Twelve Traditions of Christmas - Part 4

ADVENT CANDLES.  About the time our oldest child was around 6 years old, we were introduced to the celebration of Advent Sundays using a special circular candle holder with places for four candles, one for each of the four Sundays in Advent.  We decided that the space in the middle should be for a larger candle that we could light on Christmas Eve.  Neither of us had observed this particular tradition in our growing up years, so we had to sort of fudge our way through it for the first few years.  I bought the Advent items at the local Christian book store and it seems to me it probably came with four purple candles.  We improvised on the middle candle and used the unity candle from our wedding.  Why not?  And so it began.

We started out using an Advent devotional put out by Focus on the Family with readings by R.C. Sproul, Charles Swindoll and others, Scripture readings, and Christmas carols to sing.  Years later, we came across an interesting and unique Advent family liturgy which was rich in symbolism, and heavy on the singing of "O Come, O Come Emmanuel."   It started on December 16th and was completed on December 25th.  Each day we would dip our fingers in vinegar and sand and touch our tongues with the combination.  The vinegar and sand were to symbolize the desert bitterness, the years of Israel's wanderings and longing for a Messiah.  The constant refrain was "God was good to us, yet we rebelled.  How can we find forgiveness?"  At each place there were empty wine glasses, waiting to be filled on Christmas Day.  There were tiny chocolates to be eaten after each day's liturgy was done, a foretaste of more serious chocolate feasting on Christmas Day.  All in all, it was very memorable, but we found we didn't want to do it every year.

Our current practice is to light the candle(s), do the appropriate Advent readings from a lectionary, sing a couple Christmas hymns/carols and then drink eggnog.  I can't really give any significance to the eggnog - we just threw it in the mix because we all like it.   This year, I transgressed the sacred tradition and bought a different holiday drink one week instead of eggnog - it was some sort of Irish Cream stuff, which was so horrible that most of us couldn't drink it.  I have repented.  It shall not happen again.

We will continue to light the candles and wait for Christ.  He has come.  He is coming again!