Advent 2014

Grant unto us, O Lord, we beseech thee: so to wait for thy loving-kindness in the midst of thy temple; that in readiness of heart and mind we may hail the coming feast of our redemption.

Post-Communion Prayer - Advent I

Saram Rite Anglican Missal

Today is the First Sunday in Advent, that period when in many Christian church preparations are made spiritually for the coming Christmastide.  A minor penitential period, it is meant as a time of reflection and mediation - and also as a build up to the second greatest feast of the Christian calendar.  The readings, introits, graduals, prayers and hymns all point to the coming birth and the redemptive nature of that birth.  I have written in the past about both the religious tradition of the Advent Wreath and the more secular Advent Calendar that are connected with the season of Adventtide.

Once again I'm lighting my virtual Advent Wreath and as I did last year including an Advent Carol to mark the day.  In other posts I have spoken of the tendency to think of carols as being a Christmastide form but they were originally intended for use outside the church - in processions or even dances to celebrate the various joyous feasts of the Church calendar. 

Given that so many of the Christian Advent traditions stem from the Lutheran church it is seems appropriate to begin the season with an old Lutheran carol.

A memorial to Frans Michael Franzén,
poet and clergyman, in his hometown of
Oulu, Finland.  

Set to an old Swedish folk melody that dates circa 1560, Prepare the Royal Highway (Bereden väg för Herran) was written by Frans Michael Franzén, a Swedish-Finnish Lutheran clergyman, teacher and poet.  A member of the Swedish Academy and one time Bishop of Härnösand, he provided the lyrics for some twenty or more hymns in the Swedish Lutheran hymn book.

The tune  first appeared in Swenska Psalmboken a hymnal published in Stockholm in 1697; Franzén's lyrics were added in the 1812 edition.  It became a favourite and has appeared in almost every Lutheran hymn book since.  It appears that the original 6/8 meter was considered too secular at one point and it was changed to 4/4 in many Lutheran publications, including as I understand it, the Lutheran Service Book published in 2006*.  Fortunately more recent practice - including this arrangement with a tambourine by Timothy Shaw - has returned it to its joyful dance-like origins - more befitting of a true carol.

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As well as the wreath and carols a tradition of my virtual observance of the season for the past seven years has been to open a window on my friend Larry's Advent Calendar.  In previous years he has revealed the often hidden sights of Rome, his adopted city - doors, windows, fountains, angels.  This year he's opening the stable door, as it where.  A left click on the picture below will take your directly to his Advent Calendar for 2014.

I'll be posting a link on my sidebar so that should you wish you may join me in opening another window each day leading up to December 25th.

The design for my Advent wreath was adapted from an icon on the website of the Convent van Betlehem in the Netherlands.  The sisters have been a presence in Duffel since they took refuge there during the religious wars in the 1600s.  Unfortunately I've not been able to find out much about the order in English but their history looks to be a fascinating one and I must try and do some research at a later date.

November 30 - 1786: The Grand Duchy of Tuscany, under Pietro Leopoldo I, becomes the first modern state to abolish the death penalty (later commemorated as Cities for Life Day).

Advent 2013

This is the first Sunday in Advent - the days of the Christian church calendar leading up to the Feast of the Nativity.

Advent Wreaths

When I was a child only Lutheran churches, and perhaps a handful of Anglican churches, followed the custom of Advent Wreaths.   It has now become a widespread tradition in many Christian faiths - Roman, Orthodox and Protestant. I remember my surprise a few years ago when I saw a Presbyterian church - a faith I grew up in -  advertising their service to light the first candle of their Advent Wreath.  Advent Wreath? Presbyterians?  Dear god what next dancing?

There are many theories as to where the custom began.  Is it a Christian carry-over from a Northern pagan rite?  A good possibility as the use of the circle, greenery and fire as symbols of regeneration in the face of winter is not uncommon in folk traditions of Northern peoples. Or as has been suggested was it a 19th century creation by a Lutheran pastor who used it as a way to mark the time until Christmas for the urban poor he was ministering to?  As with many traditions the truth of its birth probably lies somewhere between the two with many regional and parochial variations.

Within the Christian faith there are differences in the form and ritual surrounding the Advent Wreath.  In some churches the candles reflect the colour of the vestments traditional worn by the priest on the four Sundays of Advent:  violet for the penitential days and rose for Gaudete Sunday in the Roman church, Sarum blue and rose for those respective days in the Anglican church.  In Protestant churches the candles are normally red - a traditional colour of the season.   In some churches a fifth white candle is placed in the centre of the wreath to be lit on Christmas Eve - the Christ candle.  In keeping with the longer Advent period in the Orthodox church there are seven candles and I found a very fine explaination of the colours and their meaning on the site of St John the Evangelist Orthodox church.

In some churches the candle is simply lit with the singing of a hymn, in others there is a prayer and a hymn or Advent carol (yes there are Advent carols).  Still other churches include it as a more meditative element with a traditional service.  Several years ago when we were in Munich we attended a simple but lovely Advent Vespers at the Michaelskirche which I wrote about at the time.

Advent Calendars

A more secular tradition is the Advent Calendar - again a Lutheran creation, perhaps created by that same pastor.  At first they would have been homemade but by the late 1800s had become a stationery item in many countries.  Most were made in Germany or by German immigrants and consisted of a single sheet of cardboard with doors cut into it; it was then backed by a thinner sheet of paper with the verse or picture for the day printed on it which would be revealed as doors were opened.

The first Advent Calendar designed and printed by Richard Seller in 1946.  It became a very
popular import in North America when the Eisenhower family received one.  It is still available today.

With the rationing of paper and printing restrictions in the Second World War the custom disappeared however was revived in the late 1940s by Richard Sellmer.  He created the first calendar by hand in his Stuttgart living room and was given permission by the American command responsible for the sector to print them in December of 1946.  The company Richard Sellmer Verlag - still owned by his family - produces some 120 designs a year (a click will take you to some of this year's designs). Many of the designs are traditional and some are reproductions from earlier years.

The Rathaus in Hündfeld, Germany becomes a gigantic Advent Calendar for the Christmas Season.

Most Advent Calendars begin on December 1st though the actual season can begin anytime in late November-early December.  And they can take many forms - elaborate creations with gifts behind each door, simple cards with a Christmas picture or text behind each door; the subjects can be secular or sacred; they can be store bought or homemade.  They can be the size of a city block or they can be virtual and fit on an iPhone.

A handcraft Advent Calendar made from painted, recycled tin cans and a branch -
an ingenuous example of a homemade countdown to Christmas.

My friend Larry has been creating a virtual Advent Calendar on his blog since he arrived in Rome.  In 2007 we opened "windows" of Rome; in subsequent years "doors", "gates", "angels", "fountains" and "modern churches" of the Eternal City have revealed a thought, verse, text or music for the Advent season.  Though he doesn't blog much anymore Larry is once again posting his virtual Advent Calendar and this year we are climbing the "stairs" - and there are so many - of Rome to count down to Christmas.  As in year's past I will be posting a sidebar to Larry's Calendar which I will update daily to lead you to his post of the day.

Let's begin by mounting the stairs at Larry and Vin's apartment building in Garbatella which will take us up our first Roman staircase towards the Feast of the Nativity.  We took that staircase a good many times to celebrate Christmas, birthdays and good times with two of our dear friends. 


December 1 -1966: The first Gävle goat, an annual Swedish Yule Goat tradition, is erected in Gävle.

Larry's Advent Calendar

As he has for the past six years my dear Larry has created a virtual Advent Calendar to count down the days until the Feast of the Nativity.  I'll quote from Larry's entry for this first day of Advent by way of introduction: 

Previous years I have posted Roman windows, doors, gates, angels and fountains. This year I will continue my Advent Calendar tradition with Modern Churches in Rome. It is a type of building that is usually not seen in the Eternal City by most visitors (and residents). Every day of Advent you will be able to log in and see a different church of the 20th or 21st century that I have encountered here in Rome.

A click on this very beautiful modern church door by Igor Mitoraj will lead you to the beginning of Larry's photo tour through some of the 250 modern churches often overlooked amongst the baroque splendour that dominates the city.

Another door by Mitoraj - one of the two for Santa Maria degli Angeli e dei Martiri - posted on the sidebar will give you access to each day's door and another modern church in our beloved Roma.

December 1 - 1885: First serving of the soft drink Dr Pepper at a drug store in Waco, Texas .

Larry's Advent Calendar

My dear friend Larry's blog has been dormant for the past few months and I was afraid that another cherished tradition may be about to fall by the wayside: his Advent Calendar.

But I'm overjoyed to report that once again this year he will be marking  the days leading to Christmas with a daily picture and verse .  In previous years he's taken us through Roman doors and gates, allowed us to gaze through Roman windows and given us glimpses of the angels that guard the city.  This year he's quenching our thirst at a few of the many fountains that are found in his - and previously my - adoptive city.

As always I will be posting a sidebar link so that you can open a window each day and share the sights and words of Advent with Larry.  Given the time change it may be a little late in the day when the window is opened but opened it shall be.  A click on the image above will take you to his posting for today - the First Sunday in Advent.

There are some traditions I'm happy to see continue and don't ever want to lose.


27 novembre/November - Prima Domenica di Avvento

Advent 2010

Over at AMOROMA my friend Larry continues his tradition of an Advent Calender to mark off the days until the celebration of Christmas. In previous years he has taken us daily through Roman Windows, Roman Doors and Roman Gates; this year he has created his calender from a remarkable series of angels that are omnipresent in architecture and decoration throughout our adopted city..

A left click will take you to the first day of Advent on Larry's Calender.

Once again this year I'll be providing a daily link to open the virtual door at Larry's site and reveal the angelic delight and reading for the day to be found there.

01 decembre - Sant'Eligio di Noyon

Lift Up Your Heads, Oh Ye Gates

And be ye lift up ye everlasting doors!
And the King of glory will come in.

Psalm 24:7

Adapted by Charles Jennens
For Handel's oratorio Messiah.

This staged performance of Messiah from Vienna may not be to every one's taste but ignore the strange goings on and you have the Arnold Schönberg Chor giving a youthful and I think wonderfully dramatic performance of this magnificent chorus.

Messiah is one of the great traditions of the Christmas season and that great chorus is appropriate for the beginning of the Advent season. It also appropriate for a start of a tradition that I have enjoyed over the past two years: our friend Larry's Internet Advent Calender. In 2007 each day from December 1st to Christmas Day Larry opened a window in our adopted city, last year he opened doors in Roma and this year he'll be opening some of the many gates throughout the city.

As in previous years I will be posting a link to his Advent Calender on the sidebar at the right. A simple click will take you to his Gate for the Day and a posting suitable for the day and the season.

There are so many wonderful gates here in Roma that Larry started a bit early this year with an Introduction and a remarkable bonus gate.

30 novembre - Sant'Andrea Apolostlo