The Advent Wreath

THE ADVENT WREATH

The following is an article which I recently wrote for the parish magazine:

The word advent comes from the Latin word adventus meaning arrival or coming.

Advent wreaths originated amongst German Lutherans in the 16^th Century.  However, it wasn’t until the 19^th Century that the Advent wreath, as we know it today, came into existence.  Pastor Johann Hinrich Wichern (1808-1881) founded a mission school in Hamburg and each December the children at the school would ask, as children all over the world do today, “Is it nearly Christmas, yet?”  So, in 1839, Pastor Wichern took a large cartwheel and attached twenty small red candles and four larger white candles to the rim for the days in December leading up to Christmas Eve.  Each weekday and Saturday a red candle would be lit and on Sundays, one of the large white candles would be lit.  The custom became popular in the Protestant churches and a smaller wreath gradually evolved with just four candles on the outer rim and one larger candle in the centre.  It wasn’t until the 1920s that the Roman Catholic Church adopted the custom and in the 1930s it spread to North America.

Traditionally, the Advent wreath is a circular garland of evergreen branches representing eternity.  Attached to the garland are four candles for the four Sundays in the Advent season and in the centre of the wreath is a larger candle, known as the “Christ candle” which is lit on Christmas Eve.  The colours of the candles vary, sometimes according to tradition or to the denomination of the church.  The four outer candles can be red or, more common in the Roman Catholic church, there are three purple candles (purple is the liturgical colour for Advent) and the fourth candle for Gaudete Sunday  is a rose-coloured.

On the first Sunday in Advent, the first candle is lit.  This candle symbolizes Hope with the Prophet’s Candle reminding us that Jesus is coming.  On the second Sunday, another candle, the Bethlehem Candle, is lit symbolizing Love.  The third Sunday in Advent is known as Gaudete Sunday and comes from the Latin word meaning rejoice. Accordingly, on the third Sunday, another candle, the Shepherds’ Candle, symbolizing Joy, is lit and reminds us of the Joy which the world experienced at the birth of Jesus. On the fourth Sunday, the last candle is lit.  This candle is often called the Angels’ candle; it symbolizes Peace and reminds us of the angels’ message of “Peace on Earth, Good Will Towards Men”.

On Christmas Eve or Christmas Day the white candle in the centre of the wreath is lit and symbolizes the birth of our Saviour, Jesus Christ.