Advent: A Season of Watchful Preparation
Advent is the Church’s season of beginning — the four weeks before Christmas in which she prepares to celebrate the first coming of Christ at Bethlehem while keeping watch for his second coming in glory. It is a quiet, expectant season, violet-vested and only lightly penitential, and it is one of the two great seasons of the year for going to confession.
What Advent is
Advent (from the Latin adventus, “coming”) opens the liturgical year. It begins on the fourth Sunday before Christmas — the Sunday nearest the feast of Saint Andrew, between November 27 and December 3 — and runs until Christmas Eve. The Church understands it as a season of twofold expectation: she remembers the long centuries in which Israel awaited the Messiah, and she stirs up her own longing for Christ to come again. The liturgical color is violet, the same as Lent, but the mood is different: Advent is a season of hope and preparation more than of penance. The third Sunday, Gaudete (“Rejoice”) Sunday, lightens to rose, a sign that the waiting is nearly over.
The Advent wreath
The best-loved Advent custom is the wreath: a circle of evergreen holding four candles — three violet and one rose — one lit for each week, so the growing light measures the approach of Christ, the Light of the World. Many families light the wreath at the evening meal with a short prayer, marking the weeks for children in a way no calendar can.
Going to confession in Advent
Advent is, with Lent, one of the two seasons in which Catholics are most strongly encouraged to go to confession, and most parishes schedule extra times and communal penance services in the weeks before Christmas. The logic is simple: the Church asks you to prepare a worthy place for the Lord who is coming, and the surest preparation of the heart is the sacrament of Reconciliation. If you go once or twice a year, Advent is one of the two times to go. Prepare with an examination of conscience; if it has been a long time, see confession after a long time away.
Advent prayers and devotions
- The O Antiphons — the seven ancient titles of Christ (O Wisdom, O Adonai, O Root of Jesse, O Key of David, O Rising Dawn, O King of Nations, O Emmanuel) prayed at Vespers from December 17 to 23, and the source of the hymn O Come, O Come, Emmanuel.
- The Jesse Tree — a daily walk through salvation history, from creation to the Nativity, especially loved in families.
- The Angelus and the Hail Mary — Advent is profoundly Marian; the season turns naturally to the one who carried the Word.
- Maranatha — “Come, Lord” — the oldest Advent prayer of all, from the early Church.
How to keep Advent well
The great temptation of Advent is to let the noise of a commercial Christmas swallow it whole, so that the feast arrives before the soul has prepared for it. To keep Advent is to resist that — to hold a little space of quiet and expectation before the celebration begins. Light the wreath. Pray the O Antiphons in the final week. Go to confession. Keep a little fast from the things that crowd God out, so that when Christmas comes you arrive at the manger rested and ready rather than exhausted. The reward of a well-kept Advent is a Christmas that actually feels like one.
Frequently asked
When does Advent start and end?
Advent begins on the fourth Sunday before Christmas — the Sunday closest to November 30 (the feast of Saint Andrew), so between November 27 and December 3 — and ends on Christmas Eve, December 24. It is the start of the Church's liturgical year.
Why is Advent's color violet?
Violet signifies preparation and a gentle penance, the same disposition the Church asks in Lent. But Advent is more a season of hopeful expectation than of penance, and on the third Sunday (Gaudete Sunday) the color lightens to rose as a sign that Christmas is near.
Should I go to confession during Advent?
Yes — Advent is, with Lent, one of the two seasons the Church most encourages confession, and parishes schedule extra times and penance services before Christmas. Going to confession is the surest way to prepare your heart for the coming of the Lord.
What are the O Antiphons?
Seven ancient prayers, each addressing Christ by a title drawn from the Old Testament (O Wisdom, O Adonai, O Root of Jesse, O Key of David, O Rising Dawn, O King of Nations, O Emmanuel), prayed on the seven evenings from December 17 to 23. They are the source of the beloved hymn 'O Come, O Come, Emmanuel.'
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