The Advent wreath is one of the most popular symbols used by Christians during the season of Advent. These wreaths, consist-ing of a circle of evergreen branches set around four candles, are used in both churches and Christian homes. The evergreen cir-cle stands for the eternal life that Christ has won for all believ-ers.
The burning candles represent the coming of Christ as the light of the world (John 1:4-9). The colors of the Advent candles can vary. Traditionally, three purple candles and one rose-colored or pink candle are used. The purple signified that Advent is a sea-son of repentance as well as expectation. Purple also has his-torically been the color reserved for royalty. The King of Kings is coming.
Many churches, including Immanuel, use blue candles in place of purple ones to emphasize the hopeful anticipation of the sea-son. We have the sure and certain hope that because Christ has come, and still does come in Word and Sacrament, that He will come again.
Some Christians attach a specific interpretation to the four Ad-vent candles. The first candle (blue) lit is the Prophecy candle. It symbolizes the hope and anticipation of Jesus’ arrival in the flesh. “Behold, the virgin shall conceive and bear a son, and shall call his name Immanuel” (Isaiah 7:14; ESV). “For to us a child is born, to us a son is given; and the government shall be upon his shoulder, and his name shall be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace” (Isaiah 9:6).
The second candle (blue) is the Bethlehem Candle. It reminds us that God appeared in the flesh in humble manner, born of a vir-gin, in a stable, in the little town of Bethlehem. “And she gave birth to her firstborn son and wrapped him in swaddling clothes and laid him in a manger, because there was no place for them in the inn” (Luke 2:7)
The third candle (pink or rose) is known as the Shepherds’ can-dle, It represents rejoicing as the faithful have arrived at the mid-point of Advent. The third Sunday in Advent is known as Gau-date, which is Latin for ―rejoice.‖ “And the shepherds returned, glorifying and praising God for all they had heard and seen, as it had been told them” (Luke 2:20) The opening word of the Introit for ―Gaudate Sunday‖ is “Rejoice!… the Lord is near.” (Philippians 4:4).
The fourth candle is the Angels’ Candle. This blue candle re-minds us of their announcement of the Good News of Christ’s birth. ―And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host praising God and saying, „Glory to God in the high-est, and on earth peace among those with whom he is pleased‟” (Luke 2:13-14).
The candle in the center, the Christmas candle, reminds us that all our hopes and expectations are fulfilled in Jesus Christ, the Light of the world, God in the flesh, who came to deliver His peo-ple from their sins, who continually dwells with His Church and gives us His gifts, and who will come again on the Day of Resur-rection. We use the Advent wreath because it directs our atten-tion to Christ. This candle is lit on Christmas Eve and throughout the Twelve Days of Christmas.
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