Peace. Silence. Return. The time of waiting for Christmas. And although today the variations of Advent wreaths seem almost limitless, ancient traditions, rooted as far back as the 5th century, speak very specifically about a true Advent wreath.
Advent and the Church
The name "advent" is borrowed from the Latin word "adventus" meaning "coming" and is associated with the Christian world, where the candles in the wreath symbolize the stars that shone in the sky at the time of Jesus' birth, while the twisted and decorated wreath still embodies the infinity and continuity of life force embodied in the symbol of the circle.
Christians go to church every Sunday of Advent, remembering both God's promise of the Savior of the world in the Garden of Eden, the promise of the prophets in the Old Testament about the coming of the Savior of the world, John the Baptist's instructions about the Savior among the people, and Christ's instructions about His second coming on the Great Judgment Day.
During this time, in the Lutheran church, the first candle is called the prophet's candle, symbolizing hope - Christ, the second is the Bethlehem candle, signifying the call to salvation, the third is the shepherds' or joy candle, and the fourth is burned as the angelic or love candle.
Ancient traditions
While the Christian world celebrates the beginning of its new year during these four weeks, making beautiful wreaths and burning candles is a part of almost every family. And it turns out that if we want to make an authentic Advent wreath, we must follow quite precise rules. The wreath must be woven from coniferous branches and three purple and one pink candle must be chosen. And in the middle of the wreath, we must not forget about the fifth – a white candle, which symbolizes the Lamb of God and the forgiveness of sins, and it is lit only on Christmas Eve.
The purple color in this tradition symbolizes prayers, fasting, sacrifice and good deeds during the Christmas season. There are stories that in the Old Church on the third day of Advent, the priest gave the people a pink rose and dressed in a pink cloak, symbolizing the approach of joy. That is why, according to ancient traditions, a pink candle should be lit on the third day of Advent.
Although there is an opinion that the tradition of lighting a candle in an Advent wreath arose relatively recently, the beginnings of today's wreath weaving can be traced back more than sixteen centuries! Meanwhile, we cannot deny that the story of one of the Hamburg orphanages, where in 1833, the educator Heinrich Wickert suggested weaving a large, beautiful wreath on the eve of the holiday, around which the children could gather by candlelight and listen to Christmas stories, is not much closer to the modern understanding and traditions of Advent.
Similar traditions around the world
It is known that already in the Middle Ages, ancient Jews lit candles during the Hanukkah holiday, and the ancient Irish also placed a laurel wreath in a place of honor on the table at Christmas (remembering Christ's suffering on the cross), with a white candle burning in the center.
However, despite the history of Advent traditions, in these four weeks today everyone is invited to embark on a journey towards greater sensitivity, understanding, love and respect not only for each other, but also for themselves. It does not matter whether we light a candle in church or on our family table – may everyone have a peaceful and joyful Christmas season.