And
suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly army, praising
God, and saying: Glory to God in the highest; and on earth peace to men of good
will. (Lk. 1: 13-14)
In the Church, there is a pattern to what is called “the ecclesial year” – the
array of Church seasons and feasts, which purposely place “the various events
of the life of Our Lord before us in order that we may ponder over them and
imitate the virtues presented.”[1] In a coincidental and stark contrast to the
secular calendar which nears its close, the Catholic City always opens each new
Church year on the first Sunday of Advent, the penitential season leading up to
the joyful celebration of Our Lord’s Nativity.
Throughout the centuries and in all cultures, there developed in
Catholic churches and homes customs and traditions which intentionally keep in
mind “the reason for the season.”
Symbolism of the Advent Wreath
The usual four weeks [2]
of Advent (from the Latin “ad-venio” – to come to [3]),
recall the four thousand years [4]
that elapsed from the Fall of our first parents until the birth of Jesus Christ.
During this brief penitential season of the Church, we strive to “make straight
for Christ the way to our souls, and behold, Our Lord will come at Christmas.”[5]Likened
to a “mini-Lent,” the season of Advent possesses a two-fold purpose of spiritual preparation – first, to
commemorate the Lord’s “coming to” the world as a humble Infant and second, in
anticipation of His Second Coming, when He shall judge the living and the dead.
The symbolic elements
of the traditional Advent wreath, a circle of real evergreen boughs in which
are set four candles (three of purple and one of rose) serve a dual purpose. The
evergreen wreath itself represents God (the Alpha and Omega, Who has no
beginning and no end) and His faithful promise in Genesis 3:15. The four (blessed) candles signify the four thousand
years of mankind’s sufferings and sorrowful anticipation of the Savior, as well
as the four Advent weeks. Predominating the wreath are three candles of purple,
the liturgical color of the somber penitential seasons (Advent and Lent). Rose,
the liturgical color of joy, is the third candle in the wreath. [6]
Of these four candles,
it is said that the first candle recalls Adam and Eve and the Original Sin
brought upon all mankind. The second candle reminds us of Isaiah’s prophecy of
Christ’s Birth and Passion. The third candle (of rose) represents the Virgin
Mary – the “Cause of Our Joy” and salvation, the Mystical Rose who brought
Christ into the world. The fourth candle denotes St. John the Baptist, the immediate
forerunner of Christ, and his message of repentance.
Traditionally, on each
Sunday of Advent, a new candle is lit in the following order: purple, purple,
rose, and purple. In other words, on the first Sunday of Advent, only one purple
candle is lighted. On the second Sunday of Advent, two purple candles are
kindled. However, on the third Sunday of Advent (Gaudete or “Joyful” Sunday),
the rose candle is lit along with the first two purple candles. This day is
called Gaudete Sunday because the Feast of the Nativity approaches and we
remember that God’s Promise of the Redeemer is fulfilled. As the 1962 Roman Catholic Missal explains, “On this
day, the Church urges us to gladness in the middle of this time of expectation
and penance…Now is the time for fervent prayers and for imploring Jesus to
remain with us by His mercy.” [7] Finally, on the fourth Advent of Sunday, all four candles are set alight.
When the Advent wreath
and its candles are blessed by a Catholic priest, it becomes a
sacramental. In the Catholic home, the
wreath is set up on the first Sunday of Advent, and it is best placed where it
will serve as a beautiful daily reminder to all family members that this is a
season of penance and hope, of prayer and work. On each Sunday, the family can
gather together, with the mother lighting the candles as the father reads a
short blessing, asking God “to prepare all hearts for the coming of Christ” [8]
and sprinkles the wreath with holy water. The candles remain alight throughout dinner,
after which evening prayers may be said.
The Lady Candle and the Christ Child Candle
In the Advent wreath,
there is sometimes seen the addition of a fifth, all-white candle, set in the
wreath’s middle to symbolize Jesus, the Light of the World; it appears to be an
organic adaption of the Christ Child Candle. Usually a pillar, the Christ Child
Candle may be decorated with a symbol of Jesus, like a tiny baby or a small
lamb. Although on display during the Advent season, the Christ Child Candle is
not lit until Christmas Eve (the Vigil of the Nativity) or Christmas Day.
At the beginning of
Advent, the same white pillar candle could be used to honor the Virgin Mary by
sewing elastic to a tiny piece of stiff veiling or solid fabric, either in
white or blue (traditionally known as Our Lady’s colors).The veil or cloth, covering
the symbol of Jesus on the Christ Child Candle, is removed either after
Christmas Eve’s midnight Mass or early Christmas morning. Beginning on
Christmas, the Christ Candle is lit every day, either throught January 1st (commemorating the first eight days of Jesus' life, for on the eighth day, He was circumcised and first shed His Precious Blood), or through Epiphany (the day the Holy Infant allowed His identity to be made known to the Magi). Families might even light the Christ Child Candle through February 2 (Feast of the Presentation of the Infant Jesus in the Temple, when the prophet Simeon called Him "a light of revelation to the Gentiles, and a glory for thy people Israel." [9]).
Other families prefer a
separate “Lady Candle” (today, it is often called a “Mary Candle”). A simple
but loving custom which commemorates the Virgin on one of her greatest
solemnities (the Feast of the Immaculate Conception on December 8), the “Lady
Candle” is either a white pillar candle with blue or white veiling, or a tall
white pillar candle, adorned with tiny blue roses or a simple blue ribbon. In
either case, the “Lady Candle” could be placed in front of a statue of Our Lady
or near the Nativity Set and lit each night, beginning December 8 through
Christmas as the family prays the Rosary. Within the octave (eight days) of the
Immaculate Conception, many families still retain the custom of beginning a nine-day
Christmas Novena to the Infant Jesus (starting on December 16 and completed on
Christmas Day).
The Nativity Set and the Virtue of Charity
The Advent season is the perfect time to refocus on practicing the virtue of charity, which first means love of God and His laws above all things and second, love of neighbor. The highest virtue is charity, even above obedience, for all good things are founded upon charity. After all, it is God’s own charity toward men that gave us His only Begotten Son, Jesus Christ, the Savior of the world; and from this charity also issued Christ’s obedience, even to His death on a cross. The humble little Nativity set, all by itself, tells a story about charity, and the lack thereof amongst those who would not give shelter to Our Lady and St. Joseph.
The Advent season is the perfect time to refocus on practicing the virtue of charity, which first means love of God and His laws above all things and second, love of neighbor. The highest virtue is charity, even above obedience, for all good things are founded upon charity. After all, it is God’s own charity toward men that gave us His only Begotten Son, Jesus Christ, the Savior of the world; and from this charity also issued Christ’s obedience, even to His death on a cross. The humble little Nativity set, all by itself, tells a story about charity, and the lack thereof amongst those who would not give shelter to Our Lady and St. Joseph.
Parents and children
can prepare themselves for the celebration of Jesus’ Birth by renewing the
offering of “daily duty” in silent sacrifice to God, but making those
sacrifices “visible” in a unique way with the family’s Nativity set. Setting up
the Nativity set on the first Sunday of Advent, parents remind the family that
everyone (adults included) is responsible for preparing the stable and the Divine
Child’s manger. The manger itself is covered with a small cotton ball (to cover
the Infant Jesus) and outside the crèche is set a tiny bundle of clean straw
(available at craft stores). Each tiny straw piece represents a “little work”
done in the spirit of pleasing God and preparing for Christ’s Coming – like a
prayer or an act of self-denial.
Through the whole of
Advent, the miniature stable and the manger are slowly built up, as every
person who makes a sacrifice quietly
adds one small piece of straw (just one) in the stable. Each person’s daily goal is to add as many
little pieces of straw as possible, but these acts are not meant to breed a
family competition or self-congratulation, because such things are not the
spirit of Christ. The practice of adding straws represents the entire family’s
many hidden acts of love for Christ. When one thinks about it, the tiny pieces
of straw are reminders of the littleness of our actions, which only become
meritorious in God’s eyes when they are done with love and in union with Christ.
Supernaturally speaking,
parents can help their children “set the tone for the day” by gathering the
family together, praying the Morning Offering, and reminding each family member
to place one small piece of straw into the manger (representing their morning
prayers). After that, each person keeps track of any good deeds offered to God
by adding another tiny straw piece to the manger or inside of the stable.
There are countless
ways to make acts of charity and offer them in reparation to God for sins -
morning and evening prayers, giving alms, exercising patience, practicing good
manners (which is so sadly lacking in our modernist culture), giving up
something which one prefers (a favorite activity or food, a social gathering,
the company of people whom one particularly likes), and doing our best to think
and speak well of others (and very little of ourselves). The offering of even
little things is consistent with the Church’s teachings, exemplified through St.
Therese the Little Flower and what she called the “Little Way.”
The Christmas Season Continues
Over forty years ago, Mary Reed Newland wrote, “There is only one reason in all the world to feast and be merry at Christmas: because we are redeemed, and Christmas is the feast of the beginning of our Redemption. In this bewilderingly beautiful season, in a most mysterious and beautiful way, God became a Baby.”[10]
Over forty years ago, Mary Reed Newland wrote, “There is only one reason in all the world to feast and be merry at Christmas: because we are redeemed, and Christmas is the feast of the beginning of our Redemption. In this bewilderingly beautiful season, in a most mysterious and beautiful way, God became a Baby.”[10]
The true season of
Christmas – traditionally known as Christmastide, the season of joy in which we
celebrate events of Our Lord’s “child life,”[11]
- only begins on Christmas Day. In the traditional ecclesial calendar, the
length of this period was regulated by the position of Septuagesima Sunday,
which occurred any time between January 16 and February 22.[12]
In the days and weeks
after Christmas, we might remember the first forty days of Jesus’ life, hidden
away in a stable, tended by the Virgin Mary and guarded by St. Joseph. On the
Feast of the Holy Family (traditionally falling on the first Sunday after
Christmas), parents should lead their children into asking God for the graces
needed to be a holy family, too. Husbands should look anew to St. Joseph, his
trust in God, his purity of body and soul and, above all, his sacrificial love for
the Virgin Mary and Jesus. Wives may look to Our Lady, who is the model of all
virtues. Children should be encouraged in emulating the Christ Child in His
attitude toward God, His Virgin Mother, and His foster-father, St. Joseph.
On January 1, which once
commemorated the Circumcision of the Lord, the Church celebrates the Feast of
Mary, Mother of God. This is the perfect time for religious resolutions, to continue
what we practiced in the Advent recently passed, and to consecrate ourselves
(or renew our consecrations) to Jesus through Mary.
At this time of year, there
is also the Catholic custom of “marking” the house doors with the initials CMB
intertwined with the numbers representing the new year. For example, the marks for the Year of Our
Lord 2012 would be written in the following manner: 2 + 0 + C + M + B + 1 + 2.
The initials “CMB” have two meanings – “Christus
Mansionem Benedicat,” which translates to “Christ, bless this home” and they are also the first initials of the traditional names given to the Magi - Caspar, Melchior and Balthasar. These marks are written in chalk at the tops of doors or over the main entrance. Another option is to write the year and the initials on a small hand-held chalkboard, which can be nicely decorated around the frame, easily fitting in the space above the front door.
Jesus – Light of the World
Mansionem Benedicat,” which translates to “Christ, bless this home” and they are also the first initials of the traditional names given to the Magi - Caspar, Melchior and Balthasar. These marks are written in chalk at the tops of doors or over the main entrance. Another option is to write the year and the initials on a small hand-held chalkboard, which can be nicely decorated around the frame, easily fitting in the space above the front door.
Jesus – Light of the World
In some Catholic
countries, small gifts are given to children on each of the “Twelve Days of
Christmas,” beginning on Christmas Day and ending on January 6, the traditional
Feast of the Epiphany. Originating in the third century, the Epiphany commemorates
the Magi’s finding of the Christ Child “with Mary His Mother” – the day the
wise men offered their symbolic gifts of gold, frankincense, and myrrh.
Tradition relates that
these gifts represent the mysteries of Our Lord’s life – gold (signifying His
holy, temporal life), frankincense (a gift reserved only for kings), and myrrh
(a rare and bitter healing herb, signifying the future Passion of Christ and
the Redemption).
There is no doubt that,
by early January, the world considers the Christmas season to be over. In
contrast, families in the Catholic City might renew the tradition of keeping the
Nativity set on display and the Christmas lights burning for 40 days, up to and
including Candlemas (February 2, the Feast of the Presentation of the Infant
Jesus in the Temple). In so doing, we declare our belief that the “Light of the
World” has come.
[Copyright Marianna Bartold, 2010. All Rights Reserved World-wide. This article was originally published in Catholic Family News and was updated only in regard to the year 2012.)
Notes
[1] Most Rev.
Louis LaRavoir Morrow, D.D., Bishop of Krishnagar, My Catholic Faith: A Manual of Religion [Kansas City, MO: Sarto
House, 2003. Reprinted from the 1954 edition]: pp. 240-241.
[2] Advent
usually begins on the Sunday closest to the Feast of St. Andrew (Nov. 30), with
the last Advent week coinciding with the Sunday preceding Christmas Eve.
Depending on the calendar dates in a given year, there are rare occasions in
which Advent is observed during the course of three Sundays, not four.
[3] Francis Mershman,
"Advent," The Catholic
Encyclopedia. Vol. 1. [New York: Robert Appleton Company, 1907] at
[4] According to
the Hebrew and Vulgate chronology, as noted by Dom Gueranger’s Liturgical Year,
cited by “Advent Overview” on Fisheaters website
[http://www.fisheaters.com/customsadvent1.html]
[5] Roman Catholic Daily Missal, 1962
[Kansas City, MO: Angelus Press, 2004. Newly retypeset, based on The Ideal Missal, 1962]: p. 136.
[6]“A Catholic
Encyclopedia” in The Family Rosary
Edition of the Holy Bible [Chicago, IL: The Catholic Press, Inc., 1953
Imprimatur): p. 27.
[7] Roman
Catholic Daily Missal, op. cit., p.147.
[8]Mary Reed
Newland, The Year and Our Children
[San Diego, CA: The Firefly Press, reprinted with permission from the 1956
edition. Copyrighted by the estate of Mary Reed Newland]: p. 15.
[9] Lk. 2: 32 (The Holy Bible, Douay-Rheims version,
with Challoner Revisions 1749-52; 1899 Edition of the John Murray Company).
[10]Newland, op.
cit., p. 33.
[11]Most Rev.
Morrow, op.cit., p. 241.
[12] Ibid., p.
241.
