The great Robert Taft, SJ (only recently having passed on to another shore where he now stands in a greater Light) famously reminded us that the “soft points” in the liturgy (points of transition) are magnets for accretions, sticky places that easily caught the passing whims and creative endeavors of priests and practitioners on its branches. I think there is a somewhat related pattern of interpretation and then practice that occurs for evangelicals who come into a tradition with historic liturgy.
On this first Sunday of Advent, wreathes appeared in churches and the first candle was lit. The wreath is one of those pieces of liturgical accoutrement that have taken on a life of their own. And in my experience it is one of those practices that has become for people new to the historic calendar a thing of disproportionate importance to the season. It is treated as an ancient artifact of rites forged in the earliest recesses of early Christians. But it is nothing of the sort (I’ve reproduced at the end a bit from a history that should be helpful, written by Bruce Russell for the Advent 2005 issue of the Newsletter of the Nova Scotia and Prince Edward Island Branch of the Prayer Book Society of Canada). This fetishizing (is that too strong a word?) of the Advent wreath as something somehow intrinsic to the season is similar to the unity candle which appeared for weddings (even Catholic and Episcopal ones) because, apparently, the liturgy, the rings, and the couple themselves just didn’t contain enough “outward and visible sign.”
This is not to say that the Advent wreath is something bad or a practice about which we should be suspicious, theologically or otherwise. The current practice is to have the candle color match that of the traditional vestments colors in the West: violet for Sundays 1, 2, and 4, and rose for Advent 3, who “lightening” seems to stem from the incipit of the old Introit text for that day (Gaudete in Domino semper: iterum dico, gaudeteย from Phil 4:4), a parallel to Lent IV, Laetare Sunday, whose traditional Introit wasย Lรฆtare Jerusalem: et conventum facite omnes qui diligitis eam.
But what should be resisted by those Catholics and others whose days and months are always shaped by the church year’s rhythms is the association of particular Sundays with themes marked by poorly-written “liturgettes”, whether they be Joy, Peace, Hope, and Love or some other quartet. The principal problem with these themes is they bare only a slight relationships to the lectionary readings and collects for the day and thus serve only to clutter the liturgy, not enrich its celebration. Furthermore, many of the narrative “explanations” are not very well written and the prayers are forgettable. With three lessons, a psalm, and a collect already (not to mention the minor propers, for those who use them), still more prayers and readings are accretions that we should take care to avoid.
The Book of Occasional Services 2003 in the Episcopal Church (my own ecclesial home) says this about the Advent Wreath:
The Advent Wreath is a visual symbol marking the progress of the season of Advent. When it used in the church, no special prayers or ceremonial elaboration beyond what is described on page 143 of the Prayer Book is desirable (p. 30).
The focus and tendency toward simplicity here is to be heartily encouraged. The place in the Prayer Book toward which this text points describes how to adapt the “Order of Worship for the Evening,” which is a lamp-lighting rite that can be appended to an Evening Office or the Mass (an attempt to revive a practice from the so-called Cathedral Office in antiquity and which didn’t seem to catch on in any major way, as far as I can tell). The relevant portion from the BCP is this simple direction:
During Advent, the lighting of an Advent Wreath may take place after the Prayer for Light (BCP, p. 143).
In light of this, here is what I suggest for those in the Episcopal Church, based on these directions and what is found in the Order for Evening. This would be the opening of the Mass:
After the opening hymn has concluded and the ministers are in their place, the Celebrant begins
ย ย ย ย ย ย ย ย ย ย ย Blessed be God: Father, Son, and Holy Spirit
Peopleย ย ย ย And blessed be His kingdom, now and forever.”
or
Celebrantย ย Light and peace, in Jesus Christ our Lord
Peopleย ย ย ย ย Thanks be to God. [from BCP, p. 109]
The following, or some other seasonally appropriate Short Lesson of Scripture, is then read [from BCP, p. 109]
Every valley shall be lifted up,
and every mountain and hill be made low;
the uneven ground shall become level,
and the rough places a plain.
And the glory of the LORD shall be revealed,
and all flesh shall see it together (Is. 40:4-5).
Celebrantย ย ย ย ย Let us pray.
First Sunday of Advent
O God, who has caused this these holy days to shine with the brightness of the true Light, your Son, Jesus Christ our Lord: Grant that we, who joyfully receive him as our Redeemer, may with sure confidence behold him when he comes to be our Judge; who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and for ever. Amen. [adapted from the two collects for the Nativity, BCP, p. 110, 212]
Advent II-IV
Almighty God, give us grace to cast away the works of darkness, and put on the armor of light, now in the time of this mortal life in which your Son Jesus Christ came to visit us in great humility; that in the last day, when he shall come again in his glorious majesty to judge both the living and the dead, we may rise to the life immortal; through him who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and for ever. Amen. [First Sunday of Advent; BCP p. 111, 211]
Christmas Eve
Almighty God, you have poured upon us the new light of your incarnate Word: Grant that this light, enkindled in our hearts, may shine forth in our lives; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you, in the unity of the Holy Spirit, one God, now and for ever. Amen. [Collect for the First Sunday after Christmas; BCP p. 111, 213]
As the candles of the Advent Wreath are lit, a verse from a fitting Advent hymn is sung, either by the congregation or the choir. E.g. โRedeemer of the nations, comeโ (55; vs. 1-5); โCreator of the stars of nightโ (60; vs. 1-5); โO heavenly Word, eternal Lightโ (63; vs. 1-4, 1)โHymns numbers are from the Hymnal 1982.
The Kyrie or Trisagion is then sung.
The Celebrant then turns to the people and says,
The Lord be with you.
Peopleย ย ย ย ย And also with you.
Celebrantย ย Let us pray.
The Celebrant then sings or says the Collect of the Day.
Many familiar observances of the Church year are of more recent origin than we might suspect. That does not necessarily imply that they are not constructive and worthy additions to our worship. Anyone looking for an Advent wreath blessing, for example, inย The Canadian Book of Occasional Offices will be disappointed, although the blessing of the Christmas Crib is given. A search a little further a field, say in Percy Dearmerโsย Parsonโs Handbookย , will also suspiciously draw a blank. This supposedly ancient observance seems unheard of by either of these authorities, both of whom one would assume would have loved to digress upon such a practice. That they fail to do so might well arouse oneโs suspicions, as indeed it should. Dearmer does mention what were known as trendles or rowells. โA pretty medieval practice, which might well be revived as a good way of marking the season, was to hang a wooden hoop with candles on it in the midst of the chancel at Christmas…โ (p. 144-145) Dearmer cites as his source on this topic J.T. Micklethwaite, whose Ornaments of the Rubricย , published in 1897 and one of the pioneering classics of the Alcuin Club, where it is stated:
In churchwardensโ accounts we sometimes meet with an entry like โpd. for a Rope for the Rowyllโ โfor a bolte and a swevyll to the trendyllโ or for wax for one or the other. The Rowell and the Trendle were I think the same thing. It seems to have belonged to Christmastide and to have been used in many places, but not to have had any special ceremony connected with it as the paschal candle had. It should perhaps be regarded more as a piece of decoration, such as the wreaths and banners which people put up now, than an ecclesiastical ornament. Each word means a wheel, and the thing itself seems to have been a hoop with candles fixed to it which was hung up in the chancel from Christmas to Candlemas, and was intended to represent the star of the Wise men.โ (p. 44)
A Directory of Ceremonial, Part IIย , first published in 1930 as the Alcuin Club Tract XIX, while not mentioning Advent wreaths, does recommend the revival of the trendle at Christmas. โIn commemoration of the star of Bethlehem, a hoop supporting a ring of candles may be hung up in the midst of the chancel or from the rood beam. The candles would be lighted at all sung services from Christmas Eve to the Epiphany inclusive. This ornament is called the trendle. It should be kept hanging till Candlemas, when it will be lighted for the last time.โ [pp. 12-13]
It is also possible that Micklethwaite was mistaken and that the rowell or trendle were what we know as Advent wreaths, but I suspect he is probably right. I have checked various more recent Anglican liturgical manuals for mention of Advent wreaths also without success. Cyril E. Pockneeโs 1965 โrevised and rewrittenโ 13th edition of Dearmerโs classic, extensively recast in the spirit of its times, is equally silent on the subject. The Ven. Michael PerryโsA Handbook of Parish Worshipย , published by Mowbray in 1977, a work much influenced by liturgical modernism, also makes no mention of wreaths although Advent wreaths were widely used in North American Anglican churches and cathedrals well before their time. Archdeacon Perry does go on at some length about โChristingles.โ These were apparently being promoted at that time by the Church of England Childrenโs Society. โA Cristingle consists of an orange which symbolizes the globe, wound round with a piece of red ribbon (the blood of Christ) and speared with cocktail-sticks carrying pieces of dried fruit (the fruits of the earth). The whole is surmounted by a candle (the light of Christโฆโ Had the worthy Archdeacon been as familiar with Advent wreaths, as he was with Lessons and Carols, Cribs and Christmas trees etc. it is difficult to imagine that he would not have waxed similarly on pretty bows tied to purple and pink candles!
The earliest Anglican reference to Advent wreaths I have found is in a still useful collection of Advent daily meditations assembled by Norman W. Goodacre, then Chaplain of Queen Ethelburgha School in Harrogate. In the preface toย Advent Candles, published by Mowbray in 1963, Goodacre describes and dates his first encounter with the custom. โJust before the war, a German Lutheran girl came to England to learn the language and take up nursingโฆ. When Marie Charlotte [Lorey] stayed with us in 1937 she brought an Advent Star with four Advent candles. Lutherans light these four candles on the Sundays before Christmas. They symbolise the preparation for the festive season.โ [p. 9]
Advent wreaths, like Christmas trees, are hardly ancient observances amongst English speaking peoples, both being transplanted, or perhaps one could say translated, in relatively recent times. It is well known that the Christmas tree was brought to England by the Prince Consort Albert in the early years of Victoriaโs reign. Its independent use in North America could well have spread from German and Scandinavian immigrants to their neighbors somewhat earlier, but this is uncertain. The popularity of Advent wreaths can with certainty be traced to the post-war American liturgical movement drawing on both German Catholic and Lutheran influences. I remember as a child they were being promoted as a novelty by the publications of the Liturgical Press, the American mid-western Benedictine publishers of the journalย Worshipย . How exactly the tradition emerged and spread is difficult to determine.
None of the various suggested origins of the Advent wreath withstand much scrutiny. In Sweden where Advent is marked in various ways it became the custom only in the 1920โs to light a candle each week in anticipation of Christmas, but it was only sometime later that round wooden or metal supports began to be made, The possibly related practice of the crown, similar in form to that worn by the Sisters of St. Brigit and to which are attached five candles, that is worn by theย lussegubbarย , the girl chosen to represent St. Lucy on Dec. 13th, can only be traced back to the eighteenth century. Another common theory is that the practice has its origin among the Germanic tribes who lit wheels of fire at the winter solstice and that St. Boniface Christianized this practice inventing the Advent wreath in the eight century. I have yet to trace any reliable or very ancient source for this contention. My suspicion is the practice is actually Danish, as it is in Denmark where it has been most taken up in homes and is most rooted in national culture. I suspect that it was spread from Denmark through European Lutheran connections during the twentieth century, that it was adopted by German Catholics from their Lutheran neighbors, and then spread by the Liturgical movement to North America. Incidentally, the Danes use white candles with red ribbons, or sometimes red candles. The purple and pink candle option is an even more recent practice which I suspect was initiated by Church supply companies eager for another opportunity to sell unnecessary and overpriced items to gullible altar guilds.
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