{"id":3324,"date":"2015-11-29T16:12:54","date_gmt":"2015-11-29T22:12:54","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/admin.patheos.com\/blogs\/janetheactuary\/?p=3324"},"modified":"2015-11-29T16:12:54","modified_gmt":"2015-11-29T22:12:54","slug":"wanted-an-adventskranz","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/janetheactuary\/2015\/11\/wanted-an-adventskranz.html","title":{"rendered":"Wanted: an adventskranz"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<\/head>

Yes, sure, in the United States, there are advent wreaths. \u00a0I bought one from a religious bookstore many years ago \u2014 a resin circular candleholder with a celtic design, like this:<\/p>\n

\"celtic-advent-wreath-candles-included-3001776\"<\/a><\/p>\n

now available online at TheCatholicCompany.com<\/a>, and it\u2019s fine as far as it goes, but it\u2019s not the same as in Germany, where a typical wreath looked something like this:<\/p>\n

\"adventskranz-600x401\"<\/a><\/p>\n

(image from weinachtsgeschenke2014.com<\/a>) that is, with greenery \u2014 and, here\u2019s the kicker, you don\u2019t have to go to a religious good store, but you pick it up at Obi (the German equivalent to The Home Depot), right next to the other greenery and seasonal decoration. \u00a0What\u2019s more, in our experience, an advent wreath was a part of the public decorations, along with the tree, the Christkindlmarkt, and the Christkind herself (because the \u201cChristkind\u201d is not, as you\u2019d expect, the Baby Jesus, but more of an angel-figure).<\/p>\n

And what do we have in the U.S.? \u00a0Even among Americans who wish, in decorating their own homes, to express a specifically Christian sentiment, there are few options other than ticky-tacky inflatable nativity sets. \u00a0There are bows and ribbons and candy canes and lights, of course, and a thousand variants on Santa Claus figures. \u00a0The people in Rolling Meadows, our neighbor community, have adopted a tradition of displaying a cross with white lights at Christmastime, which speaks to a desire for a Christian symbol, but a cross at Christmas is also a bit out of place.<\/p>\n

Incidentally, according to Wikipedia<\/a> and other sources, the advent wreath is a comparatively new innovation, and once counted down not just weeks but days, much like the advent calendar, before being simplified into marking the Sundays only.<\/p>\n

Research by Prof. Haemig of Luther Seminary, St. Paul, points to Johann Hinrich Wichern (1808\u20131881), a Protestant pastor in Germany and a pioneer in urban mission work among the poor as the inventor of the modern Advent wreath in the 19th century.[9] During Advent, children at the mission school Rauhes Haus, founded by Wichern in Hamburg, would ask daily if Christmas had arrived. In 1839, he built a large wooden ring (made out of an old cartwheel) with 20 small red and 4 large white candles. A small candle was lit successively every weekday during Advent. On Sundays, a large white candle was lit. The custom gained ground among Protestant churches in Germany and evolved into the smaller wreath with four or five candles known today. Roman Catholics in Germany began to adopt the custom in the 1920s, and in the 1930s it spread to North America.[10] Professor Haemig\u2019s research also indicates that the custom did not reach the United States until the 1930s, even among German Lutheran immigrants.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Of course, it may be that if the advent wreath had come into common use, it might have been secularized just as much as other Christmas traditions \u2014 but marking the four preceding Sundays, rather than beginning at Thanksgiving or December 1st, still serves as a reminder that the weeks before Christmas are, to Christians, Advent, rather than just Shopping Season.<\/p>\n

Hmmm. . . maybe next year I\u2019ll suggest that the Boy Scouts add a green advent wreath to their wares in their annual wreath sales!<\/p>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Yes, sure, in the United States, there are advent wreaths. \u00a0I bought one from a religious bookstore many years ago \u2014 a resin circular candleholder with a celtic design, like this: now available online at TheCatholicCompany.com, and it\u2019s fine as far as it goes, but it\u2019s not the same as in Germany, where a typical […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2209,"featured_media":3326,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-3324","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"yoast_head":"\nWanted: an adventskranz<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Yes, sure, in the United States, there are advent wreaths. \u00a0I bought one from a religious bookstore many years ago -- a resin circular candleholder with a\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, 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