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25-498: On the First Sunday of Advent, Christians start lighting their Advent wreaths , and praying their Advent daily devotional ; believers may also erect their Chrismon tree , light a Christingle , as well as engage in other ways of preparing for Christmas, such as setting up Christmas decorations , a custom that is sometimes done liturgically through a hanging of the greens ceremony. In Lutheran , Anglican , and Methodist churches

50-484: A Bible reading , devotional time and prayers . An additional candle is lit on each subsequent Sunday until, by the last Sunday of Advent, all four candles are lit. Some Advent wreaths include a fifth, Christ candle which is lit on Christmas Eve or Christmas Day. The custom originated in family settings but has also become widespread in public worship. The concept of the Advent wreath originated among German Lutherans in

75-469: A large wooden ring from an old cartwheel and decorated it with 24 small red candles and four large white candles. One small candle was lit successively every weekday and Saturday during Advent, and a large white candle was lit each Sunday. The custom gained ground among Protestant churches in Germany and evolved into the smaller wreath with four or five candles known today. Roman Catholics in Germany began to adopt

100-464: A mistranslation into high German became “Rauhes Haus”, i.e. rough house. It was connected with the German Home Mission (or Inner Mission ), and started as an industrial institution for poor boys. The scope of the school widened with its growth, and in the early 20th century, besides forming a refuge for neglected children, it received boarding pupils from the higher income families and served as

125-508: A training school for those wishing to become teachers, superintendents or assistants in hospitals, reformatories, houses of correction and the like. It was supported by voluntary contributions, profits arising from the productive enterprises it carried on, and fees from the richer pupils. By the early 20th century, there was an average of 100 poor and neglected children, about one-third girls, receiving instruction within its walls. They lived in “families” of from 12 to 15, each “family” being under

150-464: Is a Monday, Advent Sunday will fall on its latest possible date. It is possible to compute the date of Advent Sunday by adding three days to the date of the last Thursday of November; it can also be computed as the Sunday before the first Thursday of December. Advent wreath This is an accepted version of this page The Advent wreath , or Advent crown , is a Christian tradition that symbolizes

175-555: Is lit on the first Sunday that begins on November 15; on the second Sunday, a blue candle, symbolizing hope, is lit; on the third Sunday, a gold candle, symbolizing love; on the fourth Sunday, a white candle, symbolizing peace; on the fifth Sunday, a purple candle, symbolizing repentance; on the sixth Sunday, a red candle, symbolizing communion. Rauhes Haus Rauhes Haus is a social service institution, founded in 1833 and located in Hamburg , Germany . It shelters and trains children,

200-581: The Ambrosian Rite and the Mozarabic Rite , the First Sunday in Advent comes two weeks earlier than in the Roman, being on the Sunday after St. Martin's Day (11 November), six weeks before Christmas. Advent Sunday is the fourth Sunday before Christmas Day . This is equivalent to the Sunday nearest to St. Andrew's Day , 30 November. It can fall on any date between 27 November and 3 December. When Christmas Day

225-514: The 16th century. However, it was not until three centuries later that the modern Advent wreath took shape. Research by Mary Jane Haemig of Luther Seminary , St. Paul, Minnesota , points to Johann Hinrich Wichern (1808–1881), a Lutheran pastor in Germany and a pioneer in urban mission work among the poor, as the inventor of the modern Advent wreath. During Advent, children at the mission school Rauhes Haus , founded by Wichern in Hamburg , would ask daily if Christmas had arrived. In 1839, he took

250-563: The Advent season. Many Advent wreaths also have a white candle in the center, known as the 'Christ candle', to symbolize the arrival of Christmastide . It is first lit on Christmas Eve , the beginning of Christmastide, and may be lit throughout the rest of the Christmas season, as well as during Epiphanytide . The Christ candle is white because this is the traditional festal color in the Western Church. An additional layer of meaning names

275-695: The United Kingdom, it is more common for Advent wreaths to have four red candles (reflecting their traditional use in Christmas decorations ). An Advent wreath given to Pope Benedict XVI of the Catholic Church also had four red candles. In the UK, the four red Advent candles are often linked to the Sunday Revised Common Lectionary readings for Advent, each candle representing those looking forward to

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300-526: The candles were replaced by baubles , out of concern for fire safety. More recently, some Eastern Orthodox families have adopted an Advent wreath with six candles, symbolizing the longer Christmas fast in Orthodox tradition, which corresponds to Advent in Western Christianity. Advent wreaths are circular, representing God's infinite love , and are usually made of evergreen leaves, which "represent

325-457: The care of one of the adult members of the mission training school. The family group model influenced later establishments such as the agricultural colony for delinquent boys at Mettray . It was also adopted in the United Kingdom by a number of poor law authorities and children's charities who set up cottage homes developments to house the children in their care. The educational department

350-612: The celebrant wears violet-coloured or blue vestments on this day, and the first violet or blue Advent candle is lit in the worship service. In the Church of Sweden , a Lutheran national Church , the liturgical colour is specifically white: the motivation is that the day is a joyful feast (the colour is changed to blue, the traditional colour for Advent in Scandinavia, or—if the church does not possess blue vestments—violet, after 6 p.m.). Zechariah 9:9–10 and Matthew 21:1–9 are always read in

375-622: The coming of Christ: the hope of all God's people (week one), the Old Testament prophets (week two), John the Baptist (week three) and Mary the mother of Jesus (week four). In Making God Real in the Orthodox Christian Home , Anthony Coniaris states that an Eastern Christian wreath consists of six different colored candles on a round base to celebrate the six weeks of the 40-day Advent and Christmas period. A green candle, symbolizing faith,

400-497: The custom in the 1920s, and in the 1930s it spread to North America. Haemig's research also indicates that the custom did not reach the United States until the 1930s, even among German Lutheran immigrants. In medieval times, Advent was a period of fasting during which people's thoughts were directed to the expected second coming of Christ; but in modern times many have forgotten this meaning and it has instead been primarily seen as

425-595: The first candle as the Messiah or Prophecy candle (representing the Jewish prophets who predicted the coming of Jesus), the second is the Bethlehem candle (representing the journey of Joseph and Mary ), the third represents the shepherds and their joy, and the fourth is the Angel's candle, representing peace. In many Catholic and Protestant churches, the most popular colors for

450-536: The four surrounding Advent candles are violet (or blue) and rose, corresponding with the colors of the liturgical vestments for the Sundays of Advent. For denominations of the Western Christian Church , violet is the historic liturgical color for three of the four Sundays of Advent as it is the traditional color of penitential seasons; blue has been historically used too, as it represents hopefulness, reflective of

475-555: The hope of eternal life brought by Jesus Christ ". Within the Advent wreath are candles that generally represent the four weeks of the Advent season as well as "the light of God coming into the world through the birth of Jesus Christ " although each of the candles can be attributed its own significance as well. The four candles of the Advent wreath specifically symbolize the Christian concepts of hope, peace, joy and love, with these candles being lit subsequently throughout each week of

500-489: The lead up to Christmas, and in that context the Advent wreath serves as a reminder of the approach of the feast. In 1964, an Advent crown, made at home from wire coathangers and tinsel, appeared on the BBC's bi-weekly children's TV program Blue Peter . This "make" became one of the program's most iconic features, repeated each year, and was the introduction of this tradition to most of the broadly Anglican audience. In later years,

525-495: The mentally handicapped and disturbed, and cares for the aged. It also trains people for social service careers. Rauhes Haus was founded at Horn (now a suburb of Hamburg ) by the 25-year-old theologian Johann Hinrich Wichern on 12 September 1833 who for a long time was head administrator at the institution. The name of the institution is a corruption of Ruges Haus as the institution started in an old house called by its former occupant Ruges Hus (i.e. Ruge's house), which by

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550-449: The passage of the four weeks of Advent in the liturgical calendar of the Western church . It is traditionally a Lutheran practice, although it has spread to many other Christian denominations . It is an evergreen wreath with four candles , sometimes with a fifth, white candle in the center. Beginning with the First Sunday of Advent, the lighting of a candle can be accompanied by

575-576: The service, and the symbolism of the day is that Christ enters the church. Likewise, in the Roman Rite of the Catholic Church , Advent also "begins with First Vespers (Evening Prayer I) of the Sunday that falls on or closest to 30 November and it ends before First Vespers (Evening Prayer I) of Christmas". The colour violet or purple is used in Advent, but where it is the practice the colour rose may be used on Gaudete Sunday (Third Sunday of Advent). In

600-620: The theme of Advent surrounding the First Coming of Jesus and Second Coming of Jesus . Rose is the liturgical color for the Third Sunday of Advent, known as Gaudete Sunday (from the Latin word meaning "rejoice ye", the first word of the introit of this Sunday); it is a pause in the penitential spirit of Advent. As such, the third candle, representing joy, is often a different color from the other three. In other Protestant churches, especially in

625-555: Was in the hands of assistants, who also took part in the instruction of the institution, in order to prepare themselves for the work of the Home Mission in other localities. This indeed became one of the most important features of the work carried on by the Rauhes Haus, and its graduates were found in every field of charitable work in Germany. The whole staff of assistants, consisted of young men of 20 to 29 years of age who were formed into

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