Advent
     Advent begins on the fourth Sunday before Christmas and ends on the day before Christmas. Thus it begins on December 2, 2001 and ends on December 24, 2001.
     In most churches, the decorations are purple or blue; royal colors to welcome the king.
     The general topic of advent is the Second Coming of Jesus Christ. In the west during the Middle Ages, Advent became a time to prepare for the Second Coming, because in those days, many people were convinced that all the signs pointed to the imminent return of Christ. In time, advent spread throughout the western Church and became fixed at its present length. Over the last fifty years, Advent has come to anticipate the Nativity as well. For many people today, especially retailers, Advent is just a ramp up to Christmas. In most churches, the Bible reading and sermons during Advent include prophecies of the birth of Christ, but primarily concern the Second Coming, judgment, and eternal rewards for obedient Christians. Advent consists of the four Sundays preceding Christmas. If 24 December is a Sunday, it is the fourth Sunday in Advent until sundown, when the liturgical day begins, then it is Christmas Eve.

Advent Wreath
     The Advent wreath is a symbol of ongoing life. The word advent, from Latin, means “the coming”. For centuries, Advent has been a time of spiritual reflection as well as cheer and anticipation. Even as the Christmas season has become more secular – with advertisers urging holiday gift-givers to buy and buy some more – Advent still brings joy and the observance of ancient customs. Christian families find quite moments lighting candles in the Advent wreath, and children use Advent calendars to count the days until Christmas.
     Advent wreaths have their origins in the fold traditions of northern Europe, where in the deep of winter people lit candles on wheel shaped bundles of evergreen. Both the evergreen and the circular shape symbolized ongoing life. The candlelight gave comfort at this darkest time of the year, as people looked forward to the longer days of spring.
     Later, Eastern European Christians adopted this practice. By the sixteenth century, they were making Advent wreaths much as we know them today.
     An advent wreath traditionally contains four candles – three purple and one rose. Purple dyes were once so rare and costly that they were associated with royalty; the Roman Catholic Church as long used this color around Christmas and Easter to honor Jesus. The three purple candles in the Advent wreath symbolize hope, peace, and love. These candles are lit on the first, second, and fourth Sundays of Advent. The rose candle, which symbolizes joy is usually lit on the third Sunday.
     Sometimes a fifth candle is placed inside the Advent wreath. This candle is lit on Christmas Day. It is white, the color associated with angles and the birth of Jesus.
     Because advent wreaths are an information celebration, not all are the same. Instead of purple candles, some people use blue, which recalls the color of the night sky before daylight returns. Others use all white candles.
     The Advent wreath is a symbol of watchfulness and increasing joy as the birth of Jesus approaches. The circular form of the wreath symbolizes eternity or life without end. The candles remind us that Jesus is the Light of the World who brought light and life to a dark world (see John 1:4-5). We light a new candle on each of the four Sundays of Advent. As the light grows, so does our anticipation and joy.
     For many denominations, each of the four weekly candles is purple, the traditional color of royalty. For the third Sunday, some denominations use a pink candle to symbolize joy. The other three candles are purple and represent hope, peace and love, respectively. In the center of the wreath is a large white candle – the Christ candle – which we light on Christmas Eve. White represents the purity of Jesus.
     At home, many families observe regular devotional times around the wreath. The practice builds family memories and develops Christmas customs that are likely to pass from generation to generation.

• The circular green wreath symbolizes the everlasting love of God, having no beginning or end. Green represents eternal life.
• The four candles represent the four weeks of Advent. One tradition says that each candle also represents one thousand years.
• They total 4,000 years – the time from Adam and Eve until the birth of Christ.
• Purple, in ancient times, was expensive and was considered the color of royalty and kings. On Christmas, Christ is proclaimed King of Kings. Purple also symbolizes humility and penitence.
• Blue is another color often used as a symbol of royalty. Some churches use blue candles to symbolize the night sky and the anticipation of the announcement of Christ’s birth. Blue also symbolizes the beginning of a new creation as in the waters of Genesis 1.
• The first purple candles signifies Hope.
• The second purple candle stands for Peace.
• The pink candle for the third Sunday symbolizes Joy and signifies the halfway point of Advent.
• The final purple candle is for Love.
• The large white candle in the center is the Christ candle. It’s light symbolizes Christ the Savior – “the light of the world”.
• The beauty and brightness from the flow of all five candles is a reminder that Christ’s life was the light for all earth’s people – “The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness did not overcome it” (John 1:5, NRSV).
   

Advent Calendars
     An advent calendar is a card or poster with twenty four small doors, one to be opened each day from December 1 until Christmas Eve. Each door conceals a picture. This popular tradition arose in Germany in the late 1800s and soon spread throughout Europe and North America. Originally, the images in Advent calendars were derived from the Hebrew Bible.
     Considered a fun way of counting down the days until Christmas, many Advent calendars today have no religious content. Now, alongside traditional Advent calendars depicting angels and biblical figures are those whose doors open to display teddy bears, pieces of chocolate or photos of pop stars.

The Plant of Peace
     For most of us the mention of mistletoe probably brings kissing to mind. But that practice wasn’t the first involving mistletoe.
     Two thousand years before Christ, the ancient Celtic people living in Gaul considered mistletoe to be sacred and medicinal. Druids, the priests of the Celtic tribes, used it in religious ceremonies held in tree groves where mistletoe was found.
     In ancient Scandinavia, enemies, who met by chance beneath mistletoe, laid down their weapons and held a truce until the next day. This practice eventually led to the tradition of kissing under the mistletoe, the “plant of peace.”
     The use of mistletoe has continued throughout the centuries during the Christmas season as a decoration and as a symbol of fun and joy. But its early religious roots and peacemaking qualities are even more significant.

The Roots of Holly
     Like many Christmas traditions and symbols, the use of holly began long before the time of Christ. Thought to be a sacred plant and a good omen, holly was used by the ancient Romans to honor Saturn, their god of the harvests. The festival, Saturnalia, was held annually on December 17. Wreaths and other gifts were exchanged and homes were decorated with holly. During the early years of Christianity, many Roman Christians continued to decorate their homes with holly to avoid detection and persecution. When Christianity became the dominant religion of the Romans, holly continued to be used.
     Its sharp, pointy edged leaves are thought to represent Jesus’ crown of thorns while the red berries represent the blood he shed on the cross. This seems to make holly a suitable decoration for Easter as well as Christmas.

The Origin of the Christmas Tree
     It’s difficult to pinpoint when and why Christians first began to use evergreen trees at Christmastime. There are many legends and myths regarding the origin of Christmas trees. For example, ancient Romans brought greenery into their homes in winter to symbolize life in the midst of bleakness and death.
     German Christians in the early part of the 16th century may have been the first to use evergreen trees during Advent and Christmas. Those trees had no candles on them, but were decorated with items at hand: colored paper, gold foil, apples and dolls. German immigrants brought the custom to America around 1700 when they settled in Pennsylvania.
     Some scholars say that evergreen trees represent Christ, because they, too, are everlasting. Others say that Christmas trees remind us of salvation which came to us through Christ who died on a “tree.” St. Peter wrote: “He [Christ] himself bore our sins in his body on the tree, that we might die to sin and live to righteousness. By his wounds you have been healed” (1 Peter 2:24, RSV).
     The forbidden fruit of the tree in the Garden of Eden, when eaten, brought guilt and death. On the other hand, the “tree” on Calvary was the instrument by which God through Christ ushered in salvation, new life and hope. The Christmas tree can remind us of those wonderful gifts.