Advent is Here

Today is the first day of Advent. I am both excited and sad. I'm excited that the new liturgical year has arrived and we can prepare ourselves for Christ's birth. I'm sadened by the fact that I'm away at school and don't get to celebrate Advent with my family...I'm sadened by the fact that I probably never will be at "home" again for Advent.

My family is rich in traditions, but I think perhaps one of my favourite family traditions has to do with Advent. Today, my dad will go outside into the back yard and gather some pine branches which he will form into a wreath. I can imagine the smell of the wet branches and picture my dad in the garage putting the wreath together.

Every night during Advent, ever since I was a child (and well before I was even born) my family gathers around the advent wreath to sing and pray together. My grandparents who live down the street walk up and join us. We turn off all the lights in the house so that it is pitch black and light only the candle(s) on the advent wreath. The wreath sits on the floor in the middle of the family room and together we kneel around it. We sing advent songs in German, French, and English (I come from a multilingual family) and pray for both our deceased relatives and those who are not with us.

These fifteen or twenty minutes we spent together every day during advent when I was growin up were such a blessing to me. To be able to pray alongside my grandparents, parents, and siblings in anticipation of the coming of Christ helped me to keep my focus off 'wish lists' and on the birth of Christ. This tradition made Advent a distinct season in our family.

I'm sad that I won't be at home tonight to share in the song and prayer. I'm worried that the Advent season will disapear in the midst of my term papers, studies, and final exams. But I'm conforted in knowing that though I'm living away from home my family will be preparing the way of the Lord and praying for me at the advent wreath tonight.