Advent

Advent
Jonathunder · CC BY-SA 3.0 · source
Name	Advent
Caption	Advent wreath with candles in a church
Observed by	Catholic Church, Anglican Communion, Lutheranism, Methodism, Eastern Orthodox Church, Presbyterian Church (USA), Oriental Orthodoxy
Type	Liturgical season
Significance	Preparation for Christmas, anticipation of Second Coming, penitential and joyful preparation
Begins	Fourth Sunday before Christmas
Ends	Christmas Eve
Celebrating	Nativity of Jesus
Related	Lent, Christmas season, Epiphany

Advent is the liturgical season observed in many Christian traditions as a time of expectant waiting and preparation for the celebration of the birth of Jesus and anticipation of the Second Coming. It traditionally begins on the fourth Sunday before Christmas and concludes with Christmas Eve, shaping worship, devotional life, and popular customs across diverse contexts such as Rome, Constantinople, Canterbury, and Wittenberg. Advent's development intersects with ecclesiastical reforms, monastic practices, and vernacular devotional movements connected to figures and institutions including Pope Gregory I, the Vatican, St. Ambrose, and the Protestant Reformation.

History and Origins

Early traces of Advent appear in sources from Gaul, Spain, and Rome in the fourth to sixth centuries, where local churches observed fasts and preparatory periods linked to Epiphany and Christmas. By the early Middle Ages, practices associated with St. Martin of Tours and monastic rules from Benedict of Nursia contributed to a more formalized pre-Christmas season. The Carolingian reforms under Charlemagne and liturgical standardization at the Council of Trent influenced the Western observance, while Eastern traditions in Constantinople developed parallel preparatory cycles. The term for the season in vernaculars—from Latin adventus—reflects theological emphases on the "coming" of Christ articulated by theologians such as Augustine of Hippo and later scholastics like Thomas Aquinas.

Liturgical Significance and Observances

Advent shapes lectionaries, collects, and hymnody within liturgical books such as the Roman Missal, Book of Common Prayer, and the Lutheran Book of Worship. Clergy in dioceses overseen by bishops like those of Rome or Canterbury appoint readings that highlight prophetic anticipation from texts including Isaiah and synoptic Gospel passages concerning the Nativity of Jesus and eschatological warnings echoed in the writings of John the Evangelist. Vestment colors—often purple or blue in parishes influenced by Pope Pius V or Thomas Cranmer—signal penitential yet hopeful character, while some Eastern rites under the Ecumenical Patriarchate of Constantinople observe preparatory fasting and distinct liturgies leading toward the Nativity Fast.

Advent Calendar and Popular Traditions

Popular devotional innovations include the Advent calendar, commercialized and popularized in the 19th and 20th centuries in regions such as Germany, England, and United States. The calendar evolved from household practices promoted by figures like Gerhard Lang and institutions such as Lutheran congregations to include images, chocolates, and scriptural reflections used by families and schools associated with dioceses, parish missions, and charitable organizations like those connected to World Vision and Caritas Internationalis. Other customs—wreaths attributed to Johann Hinrich Wichern and candle-lighting ceremonies in civic spaces under municipal authorities—blend ecclesial, social, and commercial spheres in cities like Berlin and New York City.

Symbols, Music, and Devotional Practices

Symbolic elements—Advent wreaths, candles, crowns, and liturgical colors—convey theological motifs adopted by seminaries, cathedral chapters, and devotional societies tied to figures such as Martin Luther and Charles Wesley. Music ranges from plainchant preserved in archives of Westminster Abbey to congregational hymns composed by hymnwriters like Isaac Watts and composers such as Johann Sebastian Bach, whose cantatas and chorales frame Advent themes. Prayer practices include evening vespers, Matins, and offices from monastic traditions maintained in institutions like Westminster Abbey, St. Peter's Basilica, and Mount Athos, as well as contemporary devotional resources produced by publishers associated with Oxford University Press and Cambridge University Press.

Regional and Denominational Variations

Observance varies widely: Roman Catholic Church calendars incorporate penitential customs and Marian emphases; Anglican Communion practice reflects the Book of Common Prayer lectionary and ceremonial. Lutheranism retains scholastic and hymnic emphases from the Reformation era, while Methodist Church traditions highlight evangelical catechesis tied to leaders such as John Wesley. Eastern and Oriental Orthodox Churches maintain related but distinct preparatory periods like the Nativity Fast regulated by patriarchates in Antioch, Alexandria, and Jerusalem. Regional adaptations occur in places such as Latin America, Sub-Saharan Africa, Scandinavia, and Southeast Asia, where indigenous customs, colonial histories, and national churches shape liturgical expression.

Theological Themes and Interpretation

Theological reflection on Advent engages eschatology, Christology, and soteriology through patristic exegesis by writers like Origen, Gregory the Great, and medieval commentators such as Anselm of Canterbury. Themes include watchfulness, repentance, hope, and fulfillment of prophecy, dialoguing with contemporary theologians from Karl Barth to Pope Benedict XVI and ecumenical documents produced by bodies like the World Council of Churches. Advent functions as a liturgical horizon in which historical remembrance of the Incarnation and forward-looking expectation of judgment and consummation intersect within parish catechesis, scholarly theology departments at universities such as Harvard Divinity School and Princeton Theological Seminary, and devotional literature circulated by publishers associated with Tyndale House.

Category:Christian liturgical seasons