Advent - Fasting or Feasting?

[truehobbit]

Sunday was the beginning of Advent, the time of preparation for Christmas.

Advent, as the name says, means "the coming" - it is the four Sundays before Christmas, and, just like Lent, is meant to be a time for spiritual preparation for the holy day.
And just like Lent, this preparation used to be done by fasting and praying, to purge the heart and soul.

Churches have long relaxed their ideas of what kind of fasting and purging would be required, but it is still supposed to be a meditative time - not one where you get completely stressed out with Christmas shopping and decorating, on top of end of year work-loads that tend to pile up in jobs.
And neither one where you already consume everything that is meant for Christmas, of course.

So, I was wandering what those here who are practising Christians do to keep Advent.
And I'll of course be most happy to try to answer any questions people who are not Christians might have about this!

As to me, I try to keep the season meditative, but I don't fast. With so many seasonal delicacies, restricting them to the proper Christmas period would really not be enough time to enjoy them!
There are limits to what I'll permit myself to have out of the time, very firm ideas, really, on what you can have when, but they are mostly a bit ideosyncratic and derived from what things were like when I was a kid.
But looking forward to the good things to eat is really quite an important part of the way towards Christmas for me, and I marked the first Advent Sunday by opening a jar of cinnamon honey that I bought a few weeks ago.

I like giving presents, so what Christmas shopping I do I find not to be stressful, rather, it makes me think of how I could give some pleasure to others, and that seems a suitable occupation before Christmas.

The most meditative thing, apart from going to Church a bit more regularly than usual, is probably the Advent Wreath. This often has become a mere object of decoration, subject to trends and fashions.
Mine is the same each year: a wreath of fir twigs, to symbolise invincible life, and four candles, red to symbolise the sacrifice, and their growing light, as an additional one is lit each Sunday, to symbolise the coming of the Light just as the darkness appears to be the deepest.
When I light the candles, I sing an Advent song or two, and just consider the idea of bringing light into the darkness and similar things for a few minutes.

I like Advent very much, it even feels more serenely festive to me than the time after Christmas, which is probably not what it's meant to be, I'm not sure. It also has to do with the waning of the year, I guess - or maybe I just like anticipation!

Advent is also a time filled with popular traditions and rites. Some of them may be regional, some denominational. I'd be very interested to find out if the different denominations have different rites or rules to be followed during that time, but I'm also curious about local differences, of course!

[Primula Baggins]

Advent is a beginning. The first Sunday of Advent is the first Sunday of the church year, after a long summer and autumn full of Days after Pentecost and the final feast of Christ the King Sunday.

In Advent in my church the winter decorations creep in, and the Advent Wreath that a child lights every Sunday, one more candle every Sunday. The progression is a promise: light will return. In the darkest moment, the light already is returning. After the longest night comes the first morning on which the sun rises earlier.

In our part of the country churches still have candlelight services on Christmas Eve. They are not strictly legal. They still happen, as the culmination of Advent. At the end of the Christmas readings the church is dark, and the ushers take light from the pastor's candle and pass it to the congregation. When everyone is holding a lighted candle, we sing "Silent Night" a capella, with our candles held up. We sing in parts; everyone knows them and knows the words.

Silent night, holy night,
Son of God, love's pure light,
Radiant, beams from thy holy face
With the dawn of redeeming grace—
Jesus, Lord, at thy birth;
Jesus, Lord, at thy birth.

At my father's church, for years, the town fire marshal was a member, but he could not go to church on Christmas Eve—he would have had to take official notice.

[Cerin]

I so enjoyed reading your comments, Prim and Hobby, on what you do to observe Advent.

I am also one who in more recent years has participated in non-denominational congregations that don't officially observe advent. But I was raised in the Catholic Church and also attended a Presbyterian church for a time, and I do so love the more formalized congregational observances that marked those services. There is something about long-standing traditions ... it is as though you are participating with such a great number of believers past and present.

Hobby, I so related to your comments about looking forward to special things to eat. That really is such a big part of 'the way toward Christmas' as you so excellently put it. In recent years I've done lots and lots of baking (really behind this year, haven't even put up my fruitcake!). It is such a joyful process, working and anticipating the pleasure all those treats will eventually bring while Christmas music plays and the winter sun streams in the window. I just love this time of year.

I like Advent very much, it even feels more serenely festive to me than the time after Christmas, which is probably not what it's meant to be, I'm not sure. It also has to do with the waning of the year, I guess - or maybe I just like anticipation!

I feel just this way! 'Serenely festive' is absolutely it.

[Pearly Di]

Hi, girls.

I dislike Christmas consumerism but do find Advent meaningful.

I adore Advent and Christmas music.

My favourite Advent hymns are 'O come O come Emmanuel' and 'Lo, he comes with clouds descending'.

For this Advent season, I'm reading the book of Isaiah.

No kidding. Awesome stuff.

Advent is, in fact, much more about the Second Coming rather than the First ...

Pearl (alias Diamond)

[Cerin]

Hi, Pearl!

Advent is, in fact, much more about the Second Coming rather than the First ...

If you'd care to elaborate on that, I'm all ears (or would that be eyes).

[Pearly Di]

Sure!

I've been an Anglican for a long time. I was brought up in the Brethren, who were pretty narrow and fundamentalist, God bless 'em - although I do owe a love of the Bible to them so I won't knock 'em. I also have strong charismatic leanings.

I've always loved the liturgy for its beauty and biblical content, but it took me some time to realise that the Advent season is as much about about the Second Coming of Christ and 'Last Things' - judgement, end of the world and all that jazz - as it is about his First Coming, the Incarnation. The two dovetail together.

Wesley's fabulous Advent hymn 'Lo he comes with clouds descending' is totally a Second Coming hymn.

I love the seasons and festivals in the church year ... I love that sense of rhythm. There's a time to fast and there's a time to feast, there's a time for God's people to repent and reflect and there's a time for them to party on down.

And of course Christians have the Jews to thank for that.

[theduffster]

Our church has a "Festival of the Nativity" that they celebrate every year, it's this weekend. (I feel guilty that I'm not participating more this year, so I'll explain it to feel like I'm doing my part--even though the people running it won't appreciate it.)

Basically, everyone donates their Nativity sets. It is unbelievable, the variety and the mediums used. They will have hundreds and hundreds on display, and all during the weekend, local musicians, including high school students, will perform Christmas songs.

I have donated a Nativity set my daughter Jessica brought home from Poland, as well as the set made of paper cups that she and Rebecca and I all made about 15 years ago. It's got a charming, innocent naivete to it...at least that's how I defend it. Of course, we get them back after the weekend.

It is such a great way to focus on "the reason for the season", just sitting in the pews, listening or wandering the rooms, looking at the sets from all over the world, and all sizes. And we all donate breads and cookies...you're all invited.

[Cerin]

Thanks, Pearl. I've never heard of the Brethren.

The duffster, that sounds amazing. I'd love to see the nativity scene made of paper cups!

[truehobbit]

Thanks for the replies, all!

In our part of the country churches still have candlelight services on Christmas Eve. They are not strictly legal.

Prim, candlelight services not legal?
What about the normal alter candles etc - you have them, don't you?

The Christmas Eve services can vary enormously here, from church to church and from target group to target group. So, there might be candlelight vigils, too, but I've never been to one - but we have candlelight services for Easter night and for the so-called Rorate-services in Advent. There is no electric light on, then, and everybody has a small candle in front of them.

(And although, from all I know, they are perfectly legal here, I do sometimes worry about when there's candle right at the back of my seat...)

Rorate is derived from the introductory words of the service: Rorate coeli desuper - this is a translation I found on the web: Drop down dew, ye heavens, from above, and let the clouds rain the just.

It is also the text of one of my favourite Advent songs.

'O come O come Emmanuel'

Pearl, I wonder if you sing that to the same tune we do - it's another of my favourites.

For this Advent season, I'm reading the book of Isaiah.

The lovely texts that form the opening of Handel's Messiah, which are from Isaiah, were read in Church last weekend - hearing the words makes me want to ask to stop the service and listen to the music.

Pearl, like Cerin I haven't a clue who "The Brethren" are.

duff, yes, Nativity scenes are very popular here, too - people have them at home, and each church has one, too, but they are only set up right before Christmas - or, sometimes a church starts the set in Advent with a fairly empty stage and only Mary and Joseph on a donkey or so - travelling to Bethlehem. The real scene is only set up on Christmas Eve.
Their are tours offered to go and see the best scenes, and sets that connect the Nativity scene to modern real life are particularly popular. (I myself am a bit of a purist there, though, and prefer historical scenes. )

As to the second coming, I think all is interconnected in our liturgy, but I couldn't point to a specific feature that spells it out for me - could you give an example, Pearl? (I don't know the text of Wesley's song, for example.)
What Christmas is usually connected with is the final redemption in the crucifixion, though, which often adds a foreshadowing of the sadness to come to the joys of Christmas.

A few days ago, the 4th, was the feast of Barbara, where in some areas it's a tradition to cut a bough from a cherry tree and put it in a vase in the house, where it will (with some luck) blossom for Christmas.
(As most people don't have a cherry tree to cut from, flower shops cater for this and sell the boughs, but I've tried twice and they didn't start flowering, so that's a tradition that's too likely to be depressing for my taste. )

And on the 6th is was Saint Nicolaus day, the saint who in the English-speaking world merged with Father Christmas into Santa Claus.
There are lots and lots of nice traditions for children connected to St. Nicolaus day, and in Holland it's actually when kids receive their gifts, rather than on Christmas!

[Frelga]

Their are tours offered to go and see the best scenes, and sets that connect the Nativity scene to modern real life are particularly popular.

If you don't mind my asking, TH, could you tell me a bit more about that? How do they connect Nativity to modern life?

[truehobbit]

It just means that you get figures from people's everyday lives represented, either as visiting the manger or you get a whole Bethlehem, with the manger just being a small part of it.

On the one hand, it's of course quite appropriate to show all sorts of people visiting Jesus in the manger - the shepherds can be seen to represent just all of us, especially low-life people, so people tend to find it touching to see a modern day bum or a local celebrity or whoever they find connects the Nativity scene to themselves.
Personally, I just don't like the look of that so much, and I'm perfectly happy to have the shepherds representing all us ordinary people.

The tradition of having a whole town around the nativity scene comes from the Mediterranean, where you get all the bustling everyday life of a mediterranean town represented together with the Nativity.

I tried to find some pics, but wasn't very successful, I'm afraid.
Here's a Nativity from one of the old churches in Cologne - it's very small but you can see there are three people (the couple in green/white and the guy in red/white) in the costumes of the big traditional carnival societes, and two people in 19th century dress, who, I'd guess, represent some local celebrities, or "originals" (not sure that makes sense in English).
(Actually, I'm guessing that the guy in black is Tünnes - a figure from old Cologne, famous for his thickness.)

[Rowanberry]

In some way related to this topic: Is the St. Lucia's Day celebrated in any way where you live? For some reason, it became a tradition in Sweden, and from there it spread to Finland, especially among the Swedish speaking part of the population.

Here, the tradition is that, the biggest Swedish speaking newspaper arranges an annual Lucia pageant, in which the audience can vote for their favourite of ten candidates. But, it isn't any ordinary beauty pageant - the Lucia acts as a messenger of goodwill and charity, and benefits financially very little of her assignment. On the evening of December 13th there's a Lucia Parade in Helsinki, in which the new Lucia, clad in white and wearing a crown with live candles because she is associated with light, and her maidens are presented. Other cities, schools, etc. arrange their own Lucia's Day festivities.

[truehobbit]

No, we don't have that here, but I know it's a big day in Sweden. And big day for the girl in the family who gets to represent Lucia!

I googled Lucia, the legend says that she devoted her life to the poor and in order to have her hands free for her work, she'd wear candles in a wreath on her head - so that's exactly what the Swedish do! She died a martyr. And, interestingly, the website said that in the Middle Ages children would be given gifts on Lucia's day, the tradition to give gifts on Christmas only dates from the 16th century.

Somewhere above I mentioned Saint Nicolaus's day, which is also a traditional gift-giving day in some areas. It seems that this time of year is particularly rich in Saints whose saintliness at least partly consisted in sharing with the poor, and in whose memory the children traditionally receive gifts - St Martin on Nov 11, Saint Nicolaus on Dec 6 and Lucia on Dec 13 - with the Three Kings on Jan 6 summing it all up.

I wonder if there's something to this observation or if I'm just missing some other facts.

[Primula Baggins]

My Swedish-ancestry aunt gave me a "Lucia crown" for my daughter to wear at Christmas that has little batteries and electric candles—much safer, no doubt! As the oldest (only) daughter, she is supposed to get up first on Christmas morning wearing the crown of candles and wake everyone up, I think for breakfast (meaning, as usual, that "everyone" doesn't include Mother! ).

But we are just not in that tradition, being Norwegian in ancestry with our own ideas of what to do on Christmas morning, and we haven't used it.