Today is the First Advent, I know some people here celebrate this and some don’t know what it is about. I would love to introduce you to the advent wreath and give you some background on how we celebrated Advent when I grew up in Germany.
Each Sunday starting with the last Sunday in November or the last 4 Sundays before Christmas, we kick off the Advent Season; we burn one Candle on our Advent wreath almost all day to celebrate the Christmas Season, but at least every Sunday during Breakfast.
When I was little we burned that candle every day for breakfast and coffee breaks, now that I’m a mom and my life is a lot more fast pace than it was back in the good ‘ol day, I don’t have time to sit down in the morning for Breakfast or take a coffee break.
However I do want to keep the tradition alive and we all sit every Sunday together and have breakfast anyway, so I always have our wreath and we burn the candle(s) to help us sweeten the wait for the Christ Child; in Germany we call it “Christkind” we do not have Santa Claus come on Christmas, he will arrive on December 6th.
Did you know:
The way I grew up in Germany,; the Christian season of Christmas actually begins on Christmas Eve and lasts for twelve days, ending on January 6. The time before Christmas is Advent, a season of preparation for Christmas. Christians prepare for celebrating the birth of Jesus by remembering. In Advent, we’re reminded of how much we ourselves also need a Savior, and we look forward to our Savior’s second coming even as we prepare to celebrate his first coming at Christmas. The word “Advent” comes from the Latin word adventus, which means “coming” or “visit.” In the season with this name, we keep in mind both “advents” of Christ, the first in Bethlehem and the second yet to come.
Traditional families gather around the wreath on each Advent Sunday to light the next candle and sing Christmas carols. This was even more important in the past, when the Christmas tree was usually reserved for a special unveiling only on Christmas Eve. Until then, the Advent wreath provided the evergreen look and aroma in the house. That’s how I grew up; the Christmas tree was not put up in the house until Christmas Eve morning; however us children were not allowed to see the decorated tree until the “Christkind” (Christ Child) arrived on Christmas Eve; that’s when we saw the tree and our presents. The tree of course will stay up till January 6th and no one will ever remove their tree any earlier.
Happy 1st Advent … Enjoy Your Families
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