The meaning of 'advent' and origins of the advent calendar

Of course, you don’t have to be Christian to have an Advent calendar, but I think it is a little bit of a shame if children enthuse and chat about which type of advent calendar they have if they don’t really know why they have one. I think we all vaguely understand the meaning of Advent marked by the four Sundays before Christmas, but I’d never really considered its origins. The word Advent comes from the Latin word Adventus meaning “coming’ and celebrates the coming of the nativity in the Christian calendar.

The ancient spiritual roots of Advent derive from the East. In the sixth century, the Roman Catholic Council of Tours made reference to Advent. It is recorded that, during the fifth century, the French Bishop Perpetuus declared the beginning of Advent from St Martin’s Day on the 11th of November as a time of penitence expressed through fasting, also known as the ‘nativity fast.’

Through the centuries, the Advent season remained a time for spiritual reflection, prayer and abstinence. In the fourteenth Century, Pope Urban V insisted that all clerics should keep abstinence in honour of Advent as a season of hope and the coming of the birth of Christ. However, in the eighteenth-century Pope Benedict XIV confirmed that Advent is a holy season for all Christians and not just the clergy and as a pre-season of Christmas, a time of prayer and abstinence.

The Advent calendar as we know it today is of German origin. German Lutherans invented the idea of marking the days leading up to the birth of Christ in the early nineteenth century by burning a candle or marking walls or doors with a line of chalk.

Gerhard Lang is widely credited as the creator of the first printed version initially with biblical images in each window at the beginning of the 1900s. As a child he would countdown the days to Christmas with his mother who had attached 24 little sweets to cardboard squares. He later decided to add small doors in the 1920’s.

Following World War II, Advent Calendars became popular in the US after President Eisenhower’s grandchildren were photographed with their large advent calendars produced by the German company Sellmer. Richard Sellmer had created a calendar based on a picturesque Winter town scene. By the mid -twentieth century Advent calendars were seen as a marketing opportunity and commercial advent calendars began to hit the shelves, becoming a global phenomenon.

The first chocolate Advent calendar was produced in the fifties, then in 1971 Cadburys launched their first. It wasn’t long before they became disconnected from their origins, biblical images were no longer necessarily used and it just became a fun way of counting down to Christmas, unanchored in any religious tradition.

I remember chatting with an elderly priest at the Cathedral one Christmas season. The conversation steered onto Advent calendars and he smiled and said, “As long as children know what Advent is, there’s nothing wrong with having a chocolate Advent calendar.” I may have gone too far when I mentioned my Clarins Advent Calendar! I think he’d only ever heard of chocolate ones. He was incredulous at first. “The meaningless materialism of it, the utter absurdity of it, the sheer excess!”  He shook his head in disbelief, then I told him about the many other kind of advent calendars you could buy. I reeled off Lego, John Lewis and Lancome. It was all too much for him and by the end of the conversation he was chuckling to himself. I daren’t have told him about the world’s most expensive Advent calendar ever sold in Harrods in 2010 for 1.7 million and that behind each door was a diamond. He might have fainted!

Every year, I try to attend the Nine Lessons and Carols Service held at our beautiful Cathedral. I remember watching the event on TV as a child every Christmas eve at three o’clock broadcast by the BBC from King’s College, Cambridge. Now as an adult I’m so glad that I can be part of it. The readings inspire hope and love, and I feel swept away by the choir’s singing resonating under the vaulted ceilings as each member of the congregation holds up their candle, bringing light into a dark world. Even if you’re not Christian, it’s wonderful to just go along, listen to the choir and silently reflecting on the year that has been.

That ancient tradition of evergreen hung in churches is a symbol of everlasting life. Advent wreaths adorned with pine branches and cones, laurel, yew, holly and berries also have their origins in Germany. The four candles represent each Sunday of Advent. The liturgical colours are significant. Three purple candles, one rose-coloured, (representing the more joyful Gaudete Sunday as Christmas nears) and finally to mark the birth of Christ, the fifth white candle, placed in the middle and lit on Christmas Eve at midnight.

I feel grateful that we still have strong Christmas traditions that endure, despite everything we’ve been through this year. In a recent government press briefing, the suggestion was that we must traverse this “Winter of Hibernation.” We must push on with the knowledge that after these longest and darkest days of the year, the light will return along with a new vaccine for all!

Once all of our frantic Christmas shopping is done, maybe we can sit back and remember that Winter is the season of rest, restoration and reflection. We can go home and watch ‘It’s a Wonderful Life,’ and like George, be reminded that each and every one of us have been given the precious gift of life, and by how we’ve touched the lives of others. We can remember to pause and watch the falling snow, savour some hot and spicy mulled wine, make some gingerbread biscuits, write Christmas cards and of course, remember those special people we have loved and lost.

After what we have all been though this year, we could all do with good cheer, peaceful surroundings and happy smiles. Although we may feel very differently post Covid, having lived through some tough experiences throughout 2020 which may have changed us, opening out hearts to each other would be the most precious Christmas gift of all. Evelyn Underhill, English mystic author once wrote in a letter: “I do hope that your Christmas has a little touch of eternity in among the rush and pitter patter and all...” As we end this extraordinary year let us be grateful that it is nearly over and as 2021 approaches, “…deliberately seek opportunities for kindness, sympathy and patience.”