CHRISTIAN RELIGION AND CUSTOMS: Advent

[Jeff]

(I'm putting this up as an educational thing, not for purposes of debate. Obviously, I can't tell people not to debate and I don't want to. But that's my intention. Anyway, I won't debate on this thread. It's for the curious who simply want to know about Catholic Christian Customs, Seasons, Feasts, Doctrines. We don't always have to argue. It's good to get to know each other too. Questions are welcome!)

Four Sundays before Christmas--that's last Sunday now--begins the Season of Advent. Advent comes from the Latin word "advenit" or "He comes!" Soon Emmanuel will enter the world, born of a Virgin. The altars in the churches usually have flowers on them--but there are no flowers during Advent. The color of the priests garments are purple--signifying mortification of the flesh.

http://i93.photobucket.com/albums/l77/afkimel/020_20.jpg
Ordination of Al Kimel as a priest--you can see the purple vestments.

It's a good time for Christians to think about fasting, doing penance, giving things up, living a better life, getting closer to God. The beginning of Advent is the beginning of the Church year, so it's a time to start over again.

Because, just as Jesus came at the first Christmas, so He will come again to judge us and we must be ready, whether it will be at the end of the world or one's own life. "Prepare ye the way of the Lord!", says John the Baptist and this is our job during Advent. Waiting for God in our own lives and in the world.

We light Advent wreaths with four candles, one each for each of the Sundays before Christmas and a white one in the middle for Christmas itself.

http://www.maybole.org/Community/Churches/StCuthberts/advent%20wreath.jpg

We sing songs like this one:

"On Jordan's bank the Baptist's cry
Announces that the Lord is nigh
Awake! and hearken for he brings
Glad tidings of the King of Kings!"

Listen here: http://www.oremus.org/hymnal/o/o752.html

Or this one--listen to it, so beautiful; my family sings it every night before dinner:

"O come, o come, Emmanuel,
And ransom captive Israel,
That mourns in lonely exile here,
Until the Son of God appear.
Rejoice! Rejoice! Emmanuel
Shall come to thee, O Israel."

Listen here: http://www.oremus.org/hymnal/o/o084.html

St. John the Baptist is called "the Precursor" because he came right before Christ and prepared the way for Him. So we pray to him in Advent to do the same for us:

http://www.ocf.org/OrthodoxPage/icons/data/Baptistis.gif

Here is the prayer for the First Sunday of Advent:

Stir up, O Lord, Your Might, we pray You, and Come!
So that, defended by You, we may deserve to be rescued from all the approaching dangers which our sins bring on, and, having been set free by You, obtain our Salvation. You Who live and reign with God the Father, in the Unity of the Holy Spirit, One God, Forever and ever. Amen.

And we remember the end of the Bible, which says:

The one who testifies to these things says, "Surely I come quickly!"

Amen. Come, Lord Jesus!

[Lym]

This is interesting to know!

[Jeff]

Thank you, LYM.

[Scorpio27]

Thanks Jeff, Wish you "Merry Chrismass" in advance.

[Arabian Prince]

Thank you very much for sharing all of this with us Jeff. :) I didn't know most of the stuff mentioned here prior to reading your post. Quite interesting.

[Storm]

Interesting to know these info.

Thanks Jeff :)

[BrAiKi]

interesting thread Jeff, I've learned alot! thank you :)

[Jeff]

Thank you all. I hope some Muslims will do threads like this for outsiders as well about Islamic ways and practices...

[cLueLess]

I went sightseeing at a cathedral in France last Sunday. It was very packed that day, and yes, the priest's robe was similar to the one you've posted. I wasn't aware that there was anything special going on, I just thought it was the usual Sunday mass. Thanks Jeff for this informative thread. :)
One question though. The chanting didn't sound French to me. Do you have any idea what the language used was, and whether the same language is used in cathedrals all over the world?

[Jeff]

Well, cLueLess, nowadays most Roman Catholic churches pray and sing in the vernacular. So it could have been French.

But the traditional language of the Roman Church is Latin. Gregorian chant is still usually sung in Latin today and not translated. Some churches--including mine in Washington DC--still use Latin for almost everything. And many churches around the world still sing some Gregorian chant in Latin.

If you want to see if it's similar to what you heard, go here--

http://www.christusrex.org/www2/cantgreg/missa_h1adv.html

--and click on Ad te levavi (meaning 'To You (God) I have lifted up...')

Do you mean a cathedral or just a large, fancy church? A cathedral is really just the home church of a bishop. The Catholic Church is ruled by bishops (if you want to see a picture of one, look at the first picture on my post: The guy with the pointy hat) who admininster geographical areas called 'dioceses.' So a cathedral is often a large, fancy church but sometimes it's a small, simple one. And often you see large beautiful churches that are not cathedrals. St. Peter's Basilica--that huge church in Rome near where the Pope lives that everyone recognizes--is not a cathedral. Notre Dame de Paris is a cathedral because it is the chief church of the Archbishop of Paris.

This one's a cathedral:

http://photos.nondot.org/2001-06-13-AlabamaTrip/02%20-%20Jackson%20Mississippi/thumbs/27%20-%20Jackson,MI%20-%20Cathedral%20near%20Capital.jpg
The cathedral of Jackson, Mississippi



This one's not:

http://www.cs.utah.edu/~bigler/pictures/europe2002/italy/st%20peter's%20basilica.jpg
St. Peter's Basilica in Rome, Italy

[Thalia]

Do you get child carol singers at the door jeff?

It's not that popular here, but there are public places that one can find carol singers performing in..

I just love carols during advent.. the build up to the 'grand finale'. It really sets the 'mood' of christmas in... though I do get sick of the local radios repeating the usual pop chirstmas songs during these 4 weeks. If I hear another "Last Christmas" or George Michael's voice at all again, I think I'll puke. LOL

[Jeff]

Where is "here" for you, Fengy? I'm in Arlington, Virginia and we don't get much in the way of carollers at my house, I'm sorry to say...

We tend to hold off on the tree and stuff til the last possible minute and make a big deal of all Twelve Days of Christmas, which is definitely countercultural! But we do family carol singing on Christmas.

[Jeff]

Look! It's been a whole year of blabbing since I did this Advent thread last year!

And now, on Sunday, Advent will begin again.

http://i121.photobucket.com/albums/o204/Yerffej_2007/wreath4cp.png

It starts getting cold outside, but somehow it feels warm inside. You begin to notice the dark more and to appreciate the yellow, homely lights that tell of families and children, of intimate quiet things.

You begin to look up at the night sky. And you notice the stars...

And you can smell the pine trees in the night because the other leaves have died, and dried, and fallen, leaving the trees sleeping in their nakedness. Sleeping so deeply that they might almost seem dead.

And you begin to think of a child, and a manger, and small, secret things that the busy world doesn't notice. And of humility and lowliness:


In revelation God continually appears as one who pays attention to the wretched, the afflicted, the abandoned and those who are nothing in the eyes of the world. All of this contains a lesson that is extremely relevant for us today. Our temptation is to do exactly the opposite of what God does: to want to look to those who are on top, not at those who are on the bottom; to those who are prosperous, not to those who are in need.

We cannot be content just remembering that God considers the lowly. We ourselves must become little, humble, at least in our hearts.

The Basilica of the Nativity in Bethlehem has only one entrance, and you cannot pass through it without bending down. Some have said that it was built this way so that the Bedouins could not enter seated on their camels. But there is another explanation that has always been given, and which, in any case, contains a deep spiritual truth. This door is supposed to remind pilgrims that in order to penetrate the deep meaning of Christmas it is necessary to humble oneself and become little.


http://sognodargento.blogspot.com/2006/12/fourth-sunday-of-advent.html

You begin to prepare in your heart, or at least to notice that you should be preparing. To cultivate a little quiet and to remember the One Who appears in Silence. And to ready yourself again to try to be a Christian, to begin again that endless-seeming losing battle against yourself, "to fight" as Tolkien calls it "the long defeat".


Brethren, knowing the season; that it is now the hour for us to rise from sleep. For now our salvation is nearer than when we first believed.

The night is passed, and the day is at hand. Let us therefore cast off the works of darkness, and put on the armour of light.

Let us walk honestly, as in the day: not in rioting and drunkenness, not in chambering and impurities, not in contention and envy:

But put ye on the Lord Jesus Christ.


There shall come forth


http://campus.udayton.edu/mary//images/jessetreefull.jpg

A rod out of the root of Jesse

[Thalia]

I can't believe a year has already passed!

[Jeff]

O come, Desire of nations, bind
In one the hearts of all mankind;
Bid Thou our sad divisions cease,
And be Thyself our King of Peace.

http://www.seraphicrestorations.com/gallery/galleries/Sacred_Heart_of_Jesus.jpg

Icon of the Sacred Heart of Jesus
It reads: "Learn from me, for I am gentle and humble of heart"

[UmKhalid]

I was wondering what you meant by Advent in the fact thread!
I think I've read the title of this thread before, but the caps made it seem intimidating, please don't use caps next time! :p

Thanks for adding all this information. :)

I have a question ...

I'd like to know, what's Christian about Mistletoes, why is it associated with Christmas? Our neighbours hang it outside their house every Christmas, along with a glittery Santa.

[wudjab]

UmK.

There is nothing really Christian about Mistletoe or Christmas trees or Santa Clause.

Those are just holiday traditions which have absolutely nothing to do with Christmas itself.

[Spanarr]

Thanks for sharing Jeff, now I'll go to my western friends and tell them all I know to show off my knowledge. :P

Hahahaha, no really. Thanks for sharing! :)

[Jeff]

UmK:

Wudjab is basically right. Mistletoe has an pagan origin connected with the Winter Solstice festivals of pre-Christian times. In fact, one name for Christmas is still Yule, which is the old pagan name.

But...

We believe that in many ways, the pre-Christian traditions foreshadowed Christian truths to prepare the minds of mankind for the truth. So it's been our way to "baptize" them and accept them with Christian meanings, rather than rejecting them.

So, mistletoe, holly, evergreen trees are symbols of the Hope, of life continuing green through the death of winter. Like the love of God persisting through the death of the world's sin and our own sin that we experience every day.

And they foreshadow the Resurrection, the life of Divine Power that conquers death in the end.

So for some people, they are just customs that grew up around the day. But for serious Christians they have a meaning which we keep and ponder.

Santa Claus is a legendary figure who originated in St. Nicholas, a real Christian bishop of ancient times who used to have a special love of children and was said to walk through the city at night and toss coins in people's windows.

[Jeff]

Thanks for sharing Jeff, now I'll go to my western friends and tell them all I know to show off my knowledge. :P

Hahahaha, no really. Thanks for sharing! :)

You are welcome; thanks for looking! :)

[UmKhalid]

Hmm, interesting difference between Christianity and Islam. We don't accept traditions that are of pagan or non-Islamic origin.

Thanks Wudjab and Jeff.

[Jeff]

(I miss you UmKhalid!)

Well, it's that time again: Advent!

Today the Christian liturgical year begins once more with the First Sunday of Advent:


Brethren, knowing the season, that it is now the hour for us to rise from sleep. For now our salvation is nearer than when we first believed. The night is passed, and the day is at hand. Let us therefore cast off the works of darkness, and put on the armour of light. Let us walk honestly, as in the day: not in rioting and drunkenness, not in chambering and impurities, not in contention and envy: But put ye on the Lord Jesus Christ.

~from Romans 13

Advent is the time of preparing for Christmas, but also a time for preparing ourselves to meet Christ when He returns again at the End of Ends, in the World and also in our own lives.

Here is the lovely hymn we sing at this time "O Come O Come Emmanuel", in Latin:

Veni Veni Emmanuel

[Jeff]

It's time for Advent again!

Sunday marks the beginning of the Christian calendar, a time of preparation for Christmas and the Coming of the Lord.

Rorate caeli desuper et nubes pluant Iustum; aperiatur terra et germinet Salvatorem.

Drop down dew from above, ye heavens and let the clouds rain down the Just; and the earth shall be opened and shall bud forth a Savior.

[Superbia]

Thanks for sharing, Jeff. It's very interesting to know the reasons behind certain celebrations :)