Advent: What is it and how should it be celebrated? Advent begins this year on Sunday, Nov. 30. Most Catholics \u2014 even those who don\u2019t often go to Mass \u2014 know that Advent involves a wreath with candles, possibly a \u201ccalendar\u201d of hidden chocolates, and untangling strings of Christmas lights. But Advent is much more than that. Here\u2019s an explainer of what Advent is really about. The people of Israel waited for generations for the promised Messiah to arrive. Their poetry, their songs and stories, and their religious worship focused on an awaited savior who would come to them to set them free from captivity and to lead them to the fulfillment of all that God had promised. Israel longed for a Messiah, and John the Baptist, who came before Jesus, promised that the Messiah was coming and could be found in Jesus Christ, God\u2019s Son, the \u201cLamb of God who takes away the sins of the world.\u201d Advent is a season in the Church\u2019s life intended to renew the experience of waiting and longing for the Messiah. Though Christ has already come into the world, the Church invites us to renew our desire for the Lord more deeply in our lives and to renew our desire for Christ\u2019s triumphant second coming into the world. Advent is the time in which we prepare for Christmas, the memorial of Jesus Christ being born into the world. Preparations are practical, like decorating trees and gift giving, but they\u2019re also intended to be spiritual. During Advent, we\u2019re invited to enter more frequently into silence, into prayer and reflection, into Scripture, and into the sacramental life of the Church \u2014 all to prepare for celebrating Christmas. The Catechism of the Catholic Church says the goal of Advent is to make present for ourselves and our families the \u201cancient expectancy of the Messiah … by sharing in the long preparation for the Savior\u2019s first coming.\u201d What does the word \u2018Advent\u2019 mean? Advent comes from the Latin \u201cad + venire,\u201d which means, essentially, \u201cto come to\u201d or \u201cto come toward.\u201d \u201cAd + venire\u201d is the root of the Latin \u201cadventus,\u201d which means \u201carrival.\u201d So Advent is the season of arrival: the arrival of Christ in our hearts, in the world, and into God\u2019s extraordinary plan for our salvation. So, it\u2019s four weeks long? Advent is a slightly different length each year. It starts four Sundays before Christmas. But because Christmas is on a fixed date and could fall on different days of the week, Advent can be as short as three weeks and a day or as long as four weeks. Does Advent mark a \u2018new year\u2019? The Church\u2019s feasts and celebrations run on a yearlong cycle, which we call the \u201cliturgical year.\u201d The \u201cliturgical year\u201d starts on the first Sunday of Advent. So it\u2019s a new liturgical year when Advent starts. But the Church also uses the ordinary calendar, so it would probably be a bit weird to have a \u201cNew Year\u2019s Eve\u201d party the night before Advent starts. What is the significance of the Advent wreath? The Catholic Church has been using Advent wreaths since the Middle Ages. Lighting candles as we prepare for Christmas reminds us that Christ is the light of the world. And the evergreen boughs remind us of new and eternal life in Christ, the eternal son of the Father. It is definitely true that Germanic people were lighting up candle wreaths in wintertime long before the Gospel arrived in their homeland. They did so because candle wreaths in winter are beautiful and warm. That a Christian symbol emerged from that tradition is an indication that the Gospel can be expressed through the language, customs, and symbols of cultures that come to believe that Christ Jesus is Lord. One candle is pink on the wreath \u2014 why? There are four candles on the Advent wreath. Three are purple and lit on the first, second, and fourth Sundays of Advent. The pink candle is lit on the third Sunday of Advent, which we call Gaudete Sunday. On that Sunday, in addition to the pink candle, the priest wears a pink vestment, which he might refer to as \u201crose.\u201d Gaudete is a word that means \u201crejoice,\u201d and we rejoice on Gaudete Sunday because we are halfway through Advent. Some people have the custom of throwing Gaudete parties, and this is also a day on which Christmas carolers may begin caroling door to door. The three purple candles are sometimes said to represent prayer, fasting, and almsgiving \u2014 the three spiritual disciplines that are key to a fruitful Advent. Is it wrong to sing Christmas songs during Advent? No, but there are a lot of great Advent hymns and songs, such as \u201cO Come O Come Emmanuel,\u201d \u201cCome Thou Long Expected Jesus,\u201d \u201cO Come Divine Messiah,\u201d \u201cCome Thou Fount,\u201d and \u201cHark! A Thrilling Voice Is Sounding.\u201d When should the tree go up? When to put up the tree is a decision that families decide on their own. Some people put up their tree and decorate it on the first Sunday of Advent to make a big transformation in their home and get them into \u201cpreparing for Christmas\u201d mode. Some put up the tree on the first Sunday of Advent, put on lights the next Sunday, ornaments the next, and decorate it more and more as they get closer to Christmas. Some put up the tree on Gaudete Sunday, as a kind of rejoicing, and decorate it in the weeks between Gaudate and Christmas. When the tree goes up and gets decorated is up to the individual and family, but having a Christmas tree is a big part of many people\u2019s Advent traditions. This story was first published in November 2019 and has been updated by CNA. Receive the most important news from EWTN Vatican via WhatsApp. It has become increasingly difficult to see Catholic news on social media. Subscribe to our free channel today EWTN Vatican on WhatsApp CNA Staff Would you like to receive the latest updates on the Pope and the Vatican Receive articles and updates from our EWTN Newsletter. 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