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| A-Z of Christmas. A is for...Advent. |
Rather appropriately we kick
off our Christmas countdown with an 'A' for Advent. If you say Advent
probably the most associated words are calendar and then chocolate.
The assumption is that 1st December heralds the start of
the true Christmas period and when we tick off the days until 25th
December. The fact is Advent starts on the fourth Sunday before 25th
December which this year of course does actually happen to be today,
1st December. In theory this can be any of the days
between 27th November and 3rd December.
Another common thought is
that we are counting the days down to Christmas Day. Whilst
Christians will will be looking forward to commemorating the birth of
Jesus it is actually a time to prepare about the Second Coming. I bet
that's not something most people think about when they shove a piece
of cheap chocolate into their months after they've open the calendar
door.
If you're of a certain age
you may remember that each year on Blue Peter they got some
wire coat hangers, a bit of tinsel and a selection of candles to make
an Advent Wreath. I doubt they still do this today if only because of
the difficulty of getting hold of a wire coat hanger. Churches still
have an Advent Wreath with another candle being lit each Sunday in
the run-up to Christmas Eve. We have a single Advent candle each
which you burn each day down to the next number. A little tip –
once you put your decorations up remember that the candle flame can
melt the tinsel that you have stylishly hung round your living room
mirror...
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| Church's Advent candle wreath |
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