A Beginner's Guide to an Advent Wreath
[On December 4, we’ll be hosting here at the Abbey an Advent retreat. Details and how to register can be found here.]
Rituals and traditions have a way of shaping us. The repetition soaks into our identity. The season of Advent lends itself to a great many opportunities for such habits. If you, like Charlie Brown, find yourself exhausted by the seemingly endless swirl of materialism around Christmas, the story of God that we tell in Advent is the perfect foil. Keeping the candles of a wreath in Advent is simply one practice for engaging yourself and your household in this counter-cultural story.
I remember as a kid, my mom getting me and siblings each our own Advent calendar, with the windows you peeled back for each day on the seemingly never-ending-when-you're-8-years-old march to Christmas Day and the loot found there. But Advent, and the story in which we immerse ourselves in Advent, is so much bigger than a countdown or prologue to Christmas. In Advent, we defiantly stare down the darkness in the world with the unshakable faith the light is coming.
The Christian calendar is one tool at our disposal for the work of spiritual formation that woos us deeper into Christlikeness. The calendar is a means of telling the story of Jesus, his Incarnation and Resurrection, and so, Advent is all about Jesus. It's about how God in Jesus turns the darkness of this world into light.
To celebrate Advent with an Advent wreath in your corporate worship or in your household, all you need are five candles—three purple, one pink, and one white—and an imagination ready to be soaked in God's story. Depending on your church tradition, you may find some variance in the themes of Advent. Generally, the four successive weeks in Advent are associated with the themes of hope, faith, joy, and peace. Remember, the point is Jesus, not our adherence to legalistic details. Have the freedom to be creative and artistic in how you engage this. Use the following ideas as a springboard for your engagement with Advent.
First Sunday in Advent
On the first Sunday in Advent, we light a purple candle associated with the prophets. This is the week of hope. From Isaiah to John the Baptist, God raised up voices to announce the God was never far away. Even is the darkest, most forsaken places, God is there. And so we hope. We wait in the darkness with expectant hearts. We may have every reason to despair, but God has promised to do something about the suffering and injustice of Adam’s world.
Read passages like Isaiah 9 and Romans 15. The Book of Common Prayer provides prayers for each of the weeks of Advent. You can use this one for the first week.
Almighty God, give us grace to cast away the works of darkness, and put on the armor of light, now in the time of this mortal life in which your Son Jesus Christ came to visit us in great humility; that in the last day, when he shall come again in his glorious majesty to judge both living and the dead, we may rise to the life immortal; through him who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and forever. Amen.
Second Sunday of Advent
On the second Sunday in Advent, we light another purple candle, this one for faith. It's sometimes called the Bethlehem candle as we remember the faith of Mary and Joseph. We may find ourselves too comfortable and familiar with their story that we forget just how courageous their faith was, to believe and act on what God said. God is a God who makes promises and we can rest in the assurance that God keeps those promises. We know that faith is the first step of preparation. Jesus has come once, and he is coming again.
Read Luke 3 and Micah 5. Here is the prayer for the second week in Advent.
Blessed Lord, who caused all Holy Scriptures to be written for our learning: Grant us so to hear them, read, mark, learn, and inwardly digest them, that by patience and the comfort of your holy Word we may embrace and ever hold fast the blessed hope of everlasting life, which you have given us in our Savior Jesus Christ; who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, forever and ever. Amen.
Third Sunday in Advent
In the third week in Advent, we light a pink candle for joy. This candle is sometimes called the Shepherd candle as we remember the message of extraordinary joy of the angels to the shepherds. It’s a subversive act of protest to shout for joy when the darkest night of the year is coming. But that’s what the angels do. We can lean into joy knowing with full confidence that the darkness does not have the final word. Perhaps my favorite image I associate with Advent is the scene from The Grinch Who Stole Christmas when the citizens of Whoville gather and sing. Even though the Grinch has taken everything, they still gather and sing.
Read Luke 2 and Isaiah 61. Use this prayer for the third week in Advent.
O Lord Jesus Christ, you sent your messengers the prophets to preach repentance and prepare the way of our salvation: Grant that the ministers and stewards of your mysteries may likewise make ready your way, by turning the hearts of the disobedient toward the wisdom of the just that at your second coming to judge the world, we may be found a people acceptable in your sight; for with the Father and the Holy Spirit you live and reign, one God, now and forever. Amen.
Fourth Sunday in Advent
For the fourth and final week of Advent, we light the last purple candle of peace. We remember that the message of the angels is not only one of joy but also peace—God's great shalom. Shalom is when God has put everything back in its right place. It is the great end of the story. All of our spiritual practices and disciplines are to this end of God’s peace. This is the work that God is doing in the world. It is the undoing of all evil, brokenness, and disease in God's creation. The world is put to rights. This is what happens when Jesus arrives. This is what we’re getting ready for.
Read John 3 and Romans 13 and Mark 13. Use this prayer for the fourth week in Advent.
Stir up your power, O Lord, and with great might come among us; and as we are sorely hindered by our sins from running the race that is set before us, let your bountiful grace and mercy speedily help and deliver us; through Jesus Christ our Lord, to whom, with you and the Holy Spirit, be honor and glory, now and forever. Amen.
Christmas Eve
Finally, we arrive at the Christ candle. We light the white candle in the center to remember Jesus, the Light of the World. God has come to rescue us and make all things new. Jesus has come and he is coming again. God's deepest desire is to live amongst human beings, to turn our darkness into light. God's cry at creation, at the birth of Jesus, and in this moment right now: "Let there be light!"
Read John 1 and Titus 2 and Revelation 22. Use this prayer for Christmas Eve.
O God, you have caused this holy night to shine with the brightness of the true Light: Grant that we, who have known the mystery of that Light on earth, may also enjoy him perfectly in heaven; where with you and the Holy Spirit he lives and reigns, one God, in glory everlasting. Amen.
Let the candles of the wreath be a weekly tangible reminder that the season of darkness is not the end of the story. With these symbols of the light of Jesus, may you have the courage to defiantly cry into the blackest darkness God’s creation words: “Let there be light!”
If you'd like to go deeper in Advent and the Christian calendar, I recommend Ancient-Future Time: Proclaiming and Enacting God’s Narrative by Robert Webber.