ADVENT & CHRISTMAS / / 2021 / / ISSUE NUMBER 9
THE TRISAGION A JOINT NEWSLETTER OF THE EPISCOPAL CHURCHES OF HUNTINGTON, WV
Advent & Christmas Edition the PROPHECY that love will soon come to earth in the birth of the Christ Child.
An Introduction to Advent The word “Advent” comes from the Latin word adventus, which means “coming.” Advent in the 4th and 5th centuries was a time of preparation for the baptism of new Christians. Christians would spend 40 days in prayer and fasting to prepare for the celebration that accompanied the baptism of new believers. Over time, Advent was connected to the coming of Christ. Originally Christians used this term to reference Christ’s second coming, but by the Middle Ages, Advent was connected to Christ’s first coming that we celebrate at Christmas. In the ancient world, various peoples lit fires to mark the turning of the light into winter’s season and to pray for the return of the light. And, as with some other of our cherished traditions, the church Christianized that practice in the lighting of the Advent wreath. This is a fairly recent addition (late 18th or early 19th Century) to the Season of Advent. To us, these candles are signs of the growing light of Christ who is coming again in all fullness into the darkness of our world. Until the dawning of that Great Day, we watch and wait for Christ’s coming into the darkness of our world, lighting candles representing hope in God’s PROMISE, peace in our hearts as we PREPARE, joy as we REJOICE in God’s gift of his Son and
This Advent season is an invitation to set our minds off of the stresses of the year. To take our focus off the frenetic hustle and bustle that can be associated with the Christmas season, which often threatens to produce more worry than delight. Instead, a time to focus on God’s PROMISE to us, to PREPARE our hearts, to REJOICE together in the PROPHECY that is soon to be FULFILLED! The God We Hardly Knew No one can celebrate a genuine Christmas without being truly poor. The self-sufficient, the proud, those who, because they have everything, look down on others, those who have no need even of God- for them there will be no Christmas. Only the poor, the hungry, those who need someone to come on their behalf, will have that someone. That someone is God. Emmanuel. God-with-us. Without poverty of spirit there can be no abundance of God. by Óscar Romero 1