The Parish of Holy Trinity with St Columba, Fareham
Advent
A season moving from the Darkness of the world to the coming of the Light at Christmas.
Advent is the first season of the Church’s year. It covers the four Sundays prior to the season of Christmas; the time when we celebrate the coming birth of Jesus Christ.
Advent has many meanings and associations; primarily it is about looking forward in anticipation.
- It is a time when we reflect on the darkness, which surrounded the world before the coming of Christ
- It is a time when we think about what causes that darkness - sin.
- It is therefore a time which is about penitence, about realising what is wrong, and why the world in its darkness, so much looked for a Messiah
- It is about judgment. God warns his people that Christ will reveal what is truth - Advent gives us time to think about our own sin — our anger, our own greed, our pride, our selfishness, our lust.
- It is a time when we can still reflect on the darkness and gloom of today’s world which surround us, and see why Christian Faith is a significant sign of hope.
- It is a time when we can look forward from our darkness to the fact that God’s Light will always overcome the darkness of the world.
- It is a time when people wait. In that waiting we can have the opportunity to reflect on how or how not our dark or sad our lives are; to remember people who live in darkness and how both they and us need the liberation and light of Christ.
How does the Church portray this in its practice?
We can look to Scripture as a source of understanding about the journey from darkness to light, penitence, hope and waiting which Advent is based:
The People who walked in darkness have seen a great light; Those who lived in a land of deep darkness — on them light has shined. Isaiah 9
On this mountain, he will remove the mourning veil covering all peoples and the shroud enwrapping all nations, he will destroy Death forever. Isaiah 25
In those days after that suffering the sun will be darkened and the moon will not give its light, and the stars will be falling from heaven, and the heaven and the powers in the heavens will be shaken. Then they will see ‘the Son of Man coming in clouds.’ Mark 13 (Gospel for 1st Sunday in Advent)
Prepare the way of the Lord make his paths straight, John the Baptist appeared in the wilderness, proclaiming a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins. Mark 1 (Gospel for 2nd Sunday in Advent)
Or in the words of our great Advent Hymns and Liturgy:
O come, O come Emmanuel, Redeem thy captive Israel O come, O come, thou Dayspring bright! Pour on our souls thy healing light; Dispel the long night’s lingering gloom and pierce the shadows of the tomb.
Come, thou long-expected Jesus, Born to set thy people free, From our fears and sins release us; Let us find our rest in thee.
Hark a herald voice is calling: Christ is nigh, it seems to say; Cast away the dreams of darkness, O ye children of the day!
As we enter, eager and expectant into the solemn season of Advent looking forward to the birth of the Christ child let us renew in ourselves that vision of God’s perfect kingdom, which is the end of all our strivings and the consummation of God’s loving purposes for us.In sorrow and penitence we confess our failures and shortcomings, and seek pardon for those sins which frustrate his redemptive purposes and hinder the advent of his reign. Bidding Prayer for Advent
Almighty God give us grace to cast away the words of darkness and to put on the armour of light now in the time of this mortal life (part of Collect for Advent Sunday).
These readings, hymns and prayers help create the basis of our theology and liturgy for Advent.
How does the Church express this?
In Music (Sound)
Advent is a time when we take out the element of Celebration. Hence we sing the Kyrie instead of the Gloria. The hymns are about waiting, darkness, hope and judgment
In Art (Sight)
The Colour of Purple or Dark Blue is used as a sign of penitence (as in Lent). The vestments and the hangings reflect this. It acts as a contrast to the White and Gold symbolising Light, which we use at Christmas.
Flowers are not used in Advent. Again we use them at times for Celebration.
Dark Red or Purple Candles are used against the backdrop of darkness to symbolise the coming of the Light / or presence of the Light of Christ in a world full of darkness.
In Words (Sound)
Some of the readings above are examples of expressing the meaning of Advent. The prophet Isaiah gave hope for a Messiah for the people of Israel - in light of the Coming of Jesus, his work has been interpreted for Christ (hence Handel’s Messiah). Jesus speaks about judgment and sin and a second coming.
Is there a place for Advent today in our Church?
Some Churches do not allow any sense of decoration or colour right up until Christmas Eve. Evidently there has to be a balance of keeping a season and helping those who cannot celebrate another (Christmas) because they are not there when it happens.