Advent begins in nine days. Advent is the English name descended from the Latin name for the season. It is called either the Nativity Fast or St. Philip’s Fast. And, like Lent it is 40 days long, but it is a lighter fast than the Lenten fast or the Dormition Fast. But, this is not about the fast, but about some Western traditions associated with the fast.
When I was a child, I ended up with a mix of both some Latino traditions and some American traditions. I can remember as a child in Cuba, in Santiago, going to midnight Mass. I have a vague memory that we walked there as an extended family. But, I can also remember in the USA learning what an Advent Wreath was and why the candles were lit. A foster family that my sister and I were with for a short time, used an Advent calendar. When I came into Orthodoxy, I was somewhat saddened to learn that while the midnight Divine Liturgy was still there, yet the Advent calendar and the Advent Wreath were not.
Or at least, so I thought. This year I have found out that there are indeed companies that put out Orthodox Advent calendar and make Orthodox Advent wreaths. And, here is the best part. The Orthodox Advent calendars are really Orthodox. That is, they have both Gregorian and Julian dates, and they have no candy behind the little “doors.” In other words, they are fasting-friendly. The Advent Wreaths have two additional candles and do not have a pink candle at all.
So, I am happy that some of the Western customs have been adapted to Orthodox realities. You see, many of us have childhood memories that are worth remembering. Just do a Google search and you can find the products I have mentioned. And, who knows, there may even be an Orthodox version of a Yule log yet!
OK, I’m slightly confused. How DO the Orthodox calculate Advent? What is the first day, and how is it determined? (I know that you celebrate Christmas later, I think on January 6, what I call Epiphany.) Educate me, please!
You should check out Divna’s song O Yulelog on her Soul of Byzantine Chant album — “O Yulelog, you show us the cross…”
Salome, for the Byzantine Orthodox who use the “new” calendar, Christmas is celebrated on the same day as lWestern Christians. Advent, however, is six weeks long instead of four week, as in the West. Currently, the Old Calendar is 13 days behind the New Calendar, meaning that the Orthodox who use the Old Calendar (the Russians and Serbs, for instance, among the Churches which remain in communion with the Ecumenical Patriarch, as well as “old calendarist” jurisdictions which broke communion with the EP over this question), celebrate Christmas, December 25 on the Old Calendar, on January 7 of the new calendar. Theophany is celebrated on January 6 of either calendar as well, meaning that those who follow the Old Calendar celebrate Theophany on January 19 of the new calendar. Of note, all Byzantine Orthodox Churches, with the exception of the Orthodox Chruch of Finland, celebrate Pascha (Easter) according to an older way of determining its date.
To confuse things even more, the Armenian Church, which, as a so-called “Oriental Orthodox” Church, rejects the Council of Chalcedon and is not part of the Byzantine Orthodox ambit, celebrates Christmas and Theophany together on 6 January. Most Armenian jurisdictions use the New Calendar. However, the Armenian Patriarchate of Jerusalem uses the Old Calendar.
Is that helpful?
Fr. Greg, thanks. I will digest that and eventually remember/understand it all! I must say I expect that Fr. Ernesto started this post a day or two ago, since that’s the only way I can get six weeks of Advent to be nine days away. ;-D
I also miss the Advent wreath. My favorite week was the pink candle week. So hopeful, expectant, but a gentle reminder that we aren’t quite to Christmas yet. The calendar we had as children was more of a paper-flip-the-tab type, but my mom has a candy one now.
There is an Orthodox woman named Amy who has started selling her Orthodox crafts online, including an Advent Calendar. http://www.orthodoxchristiancraftsupply.com/