About Advent Wreaths

The Advent wreath is one of my favorite ritual elements of this season. Not only do I love the lighting of the candles at church, but I have a wreath at home; we light the candles and read a devotion every Sunday. Technically, the candles do not carry any specific theme. They are a weekly countdown to Christmas in the same way that an Advent calendar is a daily countdown. However, several candle traditions have arisen over the years.

While the word "wreath" evokes an image of greenery, the Advent wreath is a ringed set of four candles. With the lighting of additional candles each Sunday, the light of Christ becomes brighter as we move closer to Christmas Day. On Christmas Day (or Christmas Eve evening), a white Christ candle is placed and lighted in the center of the wreath signifying the light of Christ shining in the world.

Traditionally, the candles in the Advent wreath are purple or blue, with purple symbolic of the royalty of Christ and the penitential nature of the season, and blue is symbolic of the hope of the season. A few churches light only white candles for the season. Often times a rose colored candle is lighted on the third Sunday marking the movement past the half-way point along the Advent journey. This is known as the Gaudette candle, which is Latin for "rejoice."

Even though the candles don't necessarily carry any individual significance, sometimes the candles move people along the Advent story by being known as the Prophet's candle, the Bethlehem candle, the Shepherds' candle, and the Angels' candle. They can also be understood thematically as Hope, Love, Joy, and Peace. It's just fine to come up with your own understanding of the weeks and how the candles in your wreath relate to them.

At our church we are using thematic readings about Hope, Love, Joy, and Peace to fit in with our Advent theme of "Peaceable Kingdom."

Just as Advent calendars are fun for adults and kids alike, Advent wreaths are also a meaningful way for people of all ages to mark the pathway toward Christmas. If you don't have an Advent wreath in your home, they are easily purchased and they are quite affordable. You can buy them through any major religious supplier.

advent's here

I love this photo by Ben Bell. Advent is here and I actually should be in bed resting before worship tomorrow. I'm going to be wasted; I was up late trying to write a sermon that would capture the thoughts rambling around in my head. I won't know until after tomorrow if I succeeded or not. I'm often quite wrong about my sermons - whether they'll connect or not.

Advent is a fave liturgical season for me - much more interesting than Christmas. I wish Protestants wouldn't skip right over the fast of Advent and gorge on the crazy abundance of Christmas. For many of us, Advent is a great reminder to slow the heck down, to find Sabbath again, to rest in God, to remember that Christmas is about the birth of justice and righteousness, to prepare our hearts for God Among Us, to find the quiet center, to savor anticipation, to delight in God's joy, and to labor in God's work.

I love the rituals and songs of Advent, too. I love my Advent calendar. I just got a new one. It's a wooden house with different animals inside. Each day you take out a new animal and hang it on the day's door. At the church I have a manger calendar that's magnetic. Each day supplies a new part of the nativity story. It's great. I also love my Advent wreath. It's smack in the middle of my dining table. I use purple candles; I haven't been able to make the switch to blue. I get that blue symbolizes hope, but I still find meaning in remembering God's dominion over the earth, which is symbolized by the purple.

Happy Advent! I hope we all find a little quiet in the over-commercialized, shopping frenzy that has eaten up the days that used to be Advent. I hope we all find a little bit of the fast that lies at the heart of Advent so that the miracle of Christmas holds some actual meaning. I'm going to bed...