How to Celebrate Advent
Advent is the special season that comes just before Christmas.
After celebrating Christmas in the same tradition of our parents, with food, fun and shopping, we realized we had missed so much when we found out about Advent a few years ago.
Though you may not have heard of the Advent, most liturgical churches celebrate it in order to focus on the profound meaning of the coming of Christ.
The celebration of Advent is much deeper than the popular Advent calendar with its 25 cute little windows to open! Advent is a rich and meaningful time-making Christmas very, very special!! ~~ WHAT IS ADVENT? ~~ The word Advent comes to us from the Latin word "adventus" which means "coming.
" Advent is a beautiful and worshipful way of preparing our hearts and minds for the celebration of the first coming or birth of our Lord Jesus Christ and a time of preparation as we look forward to His Second Coming.
Celebrating Advent helps our family focus on Christ's coming and not on material gifts.
We gather every evening to read from our chosen devotional book for the season.
Then we move to the dining room where our Advent wreath adorns our table.
~~ ADVENT WREATH AND CANDLES ~~ The lighting of the candles on the Advent wreath begins on the fourth Sunday before Christmas.
The Advent wreath is traditionally used to celebrate this wonderful season.
Though traditions may differ regarding candle colors and order of lighting them, often a new purple candle is lit during the first three weeks of Advent, and on the fourth week, the pink candle is lit.
The white candle is lit on Christmas Eve.
We adorn our wreath with greens and Brazilian pepper (which is the only thing that is red and green in Florida at this time of the year!) It may also be left unadorned, but will still be lovely.
Though you can purchase Advent wreaths, it is very simple to make your own.
Simply place four candles in a circle and put one candle in the center of the circle.
Some families use tapers, others use votive candles.
You can use the traditional candle colors of purple, pink, and white, or you can create a family tradition in the way the Holy Spirit leads you! One family I know of uses four white candles, symbolizing purity, set around a large red and white striped candle, symbolizing the blood of Jesus and His stripes for our healing.
After celebrating Christmas in the same tradition of our parents, with food, fun and shopping, we realized we had missed so much when we found out about Advent a few years ago.
Though you may not have heard of the Advent, most liturgical churches celebrate it in order to focus on the profound meaning of the coming of Christ.
The celebration of Advent is much deeper than the popular Advent calendar with its 25 cute little windows to open! Advent is a rich and meaningful time-making Christmas very, very special!! ~~ WHAT IS ADVENT? ~~ The word Advent comes to us from the Latin word "adventus" which means "coming.
" Advent is a beautiful and worshipful way of preparing our hearts and minds for the celebration of the first coming or birth of our Lord Jesus Christ and a time of preparation as we look forward to His Second Coming.
Celebrating Advent helps our family focus on Christ's coming and not on material gifts.
We gather every evening to read from our chosen devotional book for the season.
Then we move to the dining room where our Advent wreath adorns our table.
~~ ADVENT WREATH AND CANDLES ~~ The lighting of the candles on the Advent wreath begins on the fourth Sunday before Christmas.
The Advent wreath is traditionally used to celebrate this wonderful season.
Though traditions may differ regarding candle colors and order of lighting them, often a new purple candle is lit during the first three weeks of Advent, and on the fourth week, the pink candle is lit.
The white candle is lit on Christmas Eve.
We adorn our wreath with greens and Brazilian pepper (which is the only thing that is red and green in Florida at this time of the year!) It may also be left unadorned, but will still be lovely.
Though you can purchase Advent wreaths, it is very simple to make your own.
Simply place four candles in a circle and put one candle in the center of the circle.
Some families use tapers, others use votive candles.
You can use the traditional candle colors of purple, pink, and white, or you can create a family tradition in the way the Holy Spirit leads you! One family I know of uses four white candles, symbolizing purity, set around a large red and white striped candle, symbolizing the blood of Jesus and His stripes for our healing.
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