ADVENT
Outline • The Liturgical Year • Facts about Advent • Customs and Traditions
The Liturgical Year •
As the earth cycles annually through its seasons, just so the Church celebrates with quiet, deliberate rhythm the seasons of the liturgical year always the same, yet ever new and renewing. - Catholicculture.com
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The Mass admits of limitless levels and layers of understanding. A richness of outward signs points to inward realities of grace; sensible symbols become gateways to the mystical realm. The Church wisely uses externals – words, gestures, and material things we can see, hear and smell – to surround the sacred mysteries that will sanctify her children. - Catholicculture.com
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Annually, through the Proper of Seasons or Temporal Cycle, the Church immerses herself in the whole “mystery of Christ, from the incarnation and birth until the ascension, the day of Pentecost, and the expectation of blessed hope and of the coming of the Lord.” - Vatican II Sacrosanctum Concilium #102
The Liturgical Year • The liturgical cycle divides the year into a series of seasons, each with their own mood, theological emphases, and modes of prayer • These seasons can be signified by • ways of decorating churches • colors of vestments for clergy • scriptural readings • themes for preaching • traditions and practices often observed personally or in the home.
The Liturgical Calendar
Advent •
Advent - from the Latin word “adventus” meaning "coming"
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“Adventus” is the translation of the Greek word “parousia”, commonly used in reference to the Second Coming.
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From the 4th century the season was kept as a period of fasting as strict as that of Lent
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With Advent the ecclesiastical year begins in the Western churches.
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Advent starts on the fourth Sunday before Christmas and ends on the evening of Christmas Eve.
Symbols of Advent • The usual liturgical color in Western Christianity for Advent is purple. The purple color is often used for hangings around the church, on the vestments of the clergy, and often also the tabernacle. • Purple is traditionally associated with solemnity and somberness. It is also the color of Lent. • On the 3rd Sunday of Advent, Gaudete Sunday, rose may be used instead. The Latin Gaude is translated as Rejoice, the first word of the introit of this day's Mass: Rejoice in the Lord always. Again I say, rejoice; let your forbearance be known to all, for the Lord is near at hand; have no anxiety about anything, but in all things, by prayer and supplication, with thanksgiving, let your requests be known to God.
Symbols of Advent •
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Evergreen • Life in the midst of darkness • Eternal life • Immutability Light • Resurrection • Life • Purity • Star Nativity • Birth • Poverty • Frankincense – incense for worship • Myrrh – oil for burial • Gold – royalty • Manger – Bread of life
Advent • Advent is a time to focus on • The Lord's coming into the world as the incarnate God of love • To make our souls fitting abodes for the Redeemer coming in Holy Communion and through grace • To make ourselves ready for His final coming as judge, at death and at the end of the world. • The theme of readings and teachings during Advent is often to prepare for the Second Coming while commemorating the First Coming of Christ at Christmas.
Readings from the First Sunday in Advent •
Is 2:1-5 For from Zion shall go forth instruction, and the word of the LORD from Jerusalem. He shall judge between the nations, and impose terms on many peoples. They shall beat their swords into plowshares and their spears into pruning hooks; one nation shall not raise the sword against another, nor shall they train for war again. O house of Jacob, come, let us walk in the light of the Lord!
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Mt 24:37-44 Jesus said to his disciples: “As it was in the days of Noah, so it will be at the coming of the Son of Man. In those days before the flood, they were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, up to the day that Noah entered the ark. They did not know until the flood came and carried them all away. So will it be also at the coming of the Son of Man. … Therefore, stay awake! For you do not know on which day your Lord will come. …. So too, you also must be prepared, for at an hour you do not expect, the Son of Man will come.”
Customs • •
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Advent Calendar The Advent Manger • Placing straw in a manger for each good act is a wonderful Advent practice for small children. Try using a personal manger for each child, besides the larger family manger. Jesse Tree • Jesse was the father of the great King David of the Old Testament. He is often looked upon as the first person in the genealogy of Jesus. • In Church art a design developed showing the relationship of Jesus with Jesse and other biblical personages. This design showed a branched tree growing from a reclining figure of Jesse. The various branches had pictures of other Old and New Testament figures who were ancestors of Jesus. At the top of the tree were figures of Mary and Jesus. • Give a different ornament each day to your children to add to the tree. Tell them how each ornament relates to Christ.
Customs •
The Advent Wreath • The devotion is usually incorporated during the family meal, or during family night prayers. • Fastened to the wreath are four candles standing upright, at equal distances. These candles represent the four weeks of Advent. Three of the candles are purple, reminding us of the penitential nature of the season. A rose or pink candle is lit for the Third Sunday of Advent, also known as Gaudete (rejoice) Sunday. • The wreath should be in a circle, a symbol of eternity, and a reminder that God has no beginning nor end. The evergreen is a symbol of eternal life and a reminder that God is immutable or unchangeable.
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