Advent Sunday, also called the First Sunday of Advent or First Advent Sunday, is the first day of the liturgical year in the Western Christian Churches and the start of the Advent season;[1] a time of preparation for the celebration of Christ's birth at Christmas and the return of Christ at the Second Coming. Advent Sunday is the fourth Sunday before Christmas.
| Advent Sunday | |
|---|---|
 An Advent wreath with the first candle lit (on the left) | |
| Observed by | Western Christianity |
| Type | Christian |
| Celebrations | Season of Advent |
| Date | Fourth Sunday before Christmas Day |
| 2023 date | 3 December |
| 2024 date | 1 December |
| 2025 date | 30 November |
| 2026 date | 29 November |
| Frequency | annual |
| Related to | Christmas Day |
On the First Sunday of Advent, Christians start lighting their Advent wreaths, and praying their Advent daily devotional;[2] believers may also erect their Christmas tree or Chrismon tree,[2] light a Christingle,[3] as well as engage in other ways of preparing for Christmas, such as setting up Christmas decorations,[4][5][6] a custom that is sometimes done liturgically through a hanging of the greens ceremony.[2][7]
Background
editIn Lutheran, Anglican, and Methodist churches the celebrant wears violet-coloured or blue vestments on this day, and the first violet or blue Advent candle is lit in the worship service. In the Church of Sweden, a Lutheran national Church, the liturgical colour is specifically white: the motivation is that the day is a joyful feast (the colour is changed to blue, the traditional colour for Advent in Scandinavia, or—if the church does not possess blue vestments—violet, after 6 p.m.). Zechariah 9:9–10 and Matthew 21:1–9 are always read in the service, and the symbolism of the day is that Christ enters the church.
Likewise, in the Roman Rite of the Catholic Church, Advent also "begins with First Vespers (Evening Prayer I) of the Sunday that falls on or closest to 30 November and it ends before First Vespers (Evening Prayer I) of Christmas".[8][9] The colour violet or purple is used in Advent, but where it is the practice the colour rose may be used on Gaudete Sunday (Third Sunday of Advent).[10]
In the Ambrosian Rite and the Mozarabic Rite, the First Sunday in Advent comes two weeks earlier than in the Roman, being on the Sunday after St. Martin's Day (11 November), six weeks before Christmas.[11]
Advent Sunday is the fourth Sunday before Christmas Day. This is equivalent to the Sunday nearest to St. Andrew's Day, 30 November. It can fall on any date between 27 November and 3 December. When Christmas Day is a Monday, Advent Sunday will fall on its latest possible date. It is possible to compute the date of Advent Sunday by adding three days to the date of the last Thursday of November; it can also be computed as the Sunday before the first Thursday of December.
See also
edit
References
edit- ^ Oxford English Dictionary. Second edition, 1989. "Advent Sunday, the first Sunday in Advent, the Sunday nearest to the thirtieth of November."
- ^ a b c Kennedy, Rodney Wallace; Hatch, Derek C (27 August 2013). Baptists at Work in Worship. Wipf and Stock Publishers. p. 147. ISBN 978-1-62189-843-6.
There are a variety or worship practices that enable a congregation to celebrate Advent: lighting an advent wreath, a hanging of the greens service, a Chrismon tree, and an Advent devotional booklet.
- ^ Geddes, Gordon; Griffiths, Jane (2001). Christianity. Heinemann. p. 99. ISBN 978-0-435-30695-3.
Many churches hold Christingle services during Advent. Children are given a Christingle.
- ^ The Lutheran Witness. Vol. 80. Concordia Publishing House. 1961.
- ^ Michelin (10 October 2012). Germany Green Guide Michelin 2012–2013. Michelin. p. 73. ISBN 9782067182110.
Advent – The four weeks before Christmas are celebrated by counting down the days with an advent calendar, hanging up Christmas decorations and lightning an additional candle every Sunday on the four-candle advent wreath.
- ^ Normark, Helena (1997). Modern Christmas. Graphic Garden.
Christmas in Sweden starts with Advent, which is the await for the arrival of Jesus. The symbol for it is the Advent candlestick with four candles in it, and we light one more candle for each of the four Sundays before Christmas. Most people start putting up the Christmas decorations on the first of Advent.
- ^ Rice, Howard L.; Huffstutler, James C. (1 January 2001). Reformed Worship. Westminster John Knox Press. p. 197. ISBN 978-0-664-50147-1.
Another popular activity is the "Hanging of the Greens," a service in which the sanctuary is decorated for Christmas.
- ^ Addis, William E.; Press, Aeterna (1961). A Catholic Dictionary. Aeterna Press. p. 33.
ADVENT, SEASON OF. The period, of between three and four weeks from Advent Sunday (which is always the Sunday nearest to the fest of St. Andrew) to Christmas eve, is named by the Church the season of Advent.
- ^ Universal Norms on the Liturgical Year, 40–41
- ^ General Instruction of the Roman Missal, 346
- ^ Philip H. Pfatteicher, Journey into the Heart of God (Oxford University Press 2013 ISBN 978-0-19999714-5)