Oh, how I love our Church! :)
The amount of symbolism that is present in something as simple as an Advent wreath (which I'm sure you're all familiar with) is absolutely amazing. It sits at the front of every church during this time of year, and for me when I was younger, it served as a timekeeper of sorts - when the last candle was lit, I knew that Christmas Day was fast approaching! I now realize how beautiful the wreath truly is. Every single detail of the wreath has a purpose, and every single detail reminds us of some beautiful aspect of the Advent season.
I'll briefly run through some of the symbols I discovered (I'll put the links I used at the end):
1) The wreath itself has a wealth of significance - the evergreen symbolizes life, and the circular shape symbolizes eternity, and endless hope, and ultimately God Himself, and He is hope eternal :)
2) The three purple candles symbolize penance, prayer, and preparation/hope for Christmas, and the pink candle symbolizes JOY and REJOICING! :) Many churches have also started putting a white candle in the middle of the wreath...care to guess? Yes, it symbolizes the birth of Our Lord, the Center of all Creation! AHH.
3) As a child I wasn't far off the mark when I thought of the wreath as a timekeeper...it was just for the wrong reasons :P It is indeed a countdown to the coming of Christ, as we light each candle each week, until the joyous day when we light the white center candle! Come Lord Jesus!!
Our Church truly is amazing, reminding everyone who enters a church during this season about all the things we should think about as we await the coming of Christ. And there is even more - in my parish near McMaster, the Advent wreath is placed close to a beautiful Marian statue, and I don't think this was an accident. As previous posts have so beautifully touched upon, she is SO important to our coming closer to Christ, and we can never go wrong in coming to her.
I challenge each and every one of us to examine ourselves next time we attend Mass (Sunday or otherwise) and look at the Advent wreath, so prominent at the front of the church, asking ourselves if we are adequately preparing our hearts, and how we can improve!
God bless you all abundantly :)
Mike
p.s. I just thought of something related to Rachel's most recent post, about the manger...and I think it was appropriate for Christ to be placed in such a dirty place after His birth, for just like the manger is unclean, imperfect, unfit for a King...so too are our hearts unfit for Him, for we are imperfect and unclean. Yet He still came to be with us, He still comes into our hearts through the Eucharist, and He still came to earth to open up the way to salvation for us.
GOD IS SO GOOD. Amen.
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