From Davidson: CCM bulletin week of December 3

However quietly we speak, God is so near that he will hear us;

we need no wings to go in search of God, but have only to find a place where we can be alone and look upon God present within us.

~St. Teresa of Avila

FAQ… What is Advent?

This whole time of year suffocates in the commercialism surrounding Christmas, and in the Spirit of Shopping we’ve collapsed the holidays so that the Christmas season effectively begins the day after Thanksgiving. So it’s not surprising that Advent has lost something of its mystery and meaning.

“Advent” means ‘to come’ or’ to arrive’; it’s a time of patient, persistent, hopeful, expectant waiting. So what are we waiting for? Well, like so much in Christianity, we’re waiting for several things at the same time. While we wait for Christmas, when we celebrate Jesus’ birth (in the past), we also prepare to receive him into our hearts and our lives (in the present), and we wait for his second coming at the end of time (in the future).

But we’re waiting…which is to say, Christmas doesn’t come till December 24/25, whatever else your radio station may be telling you. That’s why we don’t (or shouldn’t) sing Christmas carols during Advent; we sing Advent hymns and songs instead. Doesn’t matter how much you love them, like the presents under the tree, we save the Christmas carols for the Christmas season.

The Christmas season goes from Christmas Eve until the Sunday after Epiphany (when we celebrate the Baptism of the Lord), in January. That’s the 12 days of Christmas we’re always singing about (Christmas till Epiphany).  And speaking of trees, many Christians don’t even put up their Christmas trees till Christmas Eve—very liturgically proper!

Advent has penitential overtones. It’s a time of preparation, of purification, of making ourselves ready to welcome Christ into the world and into our hearts. The liturgical color is violet, often a bluer purple to distinguish it from Lent, whose penitential tone has a different focus than Advent’s. The third Sunday is called “Gaudete Sunday.” Gaudete means “rejoice”: in the 2^nd reading, from Paul’s letter to the Philippians, he says “Rejoice in the Lord always.” Often a pink candle will be used in the Advent wreath for that week, and sometimes the priest will wear rose-colored vestments.

Many families and churches observe the devotion of the Advent Wreath. Although some think that it had its origins in pre-Christian Germany, it was adopted by Christians in Germany during the Middle Ages (and so it is apparently common among Lutherans as well as Catholics). The wreath has all sorts of meaning attached to it. For example, its roundness signifies the eternity and oneness of God and the immortality of the soul; the evergreens symbolize life everlasting; and the candles, of course, represent each of the four weeks of Advent.

FAQ…What are Lessons and Carols?

SSunday’s service will really be Lessons and Carols, not Vespers. Vespers refers to the Church’s evening liturgy of the hours and has a different format.

LLessons and Carols is a service that alternates scripture readings (“lessons”) with choir pieces (“carols”) and congregation hymns. It is typically a Christmas service, although Advent services are not uncommon, and I’ve been to a Lent variation. It’s rather like the Easter Vigil service, if you’ve ever attended that, where scripture readings alternate with psalms.

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Christmas Lessons and Carols originated in England, and were first used on Christmas Eve in 1880, by an Anglican priest in Cornwall (supposedly to try to keep the men out of the pubs!).  They were resurrected after the First World War at King’s College in Cambridge, to try to offer more imaginative worship. The service has been done there annually ever since, and has become quite famous. It is broadcast live on TV in England, and is usually broadcast by public radio stations in the United States.

There are nine lessons, or readings, tracing salvation history from Genesis through the birth of Jesus, and culminating with the Prologue of the Gospel of John (“In the beginning was the Word…”). The readings are done by members of the local community (not just by clergy or church-related people).

The carols may vary, but often include older folk carols that are no longer well known outside of the choral community (like “Lo A Rose E’er Blooming”). The hymns that the congregation sings are the well-known carols, like “Hark, the Herald Angels Sing.”

If you ever have a chance to attend a Lessons and Carols service here at Davidson or wherever life takes you, I recommend it. It’s a beautiful way to observe Christmas.

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Karen Soos
Associate Chaplain and Catholic Campus Minister
Davidson College
Campus Box 7196
Davidson NC 28035
704. 894. 2423