Literally, “advent” means the arrival of something special, or something coming into being. However, in Christian tradition, it has more significance.
Christmas (which this year falls on Monday, December 25) is one of the most important Christian holidays, commemorating the birth of the religion’s central figure Jesus Christ. As such, it comes with an entire season of preparation: Advent, which lasts from the fourth Sunday before Christmas, which will be a different date every year, until Christmas Eve, which always falls on December 24. Not all Christian denominations observe this season, but it is widely practiced.
Advent is celebrated with topical sermons in church services, and the lighting of the candles on the Advent wreath in churches and the homes of observers. This is an evergreen wreath with four candles set inside it — three violet or blue, and one of a different color, usually pink — representing the concepts of hope, faith, joy, and love. Each Sunday of Advent, one candle will be lit. Some wreaths will feature an additional white candle (sometimes called a “Christ candle”) in the middle, intended to be lit on Christmas Eve or Christmas Day.
Though there is some debate among Christian officials as to what the exact origin of the Advent season is, many believe that it became common practice around the fourth or fifth centuries in preparation for the January feast day of Epiphany, when new converts were baptized. It became associated with Christmas several centuries later, when it was repurposed as Christians’ collective preparation for the coming of Jesus Christ.
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