Matthew 1:18-24  ¹⁸ Now the birth of Jesus the Messiah took place in this way. When his mother Mary had been engaged to Joseph, but before they lived together, she was found to be with child from the Holy Spirit.  ¹⁹ Her husband Joseph, being a righteous man and unwilling to expose her to public disgrace, planned to dismiss her quietly.  ²⁰ But just when he had resolved to do this, an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream and said, "Joseph, son of David, do not be afraid to take Mary as your wife, for the child conceived in her is from the Holy Spirit.  ²¹ She will bear a son, and you are to name him Jesus, for he will save his people from their sins."  ²² All this took place to fulfill what had been spoken by the Lord through the prophet:  ²³ "Look, the virgin shall conceive and bear a son, and they shall name him Emmanuel," which means, "God is with us."  ²⁴ When Joseph awoke from sleep, he did as the angel of the Lord commanded him; he took her as his wife.

Our devotion this week is on the Advent Wreath.  I have collected several tidbits of info for you, complete with the links:

From Wikipedia:  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Advent_wreath

The Advent wreath, or Advent crown, is a Christian tradition that symbolizes the passage of the four weeks of Advent in the liturgical calendar of the Western church. The Advent Wreath is traditionally a Lutheran practice, albeit it has spread to many other Christian denominations.

It is usually a horizontal evergreen wreath with four candles and often, a fifth, white candle in the center. Beginning with the First Sunday of Advent, the lighting of a candle can be accompanied by a Bible reading and prayers. An additional candle is lit during each subsequent week until, by the last Sunday before Christmas, all four candles are lit. Some Advent wreaths include a fifth, "Christ" candle which can be lit at Christmas. The custom is observed both in family settings and at public church services.

Research by Prof. Haemig of Luther Seminary, St. Paul, points to Johann Hinrich Wichern (1808–1881), a Protestant pastor in Germany and a pioneer in urban mission work among the poor as the inventor of the modern Advent wreath. During Advent, children at the mission school Rauhes Haus, founded by Wichern in Hamburg, would ask daily if Christmas had arrived. In 1839, he built a large wooden ring (made out of an old cartwheel) with 19 small red and 4 large white candles. A small candle was lit successively every weekday during Advent. On Sundays, a large white candle was lit. The custom gained ground among Protestant churches in Germany and evolved into the smaller wreath with four or five candles known today. Roman Catholics in Germany began to adopt the custom in the 1920s, and in the 1930s it spread to North America.  Professor Haemig's research also indicates that the custom did not reach the United States until the 1930s, even among German Lutheran immigrants.

From Churchyear.net  http://www.churchyear.net/adventwreath.html

The Advent wreath was likely first used as a Christian devotion in the Middle Ages. The design was borrowed from the customs of pre-Christian (primarily Germanic and Scandinavian) cultures, who used candles and greenery (often paired) as symbols during the dark and dead winter, to represent light and life. The Advent Wreath is a circular evergreen wreath with four or five candles, three purple, one rose, and (if you use the five-candle model), one white one for Christmas Day. If used, the white candle is placed in the center. Some Protestant traditions have been using 4 blue candles recently. However, Catholics still use the traditional colors because they dually symbolize both royalty and penitence, two important Advent themes. A wreath may be hand-crafted of real or artificial materials, or may be purchased at craft and candle stores. The candles symbolize the light of Christ coming into the world. The evergreen symbolizes renewal in Christ, the kind of renewal hoped for by those before Christ's first coming, and the ultimate renewal we long for in Christ's second coming. The circular shape symbolizes the completeness of God. It is likely the symbolism came after the actual wreath was conceived of, but that does not detract from the power of the symbols.

The candle colors are derived from the traditional liturgical colors of Advent and Christmas, purple and white respectively. The rose color likely is derived from an old Catholic custom of wearing rose colored vestments on the third Sunday in Advent (and fourth Sunday in Lent), called Gaudete Sunday, i.e. "Rejoice" Sunday. Each candle is first lit on the appropriate Sunday of Advent, and then the candles may be lit each day as a part of the individual or family's daily prayers. Often the wreath is placed in a sacred space or home altar area. Certain candles have been given various names.

Some systems name the candle as follows:
Candle 1. Hope (purple)
Candle 2. Peace (purple)
Candle 3. Joy (rose; the corresponding Sunday is "Gaudete Sunday")
Candle 4. Love (purple)
Candle 5. Christ (white)

Others do it like this:
Candle 1. Patriarchs
Candle 2. Prophets
Candle 3. John the Baptist
Candle 4. Mary the mother of Jesus.
Candle 5. Christ the light of the world

Either way can be helpful for celebrating the true meaning of Advent. If you do not wish to use either taxonomy, simply praying the prayers we have listed below as you light the candles, and then reflecting on the scriptures is the best way to proceed. Since the Advent Wreath is a devotion, there are a variety of ways to make use of it, and we encourage you to develop your own customs and prayers if you wish, based in Scripture and Church Tradition. The service we provide below is a good guide to get you started, and can be expanded upon. You may choose to light the wreath only on Sundays, however some families light the wreath daily to more fully celebrate Advent. Many Catholics and non-Catholics like to get their wreaths blessed by a priest before using them. A blessing formula has been included here as well. Please feel free to use the guide below as you incorporate the Advent wreath into your Advent prayer life.

In our prayers this week:  Ann, Daniel, David, Brianna, Scott S., and Mike C.

God’s Peace