CHURCH YEAR/SEASONAL DESCRIPTIONS
Advent
The Church Year begins with the season of Advent.
The season of Advent is four weeks long.
Advent was the last season to be officially added
to the church calendar, in about 600 AD. It was made the first season of the
church year because it begins the story of the events of Christ’s life, death,
and resurrection. Advent always includes four Sundays before Christmas.
Originally, in the Eastern Church, Advent focused on the Annunciation (when the
angels told Mary that she would bear a son-March 25). In the West it came to
concern the first Coming at the Nativity, the future Coming at the end of time,
and the present coming, through grace, to the hearts of men. Thus the themes of
preparation for the coming judgment and of joyful expectation have shaped our
observance of Advent for centuries. Our Advent wreath candles, symbolizing the
coming of the Light of the world, are to remind us of these themes. At Calvary
it has been customary to have one rose-colored candle to symbolize joyful
expectation and three blue candles (Sarum blue, honoring the Virgin Mary who
obediently anticipated the Incarnation) showing unbroken progress toward the
coming of the Light, the one white candle at the center of the wreath lit for
Christmas.
Advent is a time of spiritual preparation, but is
not as penitential a season as Lent. It is a time for calm and thoughtfulness
before the hustle and bustle of preparation for Christmas.
Previous Season: Sundays
after Pentecost
Next Season: Christmas
Proper Preface: The Preface of Advent