Why does my family love using an Advent wreath in December? Well, let me begin by telling you a story. My son just turned 3. He doesn’t quite understand the concept of the days of the week yet. But every Saturday is our family’s Sabbath, and at each meal of Sabbath we try to light our Sabbath candles. Two simple candles that we call “cease” and “celebrate”. And as we light them, we explain how on Sabbath we cease from what is necessary and celebrate that which gives life (The Rest of God). Sabbath is a day for us where we play, eat good food, and try to intentionally rest and live it up in the spirit of the gift that it is. Aiden doesn’t yet know the days of the week, but he will regularly ask if it’s Sabbath yet and if we can light the candles. He knows that on Sabbath he can eat a special breakfast and it will be a restful day for our family. And I think that the lighting of the candles and discussing of their purpose, has helped orient his heart toward Sabbath and (I hope) ultimately toward the Lord.
Because as people, I think we need regular reminders and rituals to help us live into our faith. We are like leaky buckets that constantly leak the vision poured into us. And I’d like to think that something like an Advent wreath and candles, could be a fresh pouring in of vision each week into the leaky buckets of my family’s heart, that we might more readily anticipate and long for Jesus’ coming through the Christmas season.
So last December, we bought an Advent wreath. Our church created a devotional guide about Advent and the purpose of the wreath/candles and it has really impacted how we think about it.
The Meaning and Purpose of the Advent Season
“The great proclamation, ‘The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us’ (John 1:14) assures us that God has entered into human history through the incarnation of the Son. The season of Advent, a season of waiting, is designed to cultivate our awareness of God’s actions – past, present, and future. In Advent we hear the prophecies of the Messiah’s coming as addressed to us – people who wait for the second coming. In Advent we heighten our anticipation for the ultimate fulfillment of all Old Testament promises, when the wolf will lie down with the lamb, death will be swallowed up, and every tear will be wiped away. In this way Advent highlights for us the larger story of God’s redemptive plan.
A deliberate tension is built into our practice of the Advent season. Christ has come, and yet not all things have reached completion. While we remember Israel’s waiting and hoping and we give thanks for Christ’s birth, we also anticipate his second coming at the end of time. For this reason, Advent began as a penitential season, a time for discipline and intentional repentance in the confident expectation and hope of Christ’s coming again.
The Advent season includes the four Sundays preceding Christmas. Worship on these Sundays is designed to help people see the tension between celebrating and hoping.” — from The Worship Sourcebook, Second Edition, © 2013, Faith Alive Christian Resources, and Capital Pres.org.
The Significance of the Advent Candles & Wreath
“The lighting of Advent candles dramatically depicts the growing expectation we have for the coming of Christ, the light of the world. The traditional Advent wreath has four purple candles (lit on the four Sundays of Advent) grouped around a white Christ candle (lit on Christmas Eve or Christmas Day).(A tradition calling for the third candle to be pink is not especially important. It is based on a medieval tradition in which the second to last Sunday of Advent accented Christian joy in the middle of what was traditionally a penitential season.) The main symbolism portrayed by the wreath is the growing intensity of light as we light an additional candle each week, building anticipation for the celebration of Christ’s coming. Some congregations attribute particular meaning to individual candles, associating them with hope, peace, joy, and love.” (from Capital Pres 2019 Advent Devotional Resource)
How to Use the Wreath
- On the 4 Sundays before Christmas, during a meal where your family will sit down all together, light an advent candle. Light 1 candle for week 1 (November 29), 2 candles for week 2 (December 6), 3 candles for week 3 (December 13), and 4 candles for week 4 (December 20). On Christmas Eve/Day, light the white Christ candle as well as the 4 colored candles.
- As you light the candle(s), explain to your family the meaning behind the candle and why it matters for them and for Christmas.
- Pray for your meal, tying in the theme of the candle.
A General Overview of the Candles
Week 1: Hope; Week 2: Peace; Week 3: Joy; Week 4: Love – highly encourage you to check out this Advent resource for explaining the candles each week.
I hope that this overview of the Advent Wreath has given you ideas for helping your own family to better understand this season of anticipation and longing.
Does your family use an Advent wreath? How has it helped y’all to remember Jesus’ incarnation?
Thanks for the great post. If I have time I would love to research more about the origin of the advent wreath. In Germany traditionally it is only the 4 candles, and the color really doesnt matter, though I have never seen purple…classic is red. But there is a classic song at church that talks about the message and coming christ with each Verse added as a candle is lit. My now 16 month boy loves tradition of singing and lighting them almost daily. I do believe it is traditions like this that matter as Christians during Christmas time. Maybe next year I will add the 4 themes to the weekly Lighting – remembering Hope, Peace Joy and Love is certainly a central part of remembering the coming of Christ
I love that—thanks for sharing Marie. Yeah I think it’s easy to leak vision for why we celebrate, so anything to bring us back to the true meaning is so helpful, especially for little ones! Blessings on your family this Christmas!