Sharing Advent Traditions: The Jesse Tree

I'll be doing some posts about Advent traditions and Christmas decorating on my Grandma blog. So if you're interested in reading about the Jesse Tree, check out.

The Jesse Tree and the First week of Advent

Welcome Advent - Come, Lord Jesus

About the Advent Wreath
by Fr. Victor Hoagland

The origins of the Advent wreath are found in the folk practices of the pre-Christian Germanic peoples who, during the cold December darkness of Eastern Europe, gathered wreaths of evergreen and lighted fires as signs of hope in a coming spring and renewed light.

Christians kept these popular traditions alive, and by the 16th century Catholics and Protestants throughout Germany used these symbols to celebrate their Advent hope in Christ, the everlasting Light. From Germany the use of the Advent wreath spread to other parts of the Christian world.

Traditionally, the wreath is made of four candles in a circle of evergreens. Three candles are violet and the fourth is rose, but four white candles or four violet candles can also be used. Each day at home, the candles are lighted, perhaps before the evening meal-- one candle the first week, and then another each succeeding week until December 25th. A short prayer may accompany the lighting. For more go here.

Will You Keep Advent Well?

Today is black Friday and millions of people are out at the mall doing their "holiday" shopping. Some are picking out their "holiday" trees (if they aren't up already). Some real early birds had their outside decorations up weeks ago. (I've seen them!)

So my question today is "Will you keep advent?"

The word advent comes from the Latin "adventus" meaning "coming."

Christmas is the destination but there is meaning in the coming to it. If you were starting on a cross-country car trip from northern Virginia with a destination in California would you ignore everything on the way? Of course not. You would pick out the northern or southern route and mark all the interim destinations on the way. Perhaps you'd plan to go through Yellowstone or the Grand Canyon. Maybe you'd want to stop at the Alamo or the badlands. How many would drive straight through without a single exciting stop along the way?

And that's how it should be with our journey from the first Sunday of Advent to Christmas Day. It's a time to pause at some of the important events that led up to that first Christmas in the stable at Bethlehem. Thinking about the important ancestors on Jesus' family tree, like Noah, Abraham, Moses, King David, Ruth, Joseph, and Mary, reminds us how God prepared his people from the day Adam and Eve rebelled until the day the angels announced the birth of the Savior to the shepherds.

If you leap to Christmas without experiencing the wonders of Advent you'll miss the growing brightness in the east from the rising Son. You will be celebrating the season like the secular world does as one more excuse for Hallmark cards, parties, and turkey dinner. But the richness of Advent's liturgical meaning makes Christmas much more than a secular holiday. It's a day of wonder, the birthday of the king, "with royal beauty bright."

So keep Advent well. Follow the star with the three kings for a truly brilliant Christmas Day!

Experience with your family some of the wonderful Advent traditions to make Christmas more than a day of food and gifts.