PREPARATION FOR THE FIRST WEEK OF ADVENT SUNDAY 29th NOVEMBER - 5th December

 PREPARATION FOR THE FIRST WEEK OF ADVENT

SUNDAY 29th NOVEMBER - 5th December

The liturgical year begins at the commencement of the season of Advent, a time of preparation for the coming of Christ at Christmas and, reflected in the readings from the Book of Apocalypse, for His second coming at the end of time.

Advent is seen as a “little Lent” in which the predominant character is one of restraint. It is this contrast between the preparation and anticipation prior to the coming of the Christ-child, and the ensuing celebrations, that gives the Christmas festivities a heightened significance.

The four weeks of advent are broken up by Gaudete Sunday, in the third week, a feast day in which the priest wears rose-coloured vestments and the Advent candle is rose-coloured.

What we all can do, as a preparation for the coming of Christ, is to make an effort to intersperse our day with interludes of prayer, and to make the quality of our prayer more meaningful. Additional individual or family practices can be engaged in at home - each day can be commenced by a morning offering, or by saying the Angelus first thing in the morning and midday or the day can be completed by the Angelus at 6pm. Alternatively, the Divine Office can be read; On-line versions can be obtained at Universalis; Universalis.com,

or IPieta. The antiphon can be sung as a family after dinner.

In leading family prayer, giving the blessings and leading responses, the father of the household undertakes to be the priest of his family.(1) This is a masculine role, the father taking on the mantle of St Joseph in his model of masculinity - notice how the attitude of the family develops as a direct result of the father of the family stepping up to the plate.

THE MARIAN ANTIPHON

The seasonal Marian antiphon is Alma Redemptoris Mater, from the First Sunday of Advent until the Feast of the Purification (Candlemas), on 2nd February, as follows:

Alma Redemptoris Mater,

Quae pervia caeli porta manes et stella maris,

Succure cadenti,

Surgere qui curat, populo:

Tu quae genuisti,

Natura mirante,

Tuum sanctum genitorem,

Virgi prius,

Ac posterius,

Gabrielis ab ore sumens illud ave,

Peccatorum miserere.

Holy Mother of our Redeemer, thou gate leading to heaven and star of the sea;

Help the falling people who seek to rise,

Thou who, all nature wondering,

Didst give birth to thy Holy Creator.

Virgin always, hearing the greeting from Gabriel’s lips,

Take pity on sinners.

The text is credited to Herrimann the Cripple, or Herriman the Lame, (Hermanus Contractus), a much-loved monk of Reichnau (1013-1054), who is also credited with the chant melody. It tells the story of this part of the liturgical year, the Archangel Gabriel’s appearance to Our Lady and her complete humility by her acceptance of her divine destiny.

THE ADVENT WREATH

This is the week of the first candle of the Advent Wreath. On the evening of the Sunday of the first week of Advent, a purple candle is inserted into the wreath at the commencement of the evening meal, at which time the head of the family blesses the wreath with the following words:

“O God, by whose word all things are sanctified, pour forth Thy blessing upon this wreath and grant that we who use it may prepare our hearts for the coming of Christ and may receive from Thee abundant graces. Who livest and reignest forever and ever.

Amen.”

One of the children lights the candle after the blessing and before grace is said at the commencement of the meal and, either the same or a different child can extinguish it after the prayer of thanks at the close of the meal. The candle is lit at every evening meal, by the same child, throughout the week.

The wreath is blessed each Sunday by the head of the family, (the father, or, if no father, the mother), with a purple candle inserted each week, with the exception of Gaudete Sunday, when the mother blesses and a rose candle is placed into the wreath.

THE CRECHE

The tradition of the crèche was begun by St Francis of Assisi, who was appalled at the commercialisation of Christmas, (sound familiar?). The crèche, or nativity scene, represents the Christmas story according to the Gospels of Matthew and Luke. The nativity scene can be used as a method of educating children in the story of Christmas. If the crèche is erected at the beginning of Advent, generally, the custom is to set up the animals and the manger, together with the shepherds and their flocks at a distance from the manger. Importantly, the crèche should represent a setting that is humble. It should also feature a star above the manger. The other important factor is that the baby Jesus is never present in the manger until midnight on Christmas Eve. The three wise men, who represent the three continents of Europe, Asia and Africa, can be set a long distance away at this time, to advance upon their destination by Christmas or, alternatively, can be delayed in their setting up until the evening of Epiphany, on 6th January. As Advent progresses, the shepherds, Mary and Joseph, and the three wise men, get closer to the manger, until their arrival on Christmas eve. The nativity scene stays set up in the home until either Epiphany, or at the latest, Candlemas, on 2nd February – it was considered bad luck to keep the crib, or the tree, after that date.

THE JESSE TREE

Advent, for those with young children, is the opportunity to commence a Jesse Tree. Jesse was the father of King David, of whom the book of Isaiah 11:1, prophesied: “A shoot will come from the stump of Jesse; from his roots a branch will bear fruit.” Jesse trees date from medieval times. They were set up in medieval churches and are likely to have been the precursor of the modern Christmas tree. As currently practiced, a passage from scripture is read, and a decoration is made and erected on the tree reflecting the passage. Guides to the scripture passages and the decorations are to be found on-line; examples are:

1st December is the Creation, from Genesis: 1:1-31, or 2:1-4, symbols of the sun, the moon, stars or animals.

2nd December is Adam and Eve, and the Garden of Eden, Gen 2:7-9, 18-24, with symbols of a tree, a man and a woman.

3rd December is the fall of man, Gen 3:1-7 and 23-24, symbols of a serpent, and an apple with a bite, and so on.

CHRISTKINDL

Maria Von Trapp speaks about a delightful custom whereby, at the start of advent, the mother passes around a bowl with the names of family members neatly rolled up. Each person draws the name of a family member but keeps it secret. "The person whose name is drawn is now in one's special care. From this day until Christmas, one has to do as many special favours for him or her as one can. One has to provide a special favour every day - but without being found out....Perhaps you will find that someone has made your bed, shone your shoes or has informed you, in disguised writing on a holy card, that 'a Rosary has been said for you today,' or a number of sacrifices have been offered up."(3)

Unlike Lent, the observance of restraint at Advent is not obligatory, but serves as a mechanism to spiritually prepare for the coming of Our Lord - all of us have a duty to aspire to holiness, to see the face of God. We have been blessed with the faith and have a duty to reach up to attain our true spiritual potential.

There is, however, some residual suspicion regarding the ability of the ordinary person to attain such heights; the authors of the Bad Catholics Guide to Wine, Whisky and Song believe that esoteric things such as holiness, like "chanting the Divine Office and making Chartreuse, 'should be subcontracted to the professionals.'”(2)

Herein we advocate both aspiring to holiness AND chanting the Divine Office - (but perhaps leaving the making of Chartreuse to the Trappist monks).

(1) David Clayton and Leila Marie Lawler, "The Little Oratory, a Beginner's Guide to Praying in the Home", Sophia Institute Press, Manchester, New Hampshire, 2014.

(2) Around the year with the Von Trapp Family" Maria Augusta Von Trapp, Sophia Institute Press, 1955, at p. 17.

(3) John Zmirak and Denise Matychowiak, Crossroad, 2005.

Some alternative Advent wreath blessings are given in this article; https://www.learnreligions.com/what-is-the-advent-wreath...

Image: Wikipedia