Taken from Good Tidings of Great Joy: An Advent Celebration of the Savior's Birth, 16-17.
For other Christmas ideas, see the page "Preparing for Christmas"
“When I was very young and living in East Germany, Christmas in our family began four weeks before Christmas Eve with the beginning of Advent. We made a fresh cut wreath from a fur or a spruce and put four candles on top of it and placed it on our kitchen table. On the fourth Sunday before Christmas, we lit the first candle. Then each night until Christmas, my family gathered around the table and sang Christmas songs and listened to Christmas stories. . . . Advent was a time of anticipation and hope and it brought a special feeling into our humble home as we prepared for something holy and beautiful. Each Sunday we lit one additional candle, by the fourth Sunday our expectations for the coming joyous events had reached their peak." (Dieter F. Uchtdorf, address delivered at First Presidency’s Christmas Devotional, Salt Lake City, December 2008, transcription of audio; available at http://lds.org/library/display/0,4945,8450-1-4729-1,00.html)
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Giotto Bondone, The Nativity (Wikimedia Commons) |
Advent was originally a solemn, preparatory period before
newly converted Christians were baptized on January 6. That day was selected
for such baptisms because it was the day, particularly in the East, that
commemorated Jesus' own baptism. Perhaps because of that date's proximity to
Christmas, Pope Gregory the Great (A.D. 590-604) later established Advent as a
period of preparation anticipating the Feast of the Nativity, a period that he
set as beginning on the fourth Sunday before Christmas. While the Reformation
later led some Protestants to stop observing Advent, Martin Luther, who loved
the Christmas season, felt that it was still a useful way of teaching children
and families more about the importance of the coming of the Babe of Bethlehem.
As a result, Advent continued to be particularly important in Germany, from
where many of its customs have spread.
In the German tradition, Advent is often anticipated by the strains of Wachet auf, ruft uns die Stimme, a Lutheran hymn composed by Philipp Nicolai in 1598
that is based upon the Parable of the Ten Virgins found in Matthew 25:1–13. The idea is that as we move
into the Advent season, we should be like the five wise virgins, who are
prepared and watching with lamps trimmed. Perhaps its most famous setting is by Johann Sebastian Bach, whose cantata featuring it was first performed on November 27, 1731 on Trinity XVII, the last Sunday of the liturgical year right before Advent.
An English translation of its lyrics include the
following lines:
Awake, calls the voice to us of the watchmen high up in the tower;Awake, you city of Jerusalem.Midnight the hour is named; they call to us with bright voices;Where are you, wise virgins?Indeed, the Bridegroom comes; rise up and take your lamps,Alleluia!Make yourselves ready for the wedding, you must go to meet Him.


Traditionally the four candles of an Advent wreath are
purple, the color of royalty, although one is sometimes pink or rose-colored.
We decided to include the central, white candle in our wreath, which we light
on Christmas Eve and again on Christmas Day. Each Sunday before Christmas an
additional candle is lit, creating a beautiful stepped-effect as the previous
weeks' candles burn down farther. After lighting each candle, we take turns
reading scriptures that illustrate Advent themes, which we draw from the Book
of Mormon as well as from the Old and New Testaments. After singing a carol, we
have family prayer and then proceed to more fun traditions, like opening the
day's pocket in our Advent calendar and enjoying a treat together.
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Rachel and Samuel with our Advent calendar |
Traditions differ regarding the symbolism of the candles,
but a common one is that they represent the hope, love, joy, and peace that
come through Jesus Christ. In weekly posts I will share ideas for scriptures, songs, and other customs that families can use on the four Sundays of Advent as well as some that they may incorporate into their Christmas Eve traditions.
Here is a recent video that we made for our BYU Jerusalem Center students that we made on home leave to explain our family's Advent traditions:
Here is a recent video that we made for our BYU Jerusalem Center students that we made on home leave to explain our family's Advent traditions:
Each weekly Advent post will be divided into sections. The first section, The Promised Advent, will review prophecies of the nativity of Christ.
Then in a section called On The Eve of His Coming we will then bring the story into the gospels by reflecting the experiences of Zacharias, Mary, Elisabeth, and Joseph as they witnessed the realization of these prophecies. For each of these vignettes I have included pictures of the sites in the Holy Land where, by tradition, they are believed to have occurred.
The next section will then reflect upon how Jesus fulfills that day's Advent theme, whether it by Hope, Love, Joy, or Peace.
The final section, Looking Forward to Christ's Second Advent, will consist of a scripture looking forward to Jesus' promised Second Coming and the blessings that will be realized at his return.
I also frequently feature special music for Advent. Some, such as "O Come, O Come, Emmanuel," are almost always Advent, but many customary Advent hymns are not as familiar now. As a result, even though some traditions reserve Christmas carols for Christmas Eve and the twelve days including and following Christmas, I have selected many familiar Christmas songs that nonetheless accord with the theme of each Advent Sunday.
At the end of the season I will then reflect on the the focus of Advent, salvation, by considering Book of Mormon prophecies of Christ. Finally, I will consider how we can keep the spirit of Christmas alive throughout the year.
Then in a section called On The Eve of His Coming we will then bring the story into the gospels by reflecting the experiences of Zacharias, Mary, Elisabeth, and Joseph as they witnessed the realization of these prophecies. For each of these vignettes I have included pictures of the sites in the Holy Land where, by tradition, they are believed to have occurred.
The final section, Looking Forward to Christ's Second Advent, will consist of a scripture looking forward to Jesus' promised Second Coming and the blessings that will be realized at his return.
I also frequently feature special music for Advent. Some, such as "O Come, O Come, Emmanuel," are almost always Advent, but many customary Advent hymns are not as familiar now. As a result, even though some traditions reserve Christmas carols for Christmas Eve and the twelve days including and following Christmas, I have selected many familiar Christmas songs that nonetheless accord with the theme of each Advent Sunday.
At the end of the season I will then reflect on the the focus of Advent, salvation, by considering Book of Mormon prophecies of Christ. Finally, I will consider how we can keep the spirit of Christmas alive throughout the year.
- First Advent: Hope
- Family Resource Guide (daily Christmas stories, scriptures, and carols!)
- Second Advent: Love
- Third Advent: Joy
- O Antiphons: Awaiting the Coming of the Messiah
- Fourth Advent: Peace
- Christmas Eve
- The Focus of Advent and Christmas: Salvation
- Daily December Christmas Devotionals (A Family Resource Guide)
- Epiphany (Three Kings Day)
- The Presentation
- Christmas throughout the Year
Thank you for your immediate reply. We have the Sperry on Peter and I will refer to it immediately. It appears Professor Judd is in favor of Peter's authorship. I had read Millet's article and will now read yours and Judd's.
ReplyDeleteThanks for your blog. We celebrated Advent for years by attending the Episcopal Cathedral in NW Portland and enjoying the pomp and circumstance of their advent celebration. It was especially fun to stand and sing O Come, O Come Emmanuel as their choir walked in with candles and in robes and their organ resonated.. In addition, for years and years we used an advent calendar with our children and had a family activity for each day leading up to Christmas in the pockets. It just isn't as good now we are plumb out of kids as Calvin Trillin phrases it so I do an advent calendar for each set of grand kids with a small present in each of twenty four stockings (Christmas colored socks not the kind you hang on the fireplace) hung by numbered clothes pins on a cord. I have also given a gift of similar stockings with Messianic scriptures and their fulfillment inside the socks.
I would not be telling you all this if I hadn't read the mission statement for your blog.
Thank you again.
Thank you Thank you! I am using your suggested materials (well, many of them) with my seminary class in Queens NY this season. My students don't come from the Advent tradition and your suggestions for scriptures and songs are inspiring! Only one of my kids is a European white (the rest are from Central/South America and Asia). All of this is new for them. I couldn't have pulled together these materials as elegantly as you have, even with more time.
ReplyDeleteBest and thank you for sharing your work!
diane
Thank you Eric for being so generous of heart in sharing your love and testimony of the Savior. I purchased your book and read it and then checked out this blog. I am in awe at the time and effort you have freely shared here. May you and your family be blessed because of all you do to help others.
ReplyDeleteThis is just fantastic. Our little kids have been observing Easter week with some of your suggested songs and traditions for a couple of years and I’m excited to add these ideas to our Christmas observance. Thank you for taking the time to share!!
ReplyDeleteAdvent celebration lends structure and unity to the Christmas season. Thank you.
ReplyDelete