Time flies, it sounds corny but it’s true! Last year I experienced Advent for the first time as a “real” Catholic. And because I didn’t give the topic much thought I didn’t really do anything special during Advent. I wanted to read Spe Salvi, but somehow never got around doing it. The encyclical still sits on my book shelf. And to my great dismay I discover that the last year flew by and now it’s Advent again. And again I don’t have a plan. I wanted to buy an Advent candle, but I don’t know where to buy it and I forgot about it later. I also wanted to make an Advent wreath, but found it too expensive to make. I went to the store to see how much an Advent Star would cost, but again, it was outside my budget.
I wasn’t raised with Christianity, so the whole idea of Advent was alien for me until a few years ago. In the Presbyterian Church they didn’t really do anything special during Advent in the first few years, later on I noticed how they were copying some symbols from the mainstream Protestant Church, like introducing ‘Advent colored’ flower pieces. The reason why it was purple? Because it was the color of Advent, but the symbolic meaning of purple was lost in translation, so to say. I felt like they were copying outward symbols, but had no idea what the meaning behind it was. I only discovered the true meaning of Advent when I discovered how Catholics and Lutherans celebrated Advent. It was a time of penance, I discovered.
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