For Christians who follow the liturgical calendar, there is no more countercultural time than the season of Advent. During the weeks leading up to Christmas, advertisers incessantly call us to “buy, buy, buy.” In contrast, our Sunday liturgy during this season bids us to “prepare, prepare, prepare.” Moreover, this is not so much an outward preparation—hanging Christmas decorations, buying Christmas presents, etc. It’s an inward one. It’s a time to prepare our hearts for the coming of the Christ child, whose birth we celebrate on Christmas.

Indeed, some liturgists have gone so far as to call Advent a “little Lent.” To the extent that we include some penitential elements in our Sunday liturgy, this is true. And so our Advent services begin with the penitential acclamation (“Bless the Lord who forgives all our sins . . . ”) and likewise continue with the Kyrie eleison in place of the usual Gloria. In addition, at the 9:00 am and 11:15 am services, we use Form V of the prayers, which is among the more introspective of the forms. Finally, we use the longer version of the confession in our Rite I services, while for Rite II we shift to Schubert’s more meditative setting of the Sanctus.

But that is where the comparison ends. Unlike Lent, which descends to the depths of despair on Good Friday before erupting into the jubilant exaltation of Easter, Advent begins quietly and slowly builds to a joyful crescendo on Christmas Eve. It is thus a season of rising expectation. Liturgically, this is seen in the appearance of the Advent wreath, with its four candles lit progressively over four Sundays, signaling the approach of Christmas. Our use of Eucharistic Prayer B (for Rite II), with its emphasis on Christ’s incarnation, also adds to the sense of expectation.

Were we to be liturgical purists, none of our Christmas celebrations would occur until the “Twelve days of Christmas,” which, contrary to popular belief, begin (not end) on Christmas Day. But the contours of our secular culture and their control over holiday travel plans require us to make some concessions. And so, we conduct our Christmas Pageant during the middle of the month (Sunday, December 9 at 4:00 pm). We likewise offer our Christmas party for Homeless Families around that same time (Monday, December 10 at 6:00 pm). Finally, due to the popularity of our “Lessons and Carols” service last year, we will again present this festival on Sunday, December 23 at 10:00 am (Holy Eucharist at 8:00 am only that day). For more on this delightful commemoration, please revisit my December 2006 Post article (http://www.pohick.org/post/pp12-06rector.html).

On Christmas Eve, of course, we will continue to have our family service (with Children’s homily) at 6:00 pm, with our festival midnight mass beginning at 11:00 pm after a half hour of anthems and carols. A simple Holy Communion service will be celebrated on Christmas Day at 10:00 am.

We hope that the liturgical offerings and events of this month will help us all to both “prepare our hearts” (Advent) and “celebrate with joy” (Christmas) during these two magical seasons of our Christian year.