So, is it Advent, or isn't it? Most years in my memory, the Sunday after Thanksgiving has been the first Sunday of Advent. This is one of those years when that is not the case; it was Reign of Christ Sunday instead, and Advent starts next Sunday. So we church folks are in a bit of an odd position vis-à-vis the commercial culture: concerned about marking Advent before we celebrate Christmas, and this year, also in a sort of limbo where the commercial side of Christmas has begun but Advent hasn't even started.
Or has it? I did have this discussion several years ago when I worked in a Lutheran church where the pastor was very knowledgeable about liturgy, the Christian year, etc. I think we decided that since Reign of Christ Sunday ends the church year, the next day really begins Advent although nothing is done in church to mark it until the following Sunday. [Note to Sisterknits and Cordeliaknits: Advent calendars still don't begin until December 1.]
This appears to be the tack my denomination has taken, or even a bit more so. The UCC's online Advent devotional began on November 23 (Black Friday or Buy Nothing Day, take your pick) and will last until Epiphany. It must have been some unreconstructed old Congregational Christian who came up with this; the Evangelical and Reformed part of our 50-year-old merger knew their church calendars a bit better than that. Nevertheless, there are some good thoughts in this devotional so far.
Tomorrow, I'll be inaugurating Tuneful Tuesday with a short list of music for this inbetween time.
The Traditional Tree
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The cranberry/popcorn string, the candy canes, the icicles, the red bows
and glass balls. . .
The angel I made from a kit some forty years ago. . .
T...
1 hour ago
4 comments:
Dear Exile, excellent question, that! Does Advent begin on a Monday? hm. I do not know. My GUESS is, not...because of that thing we have about "the Octave" which trails along after the Special Sunday whatever it is. So I THINK we are now in the Octave of Christ the King, which is still part of the season of Pentecost, only white, if I'm right, or if the Altar Guild haven't gotten around to changing anything yet...
Wow, Crimson Rambler, you are a font of information! First the most helpful information on the turkey liver question, and now the almost-new concept of "the Octave" for me. (I had heard of it, and not in a musical sense, but we spiritual descendants of the Pilgrims and Puritans still have a lot to learn about church calendars, liturgy etc.) Thanks!
Well, we know Advent has 4 Sundays - the question is are the Sundays IN advent or OF Advent.
I always thought Advent started on a Sunday, but that may be wrong.
An octave is also the first eight lines of an English/Shakespearean sonnet. The octave consists of two quatrains. The remainder of the sonnet is the sestet, which consists of a quatrain and a couplet.
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