A new Liturgical Year of Grace 2025 begins today. This year we will follow the Ministry, Life, Passion, Death and Resurrection of the Lord through the Gospel of St. Luke, in our Scripture readings at Mass. The Season of Advent is four weeks of preparing for the coming of the Lord: both the expectation for end of the world and then the anticipation of Christ’s birth at Christmas.
 
In the very early Church there was little connection between Advent and Christmas.  During the 4^th and 5^th  centuries in Spain and France, Advent was a season of preparation for the baptism of new Christians on Epiphany. The feast of the Epiphany is much older than the celebration of Christmas.
 
Advent was a mini Lent, a time when Christians would spend 40 days in penance, prayer and fasting to prepare for this celebration. The Epiphany fast started back on the Feast of St. Martin of Tours, November 11^th. The Advent Season was not clearly linked to Christ’s first coming at Christmas until the Middle Ages.
 
The word “Advent” is derived from the Latin word adventus, which means “coming” or "arrival," which translates from the Greek word parousia.
 
To balance the two elements of expectation and anticipation, the first two Sundays in Advent (through December 16th) look forward to the second coming of the Lord, while the last two Sundays look backward to remember Christ’s first coming.
 
Over the course of the four weeks, the Scripture readings at Mass move from passages about Christ’s return in judgment to the Old Testament readings about the expectation of the coming Messiah (especially the Prophet Isaiah) to John the Baptist and the Christmas Angels.
 

To help mark the four weeks of preparation is the Advent Wreath. The Advent wreath is not Catholic in origin; in fact it is not liturgical at all. However, it is very popular here in America, most of our churches use the Advent wreath, while in Europe, not as much, even though it is growing in popularity.
 
The Advent wreath first appeared in Germany in 1839. A Lutheran minister working at a mission for children created a wreath out of the wheel of a cart. He placed twenty small red candles and four large white candles inside the ring. The red candles were lit on weekdays, and the four white candles were lit on Sundays.
 
Eventually, the Advent wreath was created out of evergreens, symbolizing everlasting life in the midst of winter and death. The circle reminds us of God’s unending love and the eternal life He makes possible. Advent candles are often nestled in the evergreen wreath. Additional decorations, like holly and berries, are sometimes added. Their red color points ahead to Jesus’ sacrifice and death. Pinecones can symbolize the new life that Jesus brings through His resurrection.
 
The most common Advent candle tradition, however, involves four candles. A new candle is lit on each of the four Sundays before Christmas. Each candle represents something different, although traditions vary. The four candles traditionally represent hope, faith, joy and peace. Often, the first, second, and fourth candles are purple; the third candle is rose-colored. Sometimes all the candles are red; in other traditions, all four candles are blue or white. Occasionally, a fifth white candle is placed in the middle and is lit on Christmas Day to celebrate Jesus’ birth.