Advent At St John The Divine 2024

Advent comes from the Latin word for “coming” and is the first season of the church year, so Happy New Year! The season starts four Sundays before Christmas and ends on Christmas Eve.

We use this season as a time of preparation and expectation for the coming celebration of our Lord’s nativity with the final coming of Christ “in power and glory.”

What Colors Do We Use To Celebrate Advent?

In our church, the colors used throughout the liturgical year are significant:

• White: Used during high holy times such as Christmas and Easter.
• Red: Used on certain feast days like Pentecost Sunday.
• Green: The default color when not celebrating special holy days.

During Advent and Lent, we use purple or blue to symbolize repentance and reflection. Many churches utilize these colors either individually or together. We specifically use purple because it is the color available to us. There is another color used during Advent, which is rose, but we do not employ it at the altar. St. John does not use this color on the altar because it is not part of our collection of altar cloths and accessories.

On the third Sunday of Advent, Gaudete Sunday, we use the rose candle to represent joy and a shift toward celebration. As a reminder from a former priest, the color is rose, not pink, because Christ did not “pink from the grave.”

A little about Advent

An Advent wreath chat with our priest!

Advent Activates Within Our Doors.

Once again, we return to a sung Rite One Mass for this Advent season.

• December 1, The First Sunday of Advent
  • We light one purple candle
  • 9 am Morning Prayer

• December 8, The Second of Advent
  • We light the two purple candles
  • 9 am Mass

• December 15, The Third Sunday of Advent – Gaudete Sunday,
  • We light the two purple candles and the rose candle
  • 9 am Mass, and we light the third candle

• December 22, The Fourth Sunday of Advent/Christmas Eve
  • We light all of the purple and rose candles.
  • 9 am Mass with meditation based on the lighting of the fourth candle.
  • Greening of the church after the service.

• December 24, The Christmas Eve
  • We light all the candles on the wreath, including the white one in the middle.
  • 4 pm Christmas Eve Mass

• December 25, Christmas Day
  • We will not light any candles
  • No in-person service

For more information on Christmas services, visit this page.