What is Advent?

The Christ the King fiesta marks the end of a liturgical year. The new liturgical year begins on the last Sunday of November which is also the start of Advent.

A calendar year starts on January 1 and ends on December 31. The church follows the calendar year but also uses for its rituals the liturgical year. In the year 700, the church adopted the Roman Liturgical Calendar. This is divided into two major cycles: Christmas with its advent and Easter with its Lent plus the Sundays in between Easter and Advent consisting of 33 to 34 weeks.

Advent in Latin means “coming” or “arrival.” It is a time of preparation for the feast of Christmas time which is the first advent of the son of God. However, we must also focus on his second coming (his glorious return at the end of the age, and his coming to us in the word and sacrament during mass.)

Advent is a season of joy, yet the violet color of the season reminds us that it is a quasi-penitential time when festivities should be low-key or subdued while we are preparing for Christmas.