Explaining what is advent begins with the four-week season of expectant waiting that opens the Christian liturgical year. Observed by Catholics, Protestants, and Anglicans, Advent focuses on a dual spiritual preparation: remembering the historical incarnation of Jesus Christ in Bethlehem while looking forward in joyful hope to his second coming.
As commercial stores fill with festive displays and holiday music in November, Christian churches enter a very different atmosphere. Rather than rushing into immediate Christmas celebration, congregations pause in solemn expectation, dimming lights and reflecting in quiet hope. Across liturgical traditions, this counter-cultural season allows believers to experience the yearning of ancient Israel for a Messiah while preparing their hearts for Christ's living presence today. Understanding Advent opens the door to the broader rhythm of the seasons of the liturgical calendar and clarifies how worship unfolds in the order of a liturgical church.
What Is Advent? Meaning and Historical Origins
The term Advent derives from the Latin adventus, meaning "arrival" or "coming," which translated the Greek New Testament concept of parousia. In the ancient Roman Empire, an adventus was a grand public ceremony welcoming the formal arrival of an emperor or conquering general into a city. Early Christians adopted the word to proclaim the arrival of a very different King: Jesus Christ.
Historically, Advent emerged in fifth-century Gaul (modern France) and Spain as a season of fasting and baptismal preparation preceding the feast of Epiphany. By the sixth century, Pope Gregory the Great in Rome regularized the season to four Sundays, shifting its theological focus to the Nativity of Christ. Unlike secular holiday parties, the liturgical season is characterized by a dual spiritual vision: looking backward in gratitude to Christ's humble birth in Bethlehem, and looking forward in vigilant watchfulness to his promised return in glory at the end of time.
Dates and Duration: The Four Sundays of Advent
Advent always consists of four Sundays, but its overall calendar length varies between 22 and 28 days depending on which day of the week Christmas Day falls. The season begins on the Sunday closest to Saint Andrew's Day (November 30—hich can fall anytime between November 27 and December —nd concludes at sunset on Christmas Eve (December 24):
- 2024: Sunday, December 1 through Tuesday, December 24
- 2025: Sunday, November 30 through Wednesday, December 24
- 2026: Sunday, November 29 through Thursday, December 24
While society moves on from Christmas on December 26, the liturgical calendar continues to celebrate, transitioning from Advent into twelve full days of Christmas church traditions, which culminate on January 6 with the feast of Epiphany.
The Advent Wreath and Advent Candles: Symbolism and Traditions
The preeminent visual symbol of the season in homes and sanctuaries is the Advent wreath. The tradition originated in the nineteenth century with Johann Hinrich Wichern, a German Lutheran pastor who operated a home for orphaned children in Hamburg. To help the children track the countdown to Christmas, Wichern built a large wooden wheel with nineteen small red candles for weekdays and four large white candles for Sundays. Over time, the design evolved into the familiar tabletop evergreen wreath.
Each element of the modern wreath carries deep spiritual symbolism:
- The Evergreen Circle: The continuous circular shape symbolizes God's unending love, having no beginning and no end. The evergreen bough—ypically pine, fir, or ceda—epresent eternal life through Christ.
- The Advent Candles: Four candles are arranged around the wreath, lit progressively on each Sunday of Advent:
- First Candle (Purple): The Prophecy Candle, representing Hope, recalling the Old Testament prophets who foretold the coming Messiah.
- Second Candle (Purple): The Bethlehem Candle, representing Peace, recalling the humble town where the Prince of Peace was born.
- Third Candle (Rose/Pink): The Shepherd's Candle, representing Joy, lit on Gaudete Sunday to celebrate that the Lord's arrival is near.
- Fourth Candle (Purple): The Angel's Candle, representing Love, recalling the angelic chorus singing tidings of great joy and God's supreme love.
- The Christ Candle: Many churches place a fifth, white candle in the center of the wreath. Lit during Christmas Eve services, this central candle represents Jesus Christ, the pure Light of the World who dispels all darkness.
Liturgical Colors: Purple vs Blue
Churches display distinct seasonal paraments and clerical vestments during Advent:
Purple (Violet): In Roman Catholic and many traditional Protestant parishes, violet is the standard liturgical color. Purple evokes royalty, welcoming Christ as the King of Kings, while also signifying solemn spiritual preparation, fasting, and repentance, creating a thematic bridge to the penitential season of Lent and the observance of Ash Wednesday.
Royal Blue: In recent decades, many Lutheran and Anglican congregations have adopted deep royal blue or Saracen blue for Advent. Drawing from the historic English Sarum Rite, blue symbolizes expectant hope, the dawning of a new day, and the blue night sky awaiting the morning star. On Gaudete Sunday, priests and pastors wear rose-colored vestments, offering a joyful visual break from solemn violet or blue.
The O Antiphons and Historic Advent Hymnody
In the final eight days of Advent (December 17 through December 23), Western liturgical worship intensifies through the daily chanting of the ancient O Antiphons. Originating in medieval monastic communities as early as the eighth century, these seven poetic prayers are recited or sung immediately before the Magnificat at Vespers (Evening Prayer).
Each antiphon addresses the coming Messiah with a distinct prophetic title drawn from the book of Isaiah: O Sapientia (O Wisdom), O Adonai (O Sacred Lord), O Radix Jesse (O Root of Jesse), O Clavis David (O Key of David), O Oriens (O Radiant Dawn), O Rex Gentium (O King of the Nations), and O Emmanuel (O God with Us). Remarkable in its linguistic artistry, the first letter of each Latin title viewed in reverse order forms the Latin acrostic ERO CRAS, translating to "Tomorrow, I will come." These historic antiphons provided the direct theological foundation for Christianity's most famous Advent hymn, "O Come, O Come, Emmanuel," which captures the longing of faithful souls awaiting divine deliverance.
Devotional Practices: Calendars and Lessons and Carols
Advent is enriched by beloved seasonal traditions in both home and church. Families frequently use an Advent calendar, opening a numbered cardboard window each day from December 1 to Christmas Eve to reveal a scripture verse, prayer, or portion of the Nativity story.
In musical worship, many churches host a Festival of Nine Lessons and Carols. Created in 1880 in England and popularized worldwide by King's College Chapel in Cambridge since 1918, this beloved service pairs nine biblical reading—racing the fall of humanity in Genesis, prophetic promises in Isaiah, and the Incarnation in Luke and Joh—ith choral anthems and congregational hymns. The service prepares the soul for the grand redemption story that leads directly to the sacred services of Holy Week and triumphant Easter church celebrations.
The Eastern Orthodox Nativity Fast
In Eastern Orthodox Christianity, preparation for Christmas takes a distinct form known as the Nativity Fast or Saint Philip's Fast. Beginning on November 15 (the day after the Feast of the Apostle Philip) and lasting forty days until Christmas Day on December 25 (or January 7 for churches on the Julian calendar), this fast mirrors Great Lent in discipline.
Orthodox believers practice strict dietary fasting, abstaining from meat, dairy, eggs, and on certain days olive oil, wine, and fish. Rather than using an Advent wreath, Orthodox Christians focus on extensive prayer, reading the Old Testament prophets, and participating in the pre-feast liturgical services. Just as calendar variations exist regarding Orthodox Easter date differences, the Nativity Fast reflects the deep monastic and ascetic roots of the Christian East.