ADVENT

Last Updated on November 29, 2024 by web manager

The name “Advent” comes from the Latin word adventus which means a coming or an arrival. Thus during Advent we prepare to celebrate once again our blessed Lord’s first coming when He was born in Bethlehem. At the same time, we also look forward to His second coming in glory at the end of time when He will come to judge the heavens and the Earth.

To prepare for these things, our observance of Advent should include some extra prayer time and reflection. One example, is we should have an advent wreath at home and say the wreath prayer at the main meal each day. We should also include acts of renunciation such as fasting and almsgiving. Finally, it should include a heartfelt renunciation of sin and a worthy confession.

As we make our way through the Advent Season, the Church helps us with the prayers and readings she presents to us in the Mass and the Divine Office. Each Sunday gospel reading has a distinctive theme: the Lord’s corning at the end of time on the First Sunday of Advent, Saint John the Baptist on the Second and Third Sundays, and the events that immediately precede the Lord’s birth on the Fourth Sunday (which, for obvious reasons, gives this Sunday a distinctive Marian theme). The Old Testament readings are prophecies about the Messiah and the Messianic age. Most are taken from the Book of the Prophet Isaiah. The second readings serve as exhortations and as proclamations, in keeping with the different themes of Advent. The weekday readings are divided into those to be used from the beginning of Advent until the 16th of December and those to be used in the late Advent Season (during the last seven days from the 17th to the 24th of December).

The liturgical color for Advent is purple, just like Lent – as both are seasons that prepare us for great feast days. Also Advent (like Lent) includes an element of penance in the sense of preparing, quieting and disciplining our hearts for the full joy of Christmas. The color purple expresses this penitential theme. So too does the restrained manner of decorating the church and the altar. In fact, the Church tells us that “During Advent the floral decoration of the altar should be marked by a moderation suited to the character of this time of year, without expressing in anticipation the full joy of the Nativity of the Lord…[also] the use of the organ and other musical instruments should be marked by a [similar] moderation…”

That said, the third Sunday of Advent differs from the rest of Advent. It is called “Gaudete Sunday ”(the word Gaudete coming from the first word of the Latin Entrance Antiphon for this day. It is a command and means “All you Rejoice”) . On this day, the liturgical color may be rose instead of purple – this is also the day on which the Rose colored candle on the Advent Wreath is to be lit. This day is the Church’s way of further heightening our expectation as we draw ever nearer to the Solemnity of Christmas.

In the Liturgy of the Hours, we find the “O Antiphons.” These are used at Vespers (Evening Prayer) on the final seven days of Advent. Each of them invokes Christ using one of His titles found in the Sacred Scriptures. The antiphons in Latin with an English translation of Christ’s titles are as follows:

December 17th : O Sapientia (O Wisdom)
December 18th : O Adonai (O Lord)
December 19th : O Radix Jesse (O Root of Jesse)
December 20th : O Clavis David (O Key of David)
December 21st : O Oriens (O Dayspring/Morning Star)
December 22nd : O Rex Gentium (O King of the Nations)
December 23rd : O Emmanuel (O God With Us)