We enhance our celebration of the Advent season by meditating on the candlelight of an Advent wreath. Do you have one in your home? Make a circular wreath of evergreens with three purple candles and one rose or pink. Light one purple candle at the beginning of the first, second, and fourth weeks of Advent. Light the rose candle at the beginning of the third week when we rejoice because Christ is coming very soon. The first word of the liturgy the third week is “Rejoice,” so this Sunday is called Gaudete Sunday. Each week create your own unique prayer as you light the candles and begin your meditation or choose this one:
O Creator, by whose word all things are sanctified, pour forth your blessings upon this wreath. Keep us awake these weeks of Advent and help us prepare for Christ’s coming. Give us the gifts of the Holy Spirit. Help us beat our swords into plows and pruning hooks and build a peaceful, fertile world, a world where the wolf and the lamb, the calf and the lion lie down in peace. May our desert bloom, and may we wait in patience for the Holy One, Emmanuel, to be born in our hearts and in our world.
Such a lovely tradition! Evidence of Advent around me, like the candles of the Advent wreath, shedding more luminosity as the weeks pass by, adds to the anticipation of celebrating Christmas. I also place a statue of Mary (without the Christchild) at the center of my wreath since she is the key archetypal figure of waiting during the season. Thanks for reminding us, Tessa, and for the beautiful prayer.