When I was young and I guess for centuries before that, we thought of Advent as a mini-Lent. I think it was in the early 70's that we were encouraged to see this season, not as one of fast and penance, but as one of joyful anticipation of the celebration of Christ's birth. The color of vestments became purple for Advent (more blue in it,) violet for Lent (more red in it.) Purple was worn on all four Sundays of Advent. Churches were decorated. I began to use four purple candles in my advent wreath to stress that the whole season was to be the same joyful anticipation of Christmas.
Even though we stress joy more this coming Sunday, it's good to keep in mind that all of Advent is meant to be joyful.
No comments:
Post a Comment