Chapter II: Twelvetide - Childermas

Today is the Commemoration of the Murder of the Holy Innocents as told in Matthew 2:

Then Herod, when he saw that he was mocked by the wise men, was exceedingly angry, and sent out, and killed all the male children who were in Bethlehem and in all the surrounding countryside, from two years old and under, according to the exact time which he had learned from the wise men. Then that which was spoken by Jeremiah the prophet was fulfilled, saying,
“A voice was heard in Ramah,
     lamentation, weeping and great mourning,
Rachel weeping for her children;
     she wouldn’t be comforted,
     because they are no more."
          -Matthew 2:16-18

Chapter I: Advent - Christmas Eve

 

Tonight is the night of Christ's birth. Traditionally, it has been observed with a vigil, at least through midnight. It is a hopeful, celebratory time, comparable to the moments (or hours) of a waiting family while a new mommy is in labour. Indeed, that is an excellent comparison, for that is exactly what we commemorate on this eve.

Chapter I: Advent - The O Antiphones: Emmanuel

The Seventh (and Last) of the Great O Antiphons

Chapter I: Advent - The O Antiphones: King of Nations

The Sixth of the Great O Antiphons

Chapter I: Advent – The Candle of Love

Today, the final anticipation Candle was lit in churches around the world: the Candle of Love. This Theme is not as quickly understandable in light of the Themes of waiting and yearning as those of Hope, Peace, and Joy. We contemporaries tend to think of love in terms of here-and-now. We make this error in two opposite extreme ways.

Chapter I: Advent - The O Antiphones: Morning Star

The Fifth of the Great O Antiphons

Chapter I: Advent - Ember Day III: St. John the Baptizer's Preparation

[...T]he word of God came to John, the son of Zacharias, in the wilderness. He came into all the region around the Jordan, preaching the baptism of repentance for remission of sins. As it is written in the book of the words of Isaiah the prophet:

“The voice of one crying in the wilderness,
      ‘Make ready the way of the Lord.
Make his paths straight.
     Every valley will be filled.
Every mountain and hill will be brought low.
      The crooked will become straight,
      and the rough ways smooth.
All flesh will see God’s salvation.’”
-Luke 3:2b-6

Chapter I: Advent - The O Antiphones: Key of David

The Fourth of the Great O Antiphons

Chapter I: Advent - Ember Day II: The Visitation

Today marks the second of the Winter Ember Days.

Praise Yahweh, Jerusalem!
    Praise your God, Zion!
He gives snow like wool,
    and scatters frost like ashes.
He hurls down his hail like pebbles.
    Who can stand before his cold?
           -Psalm 147:12 & 16-17

Chapter I: Advent - The O Antiphones: Shoot of Jesse

The Third of the Great O Antiphons

Chapter I: Advent - The O Antiphones: Adonai

The Second of the Great O Antiphons

Chapter I: Advent - The O Antiphones: Wisdom

17 December marks the beginning of the Great O Antiphons.

Chapter I: Advent – The Candle of Joy

The Magnificat

My soul magnifies the Lord.
My spirit has rejoiced in God my Savior
For he has looked at the humble state of his servant.
For behold, from now on, all generations will call me blessed.
For he who is mighty has done great things for me.
Holy is his name.
His mercy is for generations of generations on those who fear him.
He has shown strength with his arm.
He has scattered the proud in the imagination of their hearts.
He has put down princes from their thrones.
And has exalted the lowly.
He has filled the hungry with good things.
He has sent the rich away empty.
He has given help to Israel, his servant, that he might remember mercy,
As he spoke to our fathers,
to Abraham and his offspring forever.

                                                -Luke 1:46-55 (WEB)

I'm posting this a few days late because the past few days have been filled with whirlwind travel. As I'm finally settling in for 10 days with family for Christmas, I'm getting a moment to write about my reflection on last Sunday's Advent Candle.

The church I attended Sunday did not have an Advent Wreath, but I thought their service was still very appropriate for the day. The main 'Advent' event was the song O Come, O Come Emmanuel. The sermon was on Hebrews, and the pastor pointed out how much of the Old Testament role of Priest Christ fulfills. The thing is, this role is still being completed by Our Lord.

Chapter I: Advent – The Candle of Preparation (Peace)

Merciful God, who sent your messengers the prophets to preach repentance and prepare the way for our salvation: Give us grace to heed their warnings and forsake our sins, that we may greet with joy the coming of Jesus Christ our Redeemer; who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and for ever. Amen.

- Collect for the Second Week of Advent from the Book of Common Prayer

In our world so filled with political activism, court cases, and psychotherapy all designed to bring 'peace' and 'justice' to the world, we often lose sight of what Peace has traditionally meant to the Christian. For this reason, I have noted that the primary theme for this week's candle is Preparation with Peace in parentheses.

Chapter I: Advent – The Candle of Hope

Yesterday marked the beginning of Advent as signified by the lighting of the First Advent Candle in many churches across Western Christianity.

This candle, the Candle of Hope, specifically represents the Prophets and Patriarchs who foretold the coming Messiah. The Promise, about so much more than just whether we live in Heaven or Hell after we die, was first given in Genesis 3 and reads as follows:

Chapter I: Advent - The Advent Fast

Advent is finally upon us! And I’m again posting this a day late. I came down with the flu Saturday evening – perhaps just the normal flu or, as one of my friends pointed out, perhaps some exotic disease foisted on me by one of my students. Whatever it was, I seem to be on the mend and, after spending literally all day yesterday either in my shower or in my bed, I’m somewhat on my feet again (though I did call in sick this morning to work).

Advent has begun! And this, of course, means the Advent Fast has begun.

The Advent Fast, unlike the Lenten Fast, is not especially a time of repentance, though it will undoubtedly include that. It is a time of looking forward, a time of anticipation of the First Coming of our Lord. The goal of the Fast, then, is not specifically for penance but for clearing our minds and souls so that we can see how much we really desire His coming.

The Themes of Adventtide

Sundays are the ‘basic’ holiday of the Christian Calendar. On this day, we re-live (in an abbreviated way) all of the Themes we've talked about. In my church, the liturgy has been carefully designed (over hundreds of years) to reflect the path of the Christian Story. Sunday contains a mini-version of the entirety of the Christian Calendar. As such, Sunday is the primary holiday for Christians.

During Advent, each Sunday is assigned a specific theme to further the scope of the Season. The order of these Themes actually varies from tradition to tradition and even some within traditions. While the order shifts, the Themes themselves are surprisingly universal. The Advent Wreath has one candle for each of the Sundays, and each candle takes a name from these Sundays. During the week, specific commemorations from various traditions have been chosen to highlight the theme of that week.

Prologue: Stir-Up... Monday?

I am thoroughly ashamed: I actually missed the very first marked day on the Calendar. I would like to say that I vow to never do this again over the next year, but I know that would be an empty promise. In some ways, it’s fitting, since my tardiness with this post can serve as a reminder that I will probably be late more often than early!

Why a scheduled post before the beginning of the Year? You will, of course, remember that Adventtide, the first proper Season of the Year, doesn’t actually start until 1 December. Nevertheless, I thought I would borrow a folk-tradition from England as a means of helping me to prepare to begin the new Year.

Yesterday was the last Sunday of the old Year, which is also Christ the King Sunday. In the old days, before Christ the King was an official festival (and it is fairly new as the Calendar goes), the Sunday before Advent was called Stir-Up Sunday in traditionally Anglican countries.

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The Seasons of the Calendar

The Christian Calendar in its basic form has been around since at least the 4th century and possibly as early as the 2nd. However, it is really a reflection of the original Jewish Calendar, and most of the major holidays are a direct Christian fulfilment of those Old Testament feasts, and so its roots are much older than the 2nd century.

There is some disagreement between Eastern and Western dates for the moveable holidays (although the non-moveable holidays are universally agreed upon). In the West, most major Protestant denominations retained the use of the Christian Calendar after the Reformation except for the various Anabaptist sects (who did retain portions of it). It is an official tradition in all Eastern traditions as well as Roman Catholicism (and any other form of Western Catholicism), Lutheranism, Presbyterianism, Anglicanism (including the Church of England and other Anglican bodies), Methodism, and the various Reformed Churches (Dutch, French, Swiss, etc.).
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A Confession

Each of the Themes I discussed in my previous post tends to resonate with some people more than others. That’s natural. The Christian Story is not one primarily of or for individuals but of God with Himself and illustrated with His relationship with the entire race of humanity. It makes sense why individual humans may primarily experience or emphasise one or two of those Themes and may have no understanding of some of the others – we are much too finite to possibly get all of God!

Whole religions, philosophies, cultures, and civilisations have been built on the recognition of some of these Themes at the expense of others. Even Christianity at times has chosen to highlight or ignore selected Themes. This is one of the reasons it is important to live in community, not just with those in our own home or culture, but with the holy, apostolic Church throughout the world and through the ages. We have our personal themes, and it is not wrong to have them. But we must realise that our own lives and themes are only a small bit, perhaps only one short note, in the grand Symphony.
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