Embracing Advent

Sunday, November 30th, marked the beginning of the new Christian year—a season during which some of our most beloved liturgies are offered and many of our favorite hymns, carols, and anthems are sung. While secular society tends to jump straight to Christmas after Thanksgiving or, indeed, after Labor Day, we as Episcopalians make a firm point of theologically and musically differentiating between the anticipation of Christ’s Incarnation (Advent) and the Incarnation itself (Christmas). Advent is a season of preparing for the coming of the Lord with expectancy, hope, and intention. One of its core themes is waiting—something contemporary American culture has little patience for. In the Anglican tradition, we embrace Advent in all its rich liturgical and musical inheritance, which is, in my view, one of our denomination’s great gifts to Christendom.

The Advent Lessons and Carols Tradition
Advent is one of the shortest liturgical seasons. It is never more than twenty-eight days long, and in some years, as few as twenty-two. It always begins on a Sunday, and in some years, the final Sunday of Advent doubles as Christmas Eve.

At St. John’s, we have a long-standing tradition of beginning this season with a service of Advent Procession and Carols on the afternoon of the First Sunday of Advent. This Occasional Service has its roots in King’s College Chapel. It was designed in 1934 by Eric Milner‑White, an imaginative Anglican priest, academic, and then-Dean of King’s College. Milner-White believed the Church of England needed more inventive and vivid worship, so he created a service that carefully pairs scripture readings with choral and congregational hymns and carols.

The service traces Old Testament prophecies of Christ’s coming as the Church waits in hope and expectancy for the Messiah. The choir and clergy move in procession through the cathedral in a liturgy that begins in semi-darkness, symbolizing a journey from East to West to await Christ’s birth. Light is used symbolically as well: candles are kindled and illumination gradually increases, representing the coming of the Light into the darkness.

In his preface to the service, Milner-White wrote: “In the old English liturgies, the Advent Offices prepared for the coming of our Lord to this earth far more vivid and eager than those of our present Prayer Book. So an Advent Carol Service, if without precedent, is not without suitability, if it helps to express ‘the desire of all nations and ages.’” His stated purpose was clear: “not to celebrate Christmas, but to expect it.”

The Music: Great ‘O’ Antiphons and Chant
Throughout Advent, you will also encounter our use of the Great ‘O’ Antiphons during the choral introits. Traditionally, these texts were sung before and after the Magnificat at Evening Prayer in the eight days preceding Christmas and are sometimes still used in that context today. They are often known by their Latin titles: O Sapientia, O Adonai, O Radix Jesse, O Emmanuel, and others.

The Cathedral Choir sings these introits in English translation, set to ancient Gregorian Chant melodies, across the four Sundays of Advent.

Symbols of Hope: The Advent Wreath and Gaudete Sunday
Each Sunday, the lighting of the Advent wreath (also called an Advent Crown) guides our worship. One additional candle is lit each week, culminating in the fifth—the central white Christ candle—on Christmas Eve. Although some traditions assign a specific meaning to each of the outer candles, no single sequence of themes has universal acceptance.

The Third Sunday of Advent is also known as Gaudete Sunday, the day the rose-colored candle is lit. Falling roughly halfway through the season, it symbolizes the nearness of Christ’s coming—like a rosebud about to bloom. Traditionally, the more penitential tone of Advent is briefly lifted as we rejoice in the promised Redemption with renewed gladness.

Entering the Holy Waiting
Advent has long been my favorite season of the Christian year, both musically and liturgically. I look forward to preparing and sharing the music for this season with you, and hope you find within it an affirmation of the hope, longing, anticipation, and promise that Advent affords. 

~Tim Tuller, Canon for Music