Dean's Letter

November 2005
From The Very Reverend David Bird, Ph.D., Dean and Rector

Thinking about Advent

Originally Christmas was one long season celebrating the birth of Christ. Eventually we split it up into three sections: Advent, a period of preparation; Christmas the story of the birth; and Epiphany, subsequent events like the coming of the wise men or Magi. Here I will focus on Advent.

Advent means "coming" in Latin and Advent is celebrated as the first season of the Church Year. It has four Sundays; the first is the Sunday nearest November 30. The last day of Advent is always December 24.

Nowadays we concentrate on Advent as a season of preparation for the coming of Christ. In times when the church suddenly found itself overwhelmed with large numbers of converts, so many that not everyone could be prepared for and received into membership at the Easter Vigil, Advent became almost a mini-Lent. Sometimes, then, the sermon themes for Advent would be on "The Four Last Things": death, heaven, hell and judgment.

But that is not really what Advent is about. It is a period when we celebrate the preparatory work of John the Baptist and extol the Virgin Mary for her part in raising her son in the best traditions of Judaism. It is a season of personal reflection: how can I best prepare myself once again for the coming of the Lord Jesus Christ into my heart?

It is a time when we pray for and hope even more fervently for peace and for the establishment of God's sovereign way of life on earth — a way of life which he made real in his own behavior and ministry. Thus, for us, it is a time to get ready, with God's help, to "live in harmony with God, within ourselves, with our neighbors, and with all creation" as we await and expect the coming Kingdom. (Catechism, Book of Common Prayer, page 849).

Some churches wear purple, the royal color for this season; others blue. Much is made of wearing the "correct" liturgical colors for seasons, but really there have been many and various traditions during history of liturgical dress and colors. The choice is not random, but different religious traditions within Christianity and various centuries have come up with their own particular emphases.

Churches often have an Advent wreath: sometimes with four candles to celebrate the four Sundays of Advent. Others include a fifth, Christ candle. Intelligent priests invariably uphold whichever tradition is already established in the congregation when they arrive! Sometimes the church will have a Jesse Tree—a tree with symbols of Old Testament prophecies of Jesus' coming. Some churches put out an empty creche—awaiting the Christ child. Many people have an Advent calendar—to count the days to Christmas.

This is also the time of year when the days become shorter and darker. The Advent theme includes a sense of coming out of the darkness and being with Christ who is the Light of the world. This is a time, in St. Pau's words, when we ". . . cast away the works of darkness," so that, on the fourth Sunday of Advent, Jesus Christ, "at his coming, may find in us a mansion prepared for himself." (From the collect or prayer for Advent IV).

Ever since I have been ordained, my favorite Advent moment has been saying the great opening collect of Advent which, when I was first ordained, we said every day until Christmas itself. I leave you with that prayer:

Almighty God, give us grace to cast away the works of darkness, and put on the armor of light, now in the time of this mortal life in which your Son Jesus Christ came to visit us in great humility; that in the last day, when he shall come again in his glorious majesty to judge both the living and the dead, we may rise to the life immortal; through him who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and for ever. Amen.

— David

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