Advent

St Andrew's Day The End Of The Church's Liturgical Year.

A Student, Alex Salmond at The University of St Andrews

Yesterday, in Scotland, on St Andrew’s Day there were two memorial services. One in St Giles’ Cathedral in Edinburgh for the politician, Alex Salmond and the second in St Mary’s Cathedral Glasgow, for the comedian, Janey Godley. It must have been a hard decision for the comedian Elaine C Smith and others, who were forced to choose which service to attend.

St Andrew is the national saint of Scotland. He was crucified by the Romans on a diagonal eponymous cross also known as the saltire. St Andrew believed his martyrdom unworthy of the cross of Christ. The saltire of heraldry is the national emblem of Scotland. This said, St Andrew’s Day is important throughout Britain because it marks the end of the Church’s Liturgical Year and the beginning of Advent

St Andrew the King

Three weeks and three days

Before Christmas begins

Advent from the Latin word adventus meaning arrival or coming begins on the Sunday closest to November 30^th, St Andrew’s Day, and ends on Christmas Eve. It can fall as early as November 27^th (2022) or as late as December 3^rd (2023). There is rhythm: “For everything there is a season, and a time for every matter under heaven” (Eccl 3:1). This year Advent Sunday falls on December 1^st.

Advent is traditionally a time of penance and preparation. The Church is purple clad - a symbol of penitence. Historically weddings were forbidden during Advent as they were in Lent. Unlike Lent, Advent is a period of joy – clearly stated in the adage ‘Joy is not in things’, but it is also a time of waiting. A time to slow down and prepare not just for Christmas but parousia, the Second Coming.

Christmas Traditions

In Medieval times during Advent, women and children went door to door with a decorated box or Vessel Cup. In some areas it was known as a Wassail- bob or My Lady’s Box. The box contained two dolls (Mary and Jesus) bedded in silver paper, stars, and apples and covered with a white cloth. On receipt of gifts (money and food), the white cloth would be removed to reveal a Mother and Child. The customs of Church festivals are enacted annually but for most of us Advent heralds excitement in the build up to Christmas. Most families will buy rather than make an Advent Calendar with windows that are opened daily until Christmas Eve. Advent is a time of preparation in the secular as well as spiritual sense. It is a time to make or buy presents and food for family and friends, but perhaps also to remember family members who won’t celebrate Christmas with us this year.

C.S Lewis writes in The Screwtape letters

He gives them the seasons, each season different yet every year the same, so that spring is always felt as a novelty yet always as the reoccurrence of an immemorial theme. He gives them in His Church a spiritual year; they change from a fast to a feast, but it is the same feast as before.