Advent

When: Four Sundays before Christmas (late November or early December)

Advent is the season of waiting and getting ready for Christmas. The word means “coming”. Christians use these weeks to remember that Jesus came as a baby, and to hope for his coming again.

Where it came from

In the 400s and 500s, churches in what are now France and Italy began to keep a time of preparation before Christmas. Some kept a fast of several weeks, starting around St Martin's Day on November 11. Rome later settled on four Sundays, and that is the Advent most Western churches keep today.

The readings in Advent are about waiting: the prophets who looked for the Messiah, John the Baptist who got people ready, and Mary who said yes to God. Many churches use purple or deep blue for Advent, colours of quiet and hope.

How it is kept around the world

• The Advent wreath. A wreath of evergreen branches holds four candles. One more candle is lit each Sunday. A pastor in Hamburg, Johann Hinrich Wichern, made an early version in 1839 for children at his school.
• Advent calendars. Children open a small door each day until Christmas. German families began making them in the 1800s.
• Christmas markets. In Germany and nearby countries, markets open in Advent with lights, music, gingerbread and warm drinks.
• Orthodox churches. Many Orthodox Christians keep the Nativity Fast, often forty days from November 15, with simpler food.
• The Philippines. The first Sunday of Advent is the start of the Church's Christmas preparation, and lanterns called parols are already hanging in the streets. Simbang Gabi begins on December 16.

Christians differ

Catholic, Lutheran, Anglican and many other Western churches keep Advent with candles and special readings. Many Orthodox churches keep a fast instead, on a different calendar. Some churches, such as many Baptist and independent churches, do not follow a church calendar but may still use an Advent wreath or devotions. Families can borrow what helps them wait with hope.

Do it together

Ages 0 to 2

• Look at a candle flame (a safe battery candle) and say, “Light. Waiting.”
• Sing a quiet song at bedtime each evening.

Ages 3 to 5

• Make a paper chain with one link for each day until Christmas.
• Light a battery candle each Sunday and say one thing you are waiting for.

Ages 6 to 8

• Make an Advent wreath with greenery, four candles and a grown-up. Light one more each Sunday.
• Read one short Bible story each day: the prophets, Mary and Joseph, the shepherds.

Ages 9 to 12

• Do one kind thing each day and write it on a card on the tree.
• Learn the words of an Advent hymn such as “O Come, O Come, Emmanuel”.

Ages 13 to 17

• Choose a daily quiet time, even five minutes, and write what you notice.
• Read Isaiah 9 and Luke 1. What is the hope in them, and who needs it near you?

A short prayer

Come, Lord Jesus. Help us to wait with hope, to share with those in need, and to get our hearts ready for you. Amen.

Mark as done

Where this comes from

• Catechism of the Catholic Church, section 524 (Advent)
• Paul F. Bradshaw and Maxwell E. Johnson, The Origins of Feasts, Fasts and Seasons in Early Christianity (Liturgical Press, 2011)
• F. L. Cross and E. A. Livingstone, eds., The Oxford Dictionary of the Christian Church, 3rd ed. (Oxford University Press, 2005), entries “Advent” and “Advent wreath”

Written with AI assistance and checked against the sources listed. Please read it before sharing it with a child.