The Advent Season
The Advent Wreath is a tradition related to Advent, the Church season immediately preceding Christmas. The Advent Wreath is a popular tradition among many Christians, Catholic and Protestant. It is often used in homes, churches, and schools.
The Advent wreath, first used as a Christian devotion in the Middle Ages, gets its design from the customs of pre-Christian Germanic and Scandinavian cultures, who used candles and greenery as symbols of light and life during winter. The Advent Wreath is a circular evergreen wreath with four or five candles, three purple, one rose, and (if you use the five-candle model), one white one for Christmas Day placed in the center. Some Christians use blue candles instead of purple.
The candles symbolize the light of Christ coming into the world. The evergreen symbolizes renewal, and the circular shape symbolizes the completeness of God. The candle colors are derived from the traditional liturgical colors of Advent (purple and rose) and Christmas (white). Each candle is first lit on the appropriate Sunday of Advent, and then the candles may be lit each day as a part of the individual or family's daily prayers.
Certain candles have been given various names and designations:
Candle 1. Hope and/or Patriarchs (purple)
Candle 2. Peace and/or Prophets (purple)
Candle 3. Joy and/or John the Baptist (rose)
Candle 4. Love or The Virgin Mary (purple)
Candle 5. Christ The Light of the World (white)
The Advent Wreath is a tradition related to Advent, the Church season immediately preceding Christmas. The Advent Wreath is a popular tradition among many Christians, Catholic and Protestant. It is often used in homes, churches, and schools.
The Advent wreath, first used as a Christian devotion in the Middle Ages, gets its design from the customs of pre-Christian Germanic and Scandinavian cultures, who used candles and greenery as symbols of light and life during winter. The Advent Wreath is a circular evergreen wreath with four or five candles, three purple, one rose, and (if you use the five-candle model), one white one for Christmas Day placed in the center. Some Christians use blue candles instead of purple.
The candles symbolize the light of Christ coming into the world. The evergreen symbolizes renewal, and the circular shape symbolizes the completeness of God. The candle colors are derived from the traditional liturgical colors of Advent (purple and rose) and Christmas (white). Each candle is first lit on the appropriate Sunday of Advent, and then the candles may be lit each day as a part of the individual or family's daily prayers.
Certain candles have been given various names and designations:
Candle 1. Hope and/or Patriarchs (purple)
Candle 2. Peace and/or Prophets (purple)
Candle 3. Joy and/or John the Baptist (rose)
Candle 4. Love or The Virgin Mary (purple)
Candle 5. Christ The Light of the World (white)