It was a few years ago that the phenomenon of naming the Advent candles came to my awareness. I used to think it was simple: first Sunday, second Sunday, etc.. Apparently, peace, joy, hope, and love are a thing. I don’t know about you, but the beginning of Advent seems serious enough to me to warrant some kind of warning. I guess the Candle of Parousia doesn’t fit well in a Hallmark movie.
One of my favorite church wreaths, above, was the one my friend Gay designed for my last parish. It had references to “People Look East,” namely, Love the Rose, Love the Star, Love the Bird, etc.. Brilliant, even when the wax was unlit.
Not that I would object to the qualities of peace and love, etc., but I’m a little dismayed that such a naming thing has happened. I suppose it will be well ingrained by the thirty-first century.
The tradition of an Advent wreath is not that old–just since the Reformation. And seriously for homes, not quite two centuries. Far less for Catholic churches.
Catholic Sensibility 