Advent thoughts and info (UPDATED)

It’s never too late – you can still put an Advent Wreath together and have it ready for the Second Sunday this weekend! (Remember, the rose colored candle is lit on the THIRD Sunday – symbolizing Joy and Refreshment!)

If you got caught by surprise last Sunday and thought, “ah, well, Advent has begun and I didn’t get the candles…there is always next year,” I’m here to tell you, you needn’t feel cheated. My neighbor ran out and found three purple votives and a rose colored one, put them on a pretty plate with a sprig of holly and some pinecones, and it looks pretty nice.

What’s the point, my non-Catholic pals ask? Why bother?

Well…the point is – you do a little thing like this to mark time and take yourself our of the ordinary – out of “ordinary time” itself, within the liturgical calendar – but also to note that these are not empty sorts of “everyday” days, but days of expectation, and of looking forward. You light a candle, you sing a hymn and perhaps read a bit of Isaiah – it is a warm practice, a touch of ritual, and a cozy sort of consolation – the promise of comfort and joy.

In our house Advent usually begins with a bit of foot-dragging by my husband and children. I make them gather around the table and they say, “the game is on!” or “WHY do we have to do this,” and they roll their eyes as, having lighted the candle, I insist that we hold hands and sing the ancient hymn, “O Come, O Come Emmanu-el, and ransom captive Israel…” But by the time we’ve finished singing, and Buster has read the short verse I’ve selected, and our Thanksgiving has been made, they are more into it, and each day they become less self-conscious. Each night the candle is lit again, at sundown, as a reminder in these shorter days, that a light shines in the darkness, and the darkness does not overcome it. It remains lighted through the evening meal and is then extinguished (it’s gotta last four weeks, after all…)

Using an Advent Wreath is a small thing, but it can bring a too-busy day to a gentle close, and it helps us to not lose sight of what Christmas is bringing.

How to Make and Use an Advent Wreath
Prayers and Customs
UPDATE: Rudy from Colorado provides an excellent link to some particularly nice daily meditations for Advent, with a Marian and “women of the OT” sort of twist to it. You can use it as a sort of daily “Advent Calendar,” starting at day ONE, tomorrow and then using it daily to day 25. It contains the gorgeous ancient O Antiphons which the church uses for Vespers in the last season of Advent. Worth checking out!