Advent is the Season in the church which precedes the great Feast of Christmas, the celebration of the Incarnation of Our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ.

Advent changes the mindset of the church. We have spent many weeks in the Season of Trinity, with our churches in Green, resplendent with flowers and joyous melodies; now the churches go into Purple, the penitential colour of fasting, sorrow for sin and preparation for the Christmas Season.

Advent means ‘coming’ in Latin, and in this Season we prepare ourselves for three ‘comings’…

• The first is the preparation for the coming of Jesus Christ into the world as one of us…the Incarnation
• The second is for Him to come and be resident in our hearts as our Saviour and Lord
• The third, is our preparation for our Lord Jesus Christ coming again in glory “to judge both the quick and the dead” as we say in the Creed.

This year, Advent Sunday is on 29^th November, and our churches change to purple frontals and vestments. Advent is a time of austerity, and many Christians (especially in the Orthodox tradition) fast during this time, abstaining from meat and using the time to prepare themselves for the celebration of the Incarnation of Our Lord Jesus Christ. Any time of fasting and prayer leads to heightened spiritual awareness, and Advent is designed to turn our minds away from the craziness of the pre-Christmas shopping advertising activity, and focus us on the simplicity of the Christ Child, born in a manger….what a contrast!

Music in Advent is very special, and there are many beautiful Advent Carols. O come, O come, Emmanuel is one of the best-loved Advent carols. Hymns also contemplate the Second Coming of Christ in Glory and emphasise the need to cleanse one’s heart in preparation of the Incarnation.

Perhaps the most noticeable addition to liturgical life is the Advent Wreath which takes the place of flowers in the church. There is a separate page on the Advent Wreath for your information, but in brief, a candle is lit each week in Advent, with prayers, leading up to the central candle being lit on Christmas Eve – it is a lovely tradition.

We wish you a strong and disciplined Advent Season, one in which you deepen your experience of Jesus through fasting and prayer, and in which you prepare yourself to meet the Lord in the great Feast of Christmas.

Every blessing to you

+Michael

Advent 2020