Editing Advent (section)

== Traditions ==
[[File:Katedrála sv. Víta roráty.jpg|thumb|Rorate Mass in [[St. Vitus Cathedral|Prague Cathedral]], Czech Republic]]
{{Liturgical year}}

The theme of readings and teachings during Advent is often the preparation for the [[Second Coming]] and the [[Last Judgement]]. While the Sunday readings relate to the first coming of Jesus Christ as saviour as well as to his Second Coming as judge, traditions vary in the relative importance of penitence and expectation during the weeks in Advent.

=== Liturgical colour ===
[[File:Adventvespers.jpg|thumb|left|Celebration of a Advent [[vespers]]. Cope and antependium are violet, the liturgical colour of Advent in the Roman Rite.]]
{{See also|Liturgical colours}}

Since approximately the 13th century, the usual liturgical colour in [[Western Christianity]] for Advent has been violet; [[Pope Innocent III]] declared black to be the proper colour for Advent, though [[Durandus of Saint-Pourçain]] claims violet has preference over black.<ref>{{cite book |last=Kellner |first=K.A.H. |year=1908 |title=Heortology: A history of the Christian festivals from their origin to the present day |publisher=Kegan Paul Trench Trubner & Co. Ltd. |page=[https://books.google.com/books?id=4gMPAAAAQAAJ&dq=black+vestments+during+advent+history&pg=PA430 430] |via=Google Books}}</ref> The violet or purple colour is often used for [[antependia]], the [[vestments]] of the clergy, and often also the [[church tabernacle|tabernacle]].
On the third Sunday of Advent, [[Gaudete Sunday]], rose may be used instead, referencing the rose used on [[Laetare Sunday]], the fourth Sunday of Lent.<ref name=GIRM>{{cite book |title=Institutio Generalis Missalis Romani |lang=la |trans-title=General Instruction of the Roman Missal |title-link=General Instruction of the Roman Missal |year=1969 |edition=English |publisher=[[Roman Catholic Church]] }}</ref>{{rp|style=ama|p= 346&nbsp;ff}} A rose-coloured candle in Western Christianity is referenced as a sign of joy ({{lang|la|Gaudete}}) lit on the third Sunday of Advent.<ref>{{cite encyclopedia |title=Gaudete Sunday |encyclopedia=The [[Catholic Encyclopedia]] |url=http://newadvent.org/cathen/06394b.htm |via=newadvent.org |access-date=10 December 2016}}</ref>

While the traditional colour for Advent is violet, there is a growing interest in and acceptance, by some [[Christian denominations]] of blue as an alternative liturgical colour for Advent, a custom traced to the usage of the [[Church of Sweden]] (Lutheran) and the [[Mozarabic Rite]], which dates from the 8th century.<ref>{{cite web |title=The color blue in Advent |date=May 2007 |website=United Methodist Discipleship Ministries (umcdiscipleship.org) |publisher=[[The United Methodist Church]] |url=https://www.umcdiscipleship.org/resources/the-color-blue-in-advent}}</ref>

The [[Lutheran Book of Worship]] lists blue as the preferred colour for Advent, while the Methodist [[Book of Worship for Church and Home (1965)|Book of Worship]] and the Presbyterian [[The Book of Common Worship of 1993|Book of Common Worship]] identify purple or blue as appropriate for Advent. Proponents of this new liturgical trend argue that purple is traditionally associated with solemnity and somberness, which is fitting to the repentant character of [[Lent]]. There has been an increasing trend in Protestant churches to supplant purple with blue during Advent as it is a hopeful season of preparation that anticipates both Bethlehem and the consummation of history in the Second Coming of Jesus Christ.<ref name="CRI/Voice, Institute – The Color Blue in Advent">{{cite web|url=http://www.cresourcei.org/cyadvent.html |title=The Season of Advent – Anticipation and Hope |publisher=CRI/Voice, Institute |access-date=14 December 2009 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100202013406/http://www.cresourcei.org/cyadvent.html |archive-date=2 February 2010 }}</ref> This colour is often called "Sarum blue", referring to its purported use at Salisbury Cathedral. Many of the ornaments and ceremonial practices associated with the [[Use of Sarum|Sarum rite]] were revived in the Anglican Communion in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, as part of the Anglo-Catholic [[Oxford Movement]] in the Church of England. While Anglican liturgist [[Percy Dearmer]] does not object to the use of blue during Advent, he did not attribute its use to Sarum. "[T]he so-called Sarum uses are really one-half made up from the fancy of nineteenth-century ritualists."<ref>{{cite book |last=Dearmer |first=Percy |author-link=Percy Dearmer |year=1899 |section=Chapter&nbsp;III: Colours, vestments, and ornaments |title=The Parson's Handbook |place=London  |publisher=Grant Richards |section-url=http://anglicanhistory.org/dearmer/handbook/1899/chapter03.html |via=anglicanhistory.org}}</ref>

While the Sarum use was influential, different dioceses, including Salisbury, used a variety of coloured vestments.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Bates |first1=J. Barrington |year=2003 |title=Am I blue? Some historical evidence for liturgical colors |journal=Studia Liturgica |volume=33 |pages=75–88 |s2cid=193382638 |url=https://doi.org/10.1177/003932070303300106 | doi=10.1177/003932070303300106 |url-access=subscription }}</ref> "In the Sarum Rite the Advent colour was red, but it could very well have been the red-purple known as murray&nbsp;..."<ref>{{cite web |title=Times and seasons |department=Liturgy & music |publisher=Saint Ignatius of Antioch Episcopal Church |place=New York |url=https://www.saintignatiusnyc.org/Pages/Liturgy&Music/Times&Seasons.html}}</ref>

The Roman Catholic Church retains the traditional violet.<ref name=GIRM/>{{rp|style=ama|p= 346&nbsp;d.}} Blue is not generally used in Latin Catholicism,<ref name=GIRM/>{{rp|style=ama|pp= 346-347}} and where it does regionally, it has nothing to do with Advent specifically, but with veneration of the [[Blessed Virgin]].<ref>{{cite web |title=Blue liturgical vestments |website=ewtn.com |publisher=Eternal Word Television Network |place=Irondale, AL |url=http://www.ewtn.com/library/liturgy/zlitur315.htm |access-date=21 November 2017}}</ref> However, on some occasions that are heavily associated with Advent, such as the [[Rorate Mass]] (but not on Sundays), white is used.<ref>{{cite web |title=Advent tradition: Rorate mass at Old Saint Mary's |website=Catholic Telegraph (thecatholictelegraph.com) |date=18 December 2017 |url=http://www.thecatholictelegraph.com/advent-tradition-rorate-mass-at-old-saint-marys/47480 |access-date=30 October 2019}}</ref>

During the Nativity Fast, red is used by Eastern Christianity, although gold is an alternative colour.<ref>{{cite web |title=Liturgical vestment colors of the Orthodox Church |website=Aggreen.org |url = http://aggreen.net/vestment/liturgical_colors.html |access-date = 14 December 2009 |url-status = live |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20091208065929/http://aggreen.net/vestment/liturgical_colors.html |archive-date= 8 December 2009}}</ref>

=== Music ===
{{maincat|Advent music}}
[[File:Malbork (DerHexer) 2010-07-14 290.jpg|thumb|Medieval manuscript of Gregorian chant setting of "[[Rorate Coeli]]"]]
Many churches hold special musical events, such as [[Nine Lessons and Carols]] and singing of [[Messiah (Handel)|Handel's ''Messiah'']] oratorio. The [[Advent Prose]], an [[antiphonal]] [[plainsong]], may be sung. The "Late Advent Weekdays", 17–24 December, mark the singing of the Great Advent '[[O antiphon]]s'.<ref>{{cite web |last = Saunders |first = William |title = What are the 'O Antiphons'? |website=Catholic Education (catholiceducation.org) | url = http://www.catholiceducation.org/articles/religion/re0374.html | access-date = 30 November 2009}}</ref> These are the daily antiphons for the [[Magnificat]] at [[Vespers]], [[Evening Prayer (Anglican)|Evensong]], or [[Evening Prayer (Anglican)|Evening Prayer]], in the Roman Catholic, Anglican, and Lutheran churches, and mark the forthcoming birth of the Messiah. They form the basis for each verse of the popular Advent hymn "[[O come, O come, Emmanuel]]".

German [[Advent song|songs for Advent]] include {{lang|de|"[[Es kommt ein Schiff, geladen]]"}} from the 15th century and {{lang|de|"[[O Heiland, reiß die Himmel auf]]"}}, published in 1622. Johann Sebastian Bach composed several [[List of Bach cantatas by liturgical function#Advent|cantatas for Advent]] in Weimar, from {{lang|de|[[Nun komm, der Heiden Heiland, BWV 61|Nun komm, der Heiden Heiland]]}}, BWV 61, to {{lang|de|[[Herz und Mund und Tat und Leben, BWV 147a|Herz und Mund und Tat und Leben]]}}, BWV 147a, but only one more in Leipzig where he worked for the longest time, because there Advent was a [[Tempus clausum|silent time]] which allowed [[cantata]] music only on the first of the four Sundays.

During Advent, the [[Gloria in excelsis Deo|Gloria]] of the [[Mass (liturgy)|Mass]] is omitted, so that the return of the angels' song at Christmas has an effect of novelty.<ref name=Miles-1912-2017>{{cite book |last=Miles |first=Clement A. |year= 2017 |orig-year=1912 |title=Christmas Customs and Traditions |publisher=Courier Corporation |isbn=978-0-4862-3354-3 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=1XRjAyL8LogC |via=Google Books |access-date=14 January 2019 }}</ref>{{rp|style=ama|p= [https://archive.org/details/christmascustoms0000mile/page/91 91]}}
[[Mass (music)|Mass compositions]] written especially for Lent, such as Michael Haydn's {{lang|la|[[Missa tempore Quadragesimae (Michael Haydn)|Missa tempore Quadragesimae]]}}, in D minor for choir and organ, have no Gloria and so are appropriate for use in Advent.

=== Fasting ===

Bishop [[Saint Perpetuus|Perpetuus]] of Tours, who died in 490, ordered fasting three days a week from the day after Saint Martin's Day (11 November). In the 6th century, local [[synod#Councils|councils]] enjoined fasting on all days except Saturdays and Sundays from Saint Martin's Day to Epiphany (the feast of baptism), a period of 56 days, but of 40 days fasting, like the fast of Lent. It was therefore called {{lang|de|Quadragesima Sancti Martini}} (Saint Martin's Lent).<ref name=Pfatteicher2013/>{{rp|style=ama|p= [https://books.google.com/books?id=hfVdAAAAQBAJ&pg=PP42 42]}} This period of fasting was later shortened and called "Advent" by the Church.<ref>{{cite encyclopedia |title = Saint Martin's Lent |encyclopedia= Encyclopædia Britannica  |url = https://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/517764/Saint-Martins-Lent |access-date= 4 December 2013 }}</ref>

In the Anglican and Lutheran churches this fasting rule was later relaxed. The Roman Catholic Church later abolished the precept of fasting during Advent (at an unknown date at the latest in [[1917 Code of Canon Law|1917]]), later, but kept Advent as a season of [[penance|penitence]]. In addition to fasting, dancing and similar festivities were forbidden in these traditions. On [[Gaudete Sunday]], relaxation of the fast was permitted. Eastern Orthodox and [[Oriental Orthodox]] churches still hold the tradition of fasting for 40 days before Christmas.

=== Local rites ===

In England, especially in the northern counties, there was a custom (now extinct) for poor women to carry around the "Advent images", two dolls dressed to represent Jesus and the Blessed Virgin Mary. A halfpenny coin was expected from every one to whom these were exhibited and bad luck was thought to menace the household not visited by the doll-bearers before Christmas Eve at the latest.<ref>{{cite book |editor-first = Robert |editor-last = Chambers |year = 1864 |title = The Book of Days: A miscellany of popular antiquities in connection with the calendar |place = Philadelphia |volume = 2 |pages = 724–725 |url = https://books.google.com/books?id=VEcJAAAAIAAJ}}</ref>

In [[Normandy]], farmers employed children under twelve to run through the fields and orchards armed with torches, setting fire to bundles of straw, and thus, it was believed, driving out such vermin as were likely to damage the crops.<ref>{{cite book |author-link = William Hone |first = William |last = Hone |year = 1832 |section = 5&nbsp;December: Advent in Normandy |title = The Year Book of Daily Recreation and Information |place = London, UK |publisher = [[Thomas Tegg]] |url = http://www.hymnsandcarolsofchristmas.com/Text/Hone/december_5_advent_in_normandy.htm |access-date = 2 May 2010}}</ref>

In Italy, among other Advent celebrations, is the entry into [[Rome]] in the last days of Advent of the Calabrian {{lang|it|pifferari}}, or bagpipe players, who play before the shrines of Mary, the mother of Jesus: in Italian tradition, the shepherds played these pipes when they came to the [[manger]] at [[Bethlehem]] to pay homage to the infant Jesus.<ref name=Miles-1912-2017/>{{rp|style=ama|p= [https://archive.org/details/christmascustoms0000mile/page/112 112]}}

In recent times,{{as of when|date=November 2024}} the most common observance of Advent outside church circles has been the keeping of an Advent calendar or [[Advent candle]], with one door being opened in the calendar, or one section of the candle being burned, on each day in December leading up to Christmas Eve. In many countries, the first day of Advent often heralds the start of the [[Christmas and holiday season|Christmas season]], with many people opting to erect their [[Christmas trees]] and Christmas decorations on or immediately before Advent Sunday.<ref name="Normark1997" />

Since 2011, an Advent [[labyrinth]] consisting of 2,500 [[tealight]]s has been formed for the third Saturday of Advent in [[Bornheim (Frankfurt am Main)|Frankfurt-Bornheim]].<ref name=HK-2500-tealights>{{cite web |title = Terminanmeldung – Meditation und Gestaltung eines Adventslabyrinths |lang=de |trans-title=Appointment – Meditation and design of an Advent labyrinth | year = 2016 | publisher = Heilig Kreuz – Zentrum für christliche Meditation und Spiritualität [Holy Cross – Center for christian meditation and spirituality] | url = https://meditationszentrum.bistumlimburg.de/veranstaltungen.html?anmeldung=9075 | access-date = 23 December 2016 | url-status = dead | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20161223153520/https://meditationszentrum.bistumlimburg.de/veranstaltungen.html?anmeldung=9075 | archive-date = 23 December 2016 | df = dmy-all }}</ref>