The first Sunday in Advent

Lighting the first purple candle of the Advent wreath marks the beginning of the season, whether within a church service or in a home celebration. Use of an Advent wreath to signify the four Sundays preceding Christmas has been recorded since the Middle Ages. It’s a simple, but powerful, tradition shared by Western Christians, both Protestant and Catholic.

The wreath itself traditionally consists of a circle of evergreen branches, placed or wired together. Evergreens are beloved for their fragrance and, more importantly, they signify enduring life. Of course, any frame for holding candles can be used. These days, it’s common to see Advent wreaths in modern designs including geometrical wooden shapes. Our family uses an oval wreath made of brass leaves, into which I weave evergreen cuttings.

The candles, though, are the most important symbols. Within the wreath should stand three purple candles, lit on the 1st, 2nd, and 4th Sundays. The fourth candle, rose-colored (pink), will be lit on the 3rd Sunday, called Rejoice Sunday (Gaudate). The progressive lighting of these candles signifies our hope in the coming of the Messiah. Finally, a white candle placed in the center (the Christ candle) is lit either on Christmas Eve or Christmas Day. The white candle announces, visibly, that the Christ Child has arrived.

You can find countless videos online showing how to make an Advent wreath. Some will propose other colors for the candles, omit the Christ candle, or come up with new designs. But if you’re observing Advent as preparation for the coming of Christ, we recommend sticking with the traditional shapes and colors if at all possible. In fact, in all of these essays through Advent, I will be focusing on the value of traditions—learning them and keeping them.

Since beginning this calendar a number of years ago, I’ve thought increasingly about the importance of keeping traditions. Each time we sing songs, draw pictures, decorate cookies, or set up an Advent wreath, we recreate our traditions through the arts. The arts give us immediate ways to pass traditions on to our children. They remind us of the reasons behind the traditions, and of our ancestors who kept them. Traditions encourage actions and symbols that draw a family closer.

So Advent is not really about the wreath itself. Nor is it about the color of the candles. Instead, the wreath, with its sequential lighting of candles, becomes a tangible object that helps move us through Advent in a purposeful way. It ensures a regular opportunity to focus on, and guide our families through, a long, reflective season anticipating Christ’s birth.

And it all starts with the lighting of the first candle of the Advent wreath. Over time, traditions have developed in Western culture regarding what may be said and done at the lighting of each candle. These traditions honor the status of each member of the family and employ the beauty of language. When initially lighting the Advent wreath at home, the father blesses it with a prayer, after which the youngest child lights the first candle. (Other family members have roles to play in the weeks to come.)

Your church may have a traditional prayer for this occasion, like one of these. 

O God, by whose word all things are sanctified, pour forth Thy blessing upon this wreath, and grant that we who use it may prepare our hearts for the coming of Christ and may receive from Thee abundant graces. Who livest and reignest forever. Amen.

or,

Almighty God, give us grace that we may cast away the works of darkness, and put upon us the armor of light, now in the time of this mortal life, in which thy Son Jesus Christ came to visit us in great humility; that in the last day, when he shall come again in his glorious majesty to judge both the quick and the dead, we may rise to the life immortal, through him who liveth and reigneth with thee and the Holy Ghost, now and ever. Amen.

The lighting of the candle and a prayer can be followed by a reading, such as Isaiah 2:1-5. Or you may you may ask someone present to offer a personal meditation or sing together a song or hymn.

Most importantly, within a very few minutes, you and your family have officially, and concretely, begun a precious journey through Advent. May these daily essays be a blessing as you continue that journey.

Image: Advent Wreath, Christine McIntosh (CC BY-ND 2.0)