Explanation Station from St. John Adult Faith Formation – Prepare with purple. Celebrate with white.

Explanation Station from St. John Adult Faith Formation – Prepare with purple. Celebrate with white.

Our first season of the new church year is Advent. Advent is NOT Christmas, even though it feels like it in the stores. Advent is a season of preparation for Christmas and it means Coming. Christmas is coming, so we prepare our hearts, our minds and our homes. The liturgical color of Advent, purple, is highly visible in clergy vestments and decorations because it is the color of fasting and penance. With candles, more lit every week, we recognize that Christ is the light shining forth in the darkness. The readings for the Advent Season prepare us for the holy birth of our blessed Savior.

The next liturgical season is the Christmas Season. Christmas begins, not ends, on December 25th and lasts through Epiphany which is on January 6th. This season is a joyful season, a season of celebration! We take down the purple decorations and vestments and clergy will wear white, the color of celebration.

So let’s plan this year to keep that tree up until January 6th and continue celebrating Christmas as it should be! A blessed Advent Season to all as you continue to prepare.