Advent is a term from the Latin word 'adventus' which means "arrival". It is a time of waiting for the arrival of Christmas, the coming of Jesus to earth when he was born as a baby at Bethlehem about two thousand years ago. During the season of Advent, we prepare for the celebration of the arrival of the Lord into the world through the birth of his Son Jesus Christ. Advent is a time to celebrate light in the midst of darkness. It is also a time to look forward to when Jesus will come a second time.
Advent begins on the Sunday nearest to 30th November (St. Andrew's Day) and lasts until midnight on Christmas Eve. Advent Sunday is the first of the four sundays before the 25th December.
Advent as we know it evolved from two sources. In the 4th century AD Celtic monks in France began to observe a penitential and devotional period, a lesser Lent, about six weeks before December 25th.. The second source comes from Rome, where there was a practice of having a three-to-six week fast during which you had to come to church regularly. This was a fast before the feast of Christmas time.
The current form of Advent was established under Pope Gregory I in the 6th century. He set the current four-week length, and wrote liturgical materials for use in Advent. By the 10th century, the Celtic prayers and practices had been merged with the Roman form. Later on, the church adopted a system of liturgical colors, and Advent received a purple color not unlike Lent's. In the 20th century the emphasis of the Advent season changed from penitence to joy and anticipation at the birth of Our Lord and many churches changed the liturgical color to blue to distinguish the Advent season from Lent, which has purple as its liturgical color.
During Advent, it is traditional to make or buy Advent calendars as a way of counting the days to Christmas. Usually these calendars have twenty-four 'windows'. Traditional calendar windows open up to show a picture of something linked with this time of year. One may show an angel or one of the shepherds who visited baby Jesus. Others may show pictures of Christmas presents, a candle or anything else to do with Christmas. The last window to be opened usually shows Jesus himself, lying in a manger.
The Advent Wreath is a widely recognized symbol of Advent. The wreath is made of a circle of evergreen branches laid flat to symbolize eternal life. Four candles - three purple or blue and one pink stand in the circle and each one represents one of the four Sundays of Advent and one of the themes of Advent: Expectation or Hope, Peace, Love (the pink candle), and Joy. In the center of the circle is a fifth candle (traditionally white), the Christ Candle, which is lit on Christmas Day.
The candles symbolize the light of God coming into the world through the birth of His son, Jesus. The four outer candles represent the period of waiting during the four Sundays of Advent, which themselves symbolize the four centuries of waiting between the prophet Malachi and the birth of Jesus. The fifth and central candle is lit on Christmas eve to signify - Jesus the Light of the world.
Another common tradition followed during the Advent Season is the setting up of a Nativity Scene. While theologically not part of the season, many Christians set up a Nativity scene during Advent. It usually consists of a stable and figurines for Mary, Joseph, shepherds, a donkey and an ox (they are an allusion to Isaiah: "the ox knoweth his owner, and the ass his master's crib; but Israel doth not know, my people doth not consider" (Is. 1:3)), an angel, the Wise Men, and a manger and baby Jesus figure. The baby Jesus figure is placed in the manager on Christmas Eve and the Wise Men are placed some distance from the stable and moved closer to the stable each day until January 6th, the Feast of the Epiphany. The Nativity Scene should not be taken down until February 2, The Presentation of Our Lord Jesus Christ in The Temple (traditionally called Candlemas), which marks the end of the Epiphany season.