A Glimpse of Me

I just wrote my Christmas wish list. Now it’s time for me to grant wishes, especially my family. My boy wants more Thomas and friends for his Thomas and Friends collection. I am buying that one for him. His cousin Joshua’s chair was broken. I am giving him a new chair from Ikea. My sister-in-law likes some kitchen stuff so I bought an onion cutter for her. I wannna send some stuff for my family in the Philippines too. I never sent them though. Everytime they want something, I just send money so they can buy it for themselves. Maybe this time, I’d send some stuff. But of course, I have to find out the cost of shipping boxes. Hubby said it’s not that much. So I’ll probably send some stuff over there for Christmas. Can you tell I am so in the mood for Christmas now?

My fondness of doing and observing Advent is growing by the day. So God-willing, next year… will start doing it. Too late to do it this year as Advent starts on the 4rth Sunday before Christmas. I would definitely love to do this tradition with my family and hopefully, invite Peter’s family for each Advent dinner that I am going to do.

The Advent wreath is a Christian tradition that symbolizes the passage of the four weeks of Advent. It is usually a horizontal evergreen wreath with four or five candles. Beginning with the First Sunday of Advent, the lighting of a candle can be accompanied by a Bible reading and prayers. An additional candle is lit during each subsequent week until, by the last week before Christmas, all four candles are lit. Some Advent wreaths include a fifth, “Christ” candle which can be lit at Christmas. The custom is observed both in family settings and at public church services. (source: wikipedia).

Meaning of Advent candle colors:

The most popular colors for the Advent candles are purple and rose. In the Western church, purple is the historic liturgical color for three of the four Sundays of Advent: once the color associated with royalty, it symbolizes Christ as the “Prince of Peace.” Rose is the color for the Third Sunday of Advent, known as Gaudete Sunday from the Latin word “rejoice.” Gaudete Sunday anticipates the joy of the Christmas celebration, so its color is a mixture of Advent purple and Christmas white. It may also symbolize the color of early dawn.

Other variations of the Advent wreath add a white candle in the center to symbolize Christmas, sometimes known as the “Christ candle.” It can be lit on Christmas Eve or Christmas Day. White is the traditional festal color in the Western church.

Other traditions use only four purple candles because rose vestments and decorations are not commonly used in Protestant churches. Blue is also a popular alternative color both for Advent vestments and the Advent candles, especially in some Anglican and Lutheran churches. Blue is both the color associated with the Virgin Mary and the color of the night sky as it lightens towards dawn. White or red candles can also be used.

In some traditions the first candle is called the prophet’s candle and is meant to signify the hope of Jesus’ coming. The second is called the Bethlehem candle in honor of the city of Christ’s birth. The third candle is the shepherds’ candle. The final candle is the angels’ candle, symbolising the angelic proclamation of joy at Christ’s birth.

More commonly, the candles consecutively symbolize “hope,” “peace,” “joy” and “love.”

More on advent:

Advent Series: 1 – Advent Season

Advent Series: 2 – Advent Candles and Its Colors

Advent Series: 3 – Advent Wreath

When my friends and I were in Ikea last Wednesday, I did a bit of shopping too. My friend was talking about buying candles for Advent. So I asked her how to use the advent candles. And she told me they burn one candle per Sunday which starts on the 4th Sunday before Christmas. Okay… my knowledge of Advent is growing by the minute. I am truly excited. I may not do the special Sunday dinner and observe advent this year… but I’m planning to do it next year.

The colors of the candles vary with different traditions, but there are usually three purple or blue candles, corresponding to the sanctuary colors of Advent, and one pink or rose candle. One of the purple candles is lighted the first Sunday of Advent, a Scripture is read, a short devotional or reading is given, and a prayer offered. On subsequent Sundays, previous candles are relighted with an additional one lighted. The pink candle is usually lighted on the third Sunday of Advent. However, different churches or traditions light the pink candle on different Sundays depending on the symbolism used (see above on Colors of Advent). In Churches that use a Service of the Nativity, it is often lighted on the fourth Sunday of Advent, the final Sunday before Christmas.

In this double focus on past and future, Advent also symbolizes the spiritual journey of individuals and a congregation, as they affirm that Christ has come, that He is present in the world today, and that He will come again in power. That acknowledgment provides a basis for Kingdom ethics, for holy living arising from a profound sense that we live “between the times” and are called to be faithful stewards of what is entrusted to us as God’s people. So, as the church celebrates God’s inbreaking into history in the Incarnation, and anticipates a future consummation to that history for which “all creation is groaning awaiting its redemption,” it also confesses its own responsibility as a people commissioned to “love the Lord your God with all your heart” and to “love your neighbor as yourself.”

Source.

Read also: Advent Series: 1 – Advent Season