“The Advent wreath represents the long time when people lived in spiritual darkness, waiting for the coming of the Messiah, the Light of the world,” according to EWTN.com.
“Each year in Advent, people wait once again in darkness for the coming of the Lord, his historical coming in the mystery of Bethlehem, his final coming at the end of time, and his special coming in every moment of grace.”
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OK, I have a question about advent wreaths. I was shopping for one to use in our church, and all the ones I found had a fifth candle in the center—a white “Christ candle.” How is that supposed to be used? Are we supposed to light that on Christmas in addition to the 4 purple/pink candles? Are we supposed to light that on Christmas INSTEAD of the four purple/pink candles? Are we supposed to light that each week of Advent along with the appropriate number of purple/pink candles for that particular week? Personally, I think that when Christmas comes, the Advent wreath should be replaced with Christmas decorations in Church (and at home, too); and to have an extra candle lit each week of Advent seems to dilute the meaning of the Advent wreath with the four purple/pink candles, so I wish I could find a (relatively inexpensive) church-type Advent wreath that does NOT include the “Christ candle”! Churches must be using the Advent wreaths with the fifth candles, or they wouldn’t be selling these things in the catalogs; I’d love to know how they are supposed to be used! Anyone have any ideas or answers to my questions?
why pink on the 3rd week?
The 3rd Sunday in Advent is “Gaudete Sunday” (spelling?). “Gaudete” is a Latin word for “rejoice”, which is the first word in the Mass’s antiphon for the day (I believe). The theme of rejoicing is because Christmas is near, and the liturgical color for rejoicing is rose (not really pink, technically speaking, but I’m not really sure what the difference is). Lent has a “rejoicing Sunday”, too, a few weeks before Easter (I think the 4th Sunday of Lent); it’s called “Laetare Sunday” because “Laetare” is the Latin word for rejoice that is the first word of that day’s antiphon (again, I think; don’t quote me on that). The liturgical color for that Sunday, too, is rose; the only two days in the church year that have rose as a liturgical color are Gaudete Sunday in Advent and Laetare Sunday in Lent.
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