The Advent Wreath

Today is the first Advent. For me the Advent wreath is as important, if not more so than the Christmas tree itself. In my tradition the wreath consists of greenery, red ribbons and four red candles. My mother’s favorite color is red, so she always enjoyed the lighting of these candles and insisted that the color was a true bright red, not burgundy, orange or pink. Sometimes it’s hard to find red candles in the weeks leading up to Christmas, so I often buy them at other times of the year and stash them for the holidays.

We used to make a fresh wreath from foraged branches and rather precariously tie the candles on it with wire, but some years ago I found the perfect wrought iron candelabra and it has become much less scary. The first Advent, sometimes sneaks up suddenly almost in mid November and the first candle lighting is usually preceded by madly searching through all the Christmas boxes for the special stand. This year the first Advent is fairly late, so I’ve had mine ready for a while. 

Where an Advent wreath includes a fifth candle, it is known as the Christ candle and is lit during the Christmas Eve service.

Other variations of the themes celebrated on each of the four Sundays include:

• The Prophets' Candle, symbolizing hope; the Bethlehem Candle, symbolising faith; the Shepherds' Candle, symbolizing joy; the Angel's Candle, symbolising peace

• Hope–Peace–Joy–Love
• Faithfulness–Hope–Joy–Love
• Prophets–Angels–Shepherds–Magi
• Faith–Prepare–Joy–Love