’s.

 

Tying our decorations to the feast of a saint is a great idea. Advent has some fantastic saints! The Feast of St. Nicholas falls on December 6. If you have children, it’s fun to get them to set their shoes out the night before and fill their shoes with treats and goodies. Tell them the story of St. Nicholas! We can teach our children that while there may not be a fat man in a red suit who lives at the North Pole, St. Nicholas is very real, and his spiritual gift on earth was the giving of gifts to those in need. It’s because of the gift-giving associated with St. Nicholas that Christmas (just 19 days away) also became associated with gift-giving. Choosing to decorate your home on St. Nicholas’ Day is a beautiful reminder of the linkage between the two feasts.

 

St. Lucy is another wonderful Advent saint. Some families do a “lights up for Lucy,” and while they might decorate beforehand, they don’t turn on the lights on their tree until St. Lucy’s Day on the 13th of December.

 

Advent is full of saints whom you might want to incorporate into your celebrations. In addition to St. Nicholas and St. Lucy, there is St. Andrew on November 30 (which often falls in Advent), St. Ambrose on December 7, and St. Thomas the Apostle on December 21. For those of Hispanic heritage or those especially devoted to the Virgin, the Feast of Our Lady of Guadalupe falls on December 8 – a beautiful feast to remember in this season of awaiting our Lord’s birth.

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     4. Advent Devotions

 

Many people find special devotions helpful to keeping a holy Advent. Advent is an excellent time to intensify your prayer life. Not only is this the season for doing a kind of spiritual inventory and seeing where you are, but it is also the start of the Church’s year. Nothing like starting the year off on the right foot!

 

One possible devotion is to read a chapter of the Gospel each day of Advent. The Gospel of Luke has 24 chapters. Since Advent this year has 25 days (November 30-December 24), you might consider reading a chapter a day throughout Advent, and setting aside Christmas Eve to reflect on the Gospel as a whole.  

 

There are special Advent booklets to assist you with devotions, and we will be offering one from Living Compass that you might find helpful. This book is available in the narthex of the church if you would like a hard copy, or you can download a free PDF if you prefer.

 

If you have never tried praying Morning and Evening Prayer, Advent is a great time to start! If you are unsure how to begin, pop in for Zoom Morning Prayer Monday-Friday at 8:30 to see how the Office is structured. You can also learn about how the Office works and pray it through by following a guide online. Forward Movement has one that is straightforward and easy to follow.

 

If you are just beginning to dip your toe in the water of the Daily Office, you can’t do better than starting with Compline (Book of Common Prayer page 127). If you don't have a BCP, you can always use an online version. Compline is the shortest of the Church’s daily prayers, with the fewest number of variables. Traditionally, Compline is said right before bed, so you might find that praying Compline is a peaceful way to end your day, either individually or with your family.

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     5. Advent Programs

 

 

                                                                                             Many parishes will have special programs during Advent,

                                                                                             much like the programs during Lent. These are meant to

                                                                                             remind us that Advent is a time of preparation and 

                                                                                             renewed spiritual intensity, and also to remind us that we

                                                                                             are all in this together. As we are renewed spiritually, 

                                                                                             we seek the fellowship and guidance of our community,

                                                                                              because we are one body, and members one of another.

                                                                                              (Romans 12:5)

 

You can read more about this year's Advent Program here. ​

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     6. Advent Fasting

 

Finally, the “F” word. Advent is at its root a season of fasting and penitence, but just like with Lent, that doesn’t mean it’s a time of long faces and doom and gloom. As Christians, all our fasting is joyful, because we are bathed in the light of the Resurrection, and we know that Christ’s coming is assured. We fast for periods of time to help us in our spiritual growth.

 

Fasting can look different for different people. In the ancient tradition of the Church, fasting meant abstaining from eating all animal products – butter, milk, meat, cheese, and eggs. Wine and olive oil was often restricted too. Over the centuries, this stringent fasting was relaxed, but the point of that kind of fasting was never punitive. By abstaining from animal products, Christians reminded themselves of the way that Adam and Eve ate in the Garden of Eden, doing no harm to any living thing. Christian fasting is always about a return to that gentle state of being, a time when we lived in harmony with all creation – a harmony that we are called to in the new creation as well.

 

Often people try a kind of middle ground of fasting – abstaining from meat for instance. Or they might try abstaining from sugar or sweets, or alcohol, or any other food that has come to dominate their lives. Fasting can be a way of gently loosening the grip of whatever has dominion over us, and offering that dominion instead to our loving Creator.  

 

Many people find that the intentionality of thinking about what we put in our mouths is a spiritual aid. It’s a daily reminder that we are living in a season when we try to consecrate ourselves to God completely, body and soul. For other people, fasting is not a helpful spiritual aid, and in the Episcopal Church we encourage everyone to find what works for them. There is a saying about going to confession that applies equally to fasting: “All may; none must; some should!”

 

If you have any questions about healthy fasting practices, it’s always best to ask a trusted spiritual guide, whether that’s your parish priest or someone else.

 

Most of all, I hope you take from this guide the truth that there is no one right way to keep a holy Advent. Our tradition spreads a rich feast of choices in front of us, and we might find some of these options helpful and some of them not. It’s always a good idea to start small. If you have never kept Advent before, you don’t have to do everything all at once! And in fact, you should not. Find one or two practices that speak to you, and really give yourself to those. Try them on and see how they feel. Our journey of faith is a marathon, not a sprint, and it’s far better to move slowly and with intention than to rush in. This is, after all, the season of waiting and of listening. So listen to where your Lord is calling you. If you don’t know where to start, start with prayer. Above all else, commit to deepening your prayer life this Advent, and the God of hope will fill you “with all joy and peace in believing through the power of the Holy Spirit.” (Romans 15:13)