Advent: Part One - Hope

Rev. Jim Hammond introduces us to each of the four Sunday’s of Advent and explores their significance and traditions.

Part One - Advent Sunday

Jesus is coming!

There are four Sundays in the liturgical season of Advent, a time of preparation for the birth of Jesus.

The word, "Advent," comes to us from a Latin verb, "advenio," a compound verb formed from the preposition "ad" (translated "to, or toward") and the verb, "venio," (translated, "to come"). The past participle of "advenio" is "adventus," which is best translated as "coming." Advent is a time of preparation for the coming of Jesus.

In recent years, the principal methods of marking and celebrating the season of Advent are to employ one or both of two symbols -- the Advent wreath, and the Advent calendar.

Advent calendars, which often are used in homes and have a special appeal to children, vary but typically feature twenty five "windows", one to open each day beginning on December first, and moving to Christmas. Since Christmas always falls on the 25th of December, while the Sundays of Advent have differing days and dates each year, Advent calendars do not match the liturgical calendar, but they still helping in remembering that Advent is a very special time.

Typically, churches feature an Advent wreath comprised of five candles, three purple and one rose located in a circle around a centered white candle. Each Sunday of Advent a new candle is lighted (the rose candle always on the Third Sunday of Advent), with the centered white candle lighted on Christmas. There are multiple ways to think about each of the four Sundays in Advent, none of which is thoroughly established in Christian teaching or in Episcopal tradition. This year we will concentrate on the themes of 1) hope, 2) faith, 3) joy, and 4) love.

At the outset of Advent, the First Sunday, we celebrate our hope in Christ. In the USA, Thanksgiving ends and thoughts naturally turn towards Christmas. Christmas, the celebration of the birth of Jesus, holds forth hope, hope for a new world where an end is made to hate and a beginning comes to neighborly love of one another. After all, it is Jesus who proclaims that we are to love one another as he loves us. The story of the nativity, with shepherds, angels and a manger, is magical and mystical all at the same time. Mary is surprised by the angel's announcement, but responds with unfettered obedience -"My soul magnifies the Lord," she proclaims, "and my spirit rejoices." Yes, from the beginning, from the First Sunday of Advent, there is hope!

Rev. Jim Hammond

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Dan Miller, Organist & Director of Music Ministries, encourages us to partake in the musical riches of Advent and Christmas at Trinity.

Few things stir our hearts during the holiday season more than music. From Services of Lessons and Carols, choral concerts, and performances of Handel’s “Messiah”, music directors all over the world program a blend of familiar and new music to celebrate the birth of Christ. Our churches are decorated with greens, and Advent wreaths are lit each week in anticipation of Christ’s coming. Rich organ music fills our halls with music composed through the ages by church musicians who are devoted to their craft. In the Episcopal Church, however, the music we hear in December is not Christmas carols but Advent hymns during the four weeks before Christmas. Having grown up Methodist, this was all new to me when I first attended an Episcopal Church and heard not the carols of Christmas but the meaningful hymns of Advent. Chosen to match the lectionary, we sing hymns of expectation such as “O Come, O Come, Emmanuel”, “On Jordan’s bank the Baptist’s cry”, “Lo, he comes with clouds descending”, and a number of other rich texts of the Advent season. As we get closer to the Nativity, we sing The Song of Mary, the Magnificat, and “The Angel Gabriel” on Advent 4 to mark the Annunciation. Much of the music is more contemplative in nature, drawing us from the noise and strife of the world and the commercial aspects of Christmas into the mystery of the Incarnation. Finally, on Christmas Eve, the familiar carols ring out from our hearts and voices.