Advent begins Sunday, anticipating the celebration of Christ’s birth.
Sunday marks seasonal beginning for anticipating Christ’s birth
A s shoppers rush to find gift-giving bargains and cheery carols blare from mall speakers, it might seem as if Christmas is already here. But for many Christians, the celebration of Christ’s birth can’t begin without first immersing themselves in Advent.
Advent, which begins Sunday, continues through Christmas Eve. Traditionally it was a season of penitence, much like Lent, and the liturgical color is purple for that reason. These days, Advent is a time of joyful anticipation as the celebration of Christ’s birth nears. It’s also the beginning of a new year for Christians following the liturgical seasons of the church.
“The whole calendar in the church is tracing the life of Jesus,” said the Rev. Erik Pohlmeier, pastor of Our Lady of the Holy Souls Catholic Church in Little Rock. “So it’s about keeping track of the life of Jesus and that life begins even before he was born.”
Pohlmeier said Advent is a time of expectation and waiting. Even the trappings of Christmas — the tree, the music — are put on hold during the weeks of Advent.
“Unlike the rest of the world, we don’t fill the church with Christmas decorations yet,” he said. “Everything is kept very simple.”
The word advent is from the Latin adventus or “arrival,” and Christians anticipate the arrival of Christ in many ways. Churches often include Advent wreaths and candles in weekly worship services, lighting first one, then two and so on as Christmas nears. Chrismon trees are popular in some Protestant churches during Advent. Chrismons — the word comes from a combination
of the words Christ and monogram — are most often white and gold ornaments featuring symbols of Christ and Christianity that are hung on a tree.
At Holy Souls, the Advent wreath and four candles are a part of worship during Advent.
“We light one each week,” Pohlmeier said. “There’s a progressive anticipation as we get closer and closer and we anticipate what we will celebrate at Christmas.”
Pohlmeier said John the Baptist also plays an important role during Advent.
“He prepares the way of the Lord,” he said. “That was his part in God’s plan. His preaching made clear to people they should be expecting something great.”
Music during Advent also reflects that sense of expectation. The songs often speak of Emmanuel, which means “God with us,” Pohlmeier said.
One of the most popular Advent songs is “O Come, O Come, Emmanuel,” written by John Mason Neale. It’s based on the “O” antiphons or chants that were sung during evening services in the medieval church and which were particularly common in monasteries. Another is “Come Thou Long Expected Jesus,” by hymn writer Charles Wesley.
For some, a retreat is the best way to slip into an Advent state of mind.
The Rev. Lisa Hlass, associate priest at St. Michael’s Episcopal Church in Little Rock, will be leading an Advent retreat Thursday-Dec. 6 at Camp Mitchell along with the Rev. Virginia Chase and the Rev. Merry Helen Hedges. “Centering for the Season” will be a time of quiet reflection in the middle of the frenetic rush to Christmas.
The retreat will include Advent readings and lectio divina, or praying the Scriptures; times of silence; journal writing; and creative activities.
Hlass abhors the craziness and commercialization of Christmas but said she found comfort in establishing a daily rhythm of prayer during Advent as a way to escape.
“I think every holy event, it’s important to prepare, not just outwardly but to examine inwardly,” she said. “We really think about doing this during the season of Lent in preparation for Easter, not quite as much in Advent, but it’s sort of a lighter version of Lent in which there’s some self-examination, perhaps penitence, being quiet, preparing for that moment of Jesus’ birth.”
To appreciate the 12 days of the Christmas season, Hlass said, that sort of preparation is necessary.
“It’s a celebration, a feast, and to really prepare, there’s got to be a fast, an austere place to really get to that place where you are able to see the mystery of Christmas,” she said. “It’s sort of, in a way, parallel to looking through Christ on the cross to the Resurrection. If you don’t see the death, if you don’t know the darkness, you really can’t experience the Resurrection.”
Chase said the retreat will offer not only time away from the frantic pace of the season, but also time for each participant to identify how the season can be a gift.
Chase didn’t observe Advent growing up.
“It was all about Christmas,” she said. “I’m so grateful now that we have an intentional time in the church calendar and more awareness and time now for quiet. I think it helps to put things in perspective and makes Christmas much more meaningful.”
Hlass didn’t observe Advent either, but now has an appreciation for how the season affects her.
“It continues to enrich my life,” she said.
Fellowship Bible Church of Northwest Arkansas in Rogers will be sharing a daily dose of Advent with their congregation and anyone else who signs up through emails and texts.
Keisha Pittman is coordinating the effort. She said the church prints an Advent booklet each year with readings and suggested activities for families. This year, the staff members wrote short devotionals to go along with the readings and those will be sent out daily. Each email or text will include a passage of Scripture, thoughts and reflections and suggested activities.
Anyone interested can sign up at fellowshipnwa.org/ advent or by texting #advent to (479) 282-2406.
“Our goal has been to take the daily reading passages we have used for several years and breathe a fresh perspective into them with an Advent daily devotional,” Pittman said. “The stories don’t change. The truths don’t change. But sometimes we need a fresh reminder, a relevant story that draws us into the details and reminds us anew of the redemptive story of our savior’s birth.”
Pittman said worship services during Advent focus on exploring joy, hope, love and peace.
“Advent is really that concept of coming, of anticipation,” she said. “How can we anticipate what’s happening on Dec. 25? Christ is coming. We look at it each weekend through those themes, and this devotional gives us something each day to beckon our hearts into this place.”
Pittman said she hopes the devotionals will encourage others to “draw closer to the cradle.”
As for Pohlmeier, he said the anticipation of Advent makes the celebration of Christmas more meaningful.
“Most things that we celebrate, we celebrate with great joy because we have anticipated them,” he said. “In a spiritual sense, what we are preparing for is to receive Jesus. We don’t just celebrate it as historical fact, but rather, Jesus lives now, so we celebrate it as being born anew every time we celebrate Christmas. How can I receive him into my life and my home anew? That will be strengthened by preparing as well as by the excitement of anticipation.”