ADVENT

The liturgical season of Advent is the beginning of the Christian Church’s year. It has a twofold character: a time of preparation for celebration of the First Coming of Christ at Christmas and a looking forward to Christ’s Second Coming at the end of time. These two comings of Christ give the season its name, Advent (Latin advenire – to arrive or to come). The liturgy speaks of this season being “a period of devout and expectant delight” (“tempus devotae ac iucundae exspectationis”) (General Instruction on the Roman Missal n.39).

Each of the four Sundays of Advent has a particular focus (to be found in the Collects):

Advent I – “running forth to meet your Christ”
Advent II – “setting out in haste to meet your Son . . . and . . . learning heavenly wisdom”
Advent III – anticipating the Christmas feast “with solemn worship and glad rejoicing”
Advent IV – “the Incarnation of Christ . . . made known by the message of an angel”

The Third Sunday of Advent is traditionally known as Gaudete Sunday from the Introit (Entrance Chant) for that day: “Gaudete in Domino semper: iterum dico, gaudete modestia vestra nota sit omnibus hominibus. Dominus prope est.” (“Rejoice in the Lord always; again I say rejoice. Indeed the Lord is near.” Philipians 4:4-5)

The weekdays from 17 December until 24 December, Christmas Eve, bring a more intense focus of preparation for celebration of the Christmas feast.  Each day has its own proper prayers and readings.

Advent Wreath

The Advent wreath is made from evergreen leaves which stand for eternity, God’s eternal love for us (which is ever green, ever new), shown in the promise and birth of the Messiah, his Son.  Holly is traditionally used as part of the wreath, with the sharp points of the leaves reminding us of the crown of thorns (the German name for holly is Christdorn meaning ‘Christ-thorn’).

The circular shape of the wreath (a crown of thorns) also stands for eternity (the ring goes round without beginning or end).

Red berries stand for the drops of blood which Jesus shed for us (in the Christian tradition, the joy of Christ’s birth is always tempered by the knowledge that this child will end his life on the cross).  Sometimes a red ribbon is tied through the wreath – this too stands for Christ’s blood, the cost of our redemption.

The four candles represent the four weeks of Advent, the season of preparation for Christmas.  Purple is the liturgical colour of Advent and rose (or pink) is a special colour that may be used on the 3rd Sunday of Advent (known as Gaudete Sunday meaning ‘rejoice’ from the Latin antiphon at the beginning of Mass: ‘Rejoice in the Lord always; again I say, rejoice!’ (cf. Philippians 4:4-5)). In some traditions, the first candle represents prophecy (the prophecy of the birth of a Messiah in Isaiah) or hope, the second love, the third joy, and the fourth peace (sometimes known as the angels’ candle after the angels which appeared singing ‘Glory to God in the highest and peace to men of goodwill’).

Protestant versions of the Advent wreath tend to use red candles and a white central candle for lighting on Christmas Day. Catholic versions use the liturgical colours of purple and pink and reserve the Christ candle for Easter.

Blessing of the Advent Wreath

On the First Sunday of Advent, the Advent Wreath is blessed and the first candle lit.
This rite of blessing takes the place of the penitential act.

Father,
as each year comes around anew,
we look forwardto the coming of your Son
and recall his first coming in the stable at Bethlehem.
We ask your blessing + on this advent wreath
which reminds us of your gift of Christ our light.
Bless each of us and make us more Christ-like this Advent season.
Through Christ our Lord.
Amen.

Proceed to the Collect of the Mass.

Rite of Lighting Candles on Advent Sundays 2, 3 and 4

This rite of lighting takes the place of the Penitential Act.
Candles for the previous Sunday(s) should already be lit.

Father,
during this Advent season
we recall the first coming of your Son in the stable at Bethlehem;
and we look forward to his coming at the end of time,
when you he will be all in all,
and our redemption will be fully accomplished,
and your glory fills all creation.
As the light on our Advent wreath
grows with the expectation of the coming of your Son,
we ask your blessing upon us:
fill us with joy and hope,
fill us with peace,
fill us with the light of your salvation.
Through Christ our Lord.
Amen.

Proceed to the Collect of the Mass

The Advent Collects

The opening prayers (Collects) of the Sundays of Advent are a rich source of the theology of the Advent season.  Read more here.

Choral Music for Advent

These are suggestions for choir items, other than hymns.  Difficulty ranges from easy to more challenging.  Where possible, links are to performances on YouTube with sheet music.

SATB = soprano, alto, tenor, bass
divisi = SATB divided – ie. more than one line for each voice
e = easy    m = medium difficulty    d = difficult

A Tender Shoot Kerensa Briggs/Goldsmith MD

ADVENT I
Berkeley, I Sing of a Maiden (SATB e)
Lloyd Webber, William, Missa Princeps Pacis (M
Skempton, O Sapientia (SATB m)

ADVENT II
Isaac, Hierusalem surge (SATB m)
Macmillan, O Radiant Dawn (STAB m)
Manz, E’en so, Lord Jesus (SATB m)
Palestrina, Alma Redemptoris (SATB e)

ADVENT III
anon. (c.1600), Rejoice in the Lord alway (SATB m)
Dubra, O Radix Jesse (SATB m)
Gibbons, This is the record of John (SATB m)
Isaac, Dicite pusillanimes (SATB m)
L’Estrange Joanna, King’s College Magnificat (SATB+S solo m)
Ord, Adam lay ybounden (SATB e)
Stopford, Adam lay ybounden (SATB m)

ADVENT IV
Carter (arr), Angelus ad Virginem (SATB m)
Pärt, Bogoroditse dyevo (SATB divisi m)
Plainsong, Rorate caeli desuper
Palestrina, Rorate caeli desuper (SSATB m)
Rachmaninov, Bogoroditse dyevo (SATB divisi e)
Rheinberger, Rorate caeli (SATB m)
Weir, Rorate caeli desuper (SATB m)

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