As we near the beginning of the Advent season, I think it is pertinent at this time to bring up some church history and liturgical history. It seems to be very lacking since people are afraid to really say what might offend others.

According to Wikipedia Encyclopedia, Advent Wreaths are from the Middle Ages, but the first modern one was made by Johann Hinrich Wichern, a German pastor, teacher, and theologian who lived 1808-1881. It was made from a wooden ring (probably a cartwheel) with 198 small red candles and 56 big white candles to teach children. The small candles were lit each day of Advent while the white candles were lit on Saturdays and Sundays.

As a German tradition, it had taken root in the beginning of the 20th century, but not until 1930 in Bavaria (southern Germany) and Austria.

In the Catholic church, the tradition was to have four candles, three of them were violet and one was rose to match the vestments of the priests during the Sundays of Advent. The violet candles represented faithful expectation whereas the rose candle represented joy and hope. The rose candle was designated for the third Sunday of Advent called Gaudete Sunday which is Latin for "Rejoice." It also is named that it also signify the first words of the Introit for that particular Sunday. Those who have studied liturgy as a course in seminary know that it is a long tradition to name the Sundays after the beginning words of the Introit.

Another tradition, which has been followed at Trinity Lutheran in Tacoma where I still hold membership is for specific designations for each of four candles in accordance to the content of the lessons for each Sunday in Advent. They are as follows: the first candle is the Prophets' candle, the second candle is the Bethlehem candle, the third candle is the Shepherds' candle, and the fourth candle is the Angels' candle. Trinity combines this tradition with the following tradition by lighting a big white candle for Christmas.

The next tradition is for five candles. The first candle is the Candle of Hope to represent the patriarchs of the faith, the second is the Candle of Peace to represent the prophets who foretold the birth of Jesus. The third is the Candle of Love representing John the Baptist who came to prepare the way for Christ, the fourth is the Candle of Joy representing Mary, the mother of Jesus and the fifth is usually white representing Jesus Christ and is lit on Christmas Day.