Advent is a four week liturgical ceremony that prepares our hearts for God's gift of Jesus on Christmas. Most German families will buy or make an Advent wreath made of evergreen boughs, ribbons, and 4-5 candles. On the four Sundays of Advent, they will light a new candle and read the Advent passages.
This is our church's Advent wreath. Today was the 2nd Sunday so 2 candles are lit. At the Christmas Eve service, all four white candles will be lit ahead of time and the gold one in the middle will be lit during the service to celebrate the birth of Christ.
The four Sundays of Advent are used to show:
Nov. 29 - Hope: the promise of Messiah with readings from Isaiah
Dec. 6 - Love: focusing on Mary and her preparation to be the mother of Jesus
Dec. 13 - Joy: the fulfillment of the prophecy
Dec. 20 - Peace: admonishments for Peace on earth
On a less spiritual sense, many Germans also have Advent calendars which have 24 windows in them. Behind each window is a prize (or in my case a small piece of chocolate). Originally the Advent calendar was meant to coincide with a daily Advent reading but this is one place materialism has crept in. Now they are a way for the kids to count down to Christmas. My friend Gail has a really cool Advent calendar. It is 24 little red stockings. Our friend Cathy sent her a box of 24 small pre-wrapped gifts that Gail put into the stockings. She then gets to open one small gift every day as we wait for Dec. 25.
