Betty, my darling wife, was born and raised in the Episcopal Church. I was raised in a good family, but we didn't go to church much. So, when we got married and decided to go to church, we naturally started going to an Episcopal Church because that was where she felt comfortable and I didn't care one way or the other.
Over the years there was much about the Episcopal Church that I grew to love. There was a lot about the national church political organization that I grew to dislike, but the traditional Episcopal church, with its Anglican and Catholic heritage, had much to love about it.
One of the things I loved was the seasons of the church which originated in the early church and were handed down by the Catholic Church through the Anglican Church of England. These seasons include Advent, Christmas, Epiphany, Lent, Easter, and Pentecost.
They all have something special to add to the growing life of the serious Christian, but the one I enjoyed as much as any is Advent.
Advent comes from the Latin word adventus which means “coming.” Advent is the time of waiting and preparation for the celebration of Jesus’ birth -- his coming. Advent starts the fourth Sunday prior to December 25, the Sunday between November 27 and December 3 inclusive.
There are several traditions associated with Advent.
The first is that purple is the color of Advent. Churches would be decked out in purple and we see that in the Advent wreath (pictured above). There are four candles, three purple and one rose. On each of the Sundays during Advent a new candle is lit with the rose candle being lit on the third Sunday. On Christmas Day these candles are replaced by four white candles.
Another fun tradition is an Advent calendar. These are calendars with a ‘door’ for each day of Advent and there was some kind of picture behind each door of something associated with the season. Our kids would love to open one door a day to help them count down the days to Christmas.
However, my favorite tradition was one unique to our church, St. Thomas Episcopal in Terrace Park, Ohio. Since the purpose of Advent is to await the birth of Jesus, the ladies of the church would put small figures of Mary and Joseph in the rear of the church. Each day of Advent they would move Mary and Joseph a little closer to the front of the church – towards an empty nativity scene. This represented their journey from Nazareth to Bethlehem. On Christmas Eve Mary and Joseph would finally arrive at the nativity scene and, at midnight mass, baby Jesus would be added to the scene.
I guess it’s the little kid in me, but I still love the thought of watching those little figures make their way to the nativity and Jesus arriving just in time.
Happy Advent.
Dan & Betty
5 comments:
The Joseph and Mary figures moving towards the manger and baby Jesus is such a great idea! I remember always having advent calendars with the doors and the little chocolates to eat.
What a neat memory, Dan! I noticed that not only were all the vestments purple this morning at Mass, but all the grandmas (is that p.c.?) were wearing purple. It was lovely~
Isn't purple the color of royalty? Mark and I began our life with Christ in a Lutheran Church, so we celebrated the church seasons too. We still do the advent wreath and evening readings around a candle. It helps keep the focus on Jesus instead of all the commercialism.
Thanks Dan and Betty for you Sunday Reflections, they are always a real blessing.
Dan, that sounds like a really neat tradition. I can imagine how exciting that was for all the children. What a great visual.
I so enjoyed reading about your memories growing up involving Christmas traditions. My kidlets have several Advent calendars here. They are in the shape of Christmas Trees with little boxes filled with Chocolate coins.
We also have a less traditional one, but one that is dear to us that is a cloth calander with a little stuffed mouse that travels each day to individual pockets that lead up to Christmas Day.
I've had this little Advent Calendar for more than 15 years.
Great post, Dan.
~Lisa
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