The Catholic bulletin. [volume] (St. Paul, Minn.) 1911-1995, 1914-11-28
ADVENT.

1t has always been the aim of our
Holy Church to cause her children to
reflect, writes Rev. ]. F. S., in the
Providence Visitor" She sets apart
during the year two seasons, in which
she strives to Undue the faithful with
a spirit of penitential ferver. One of
these seasons we call Advent and the
prevailing spirit of the Church during
this time is symbolized by the purple
vestments, emblematic of the penance,
which the celebrant of the Mass wears
each Sunday of Advent.
This season is called Advent, from
the Latin word ''advenire''-to come
to; and in the calendar of the Church
in use at the present time it embraces
four Sundays, beginning with that
which is nearest to the feast of ST.
Andrew the Apostle, the thirtieth of
November. This year the Sunday falls
on November 20. Advent may begin
as early as Nov. 81, and then has
twenty-eight days; or as late as the
3rd of December, in which case it has
only twenty-one days. The first Sun
day of Advent, in our part of the
Church, is always, the beginning of
the ecclesiastical year-the Church's
New Years Day.
The History of Advent.
The origin of the observance of Ad-
vent as preparation for the Nativity
is very obscure. Unlike Lent, which
goes back nearly to Apostolic times,
in fire
turtles of the Church; in fact, the
feast of Christmas itself was not cele-
brated everywhere until about the
middle of the fourth century, at
which time it became universal-al-
though there was for long time a
disagreement as to the exact day on
which it should be observed. Some
celebrated it on the 25th of Deem
Der, as we do now; others on the
sixth of January.
Near the end of that century the
practice was established to have a
few days of preparation for the prop
er observance of that great festival,
and in some countries a regulation
was put into force requiring the pres
ence of the faithful at Mass each day
from the 18th of December to the
feast of the Epiphany. And some of
us are tempted to complain because
we are commanded to assist at Mass
on six weekdays during the whole
year!
These days of devotion before and
after Christmas seem to have been
the beginning of the observance OF
Advent. However, no general law
regarding it existed for some centu-
ries later But the practice of our
Church, of setting apart several
weeks for penance and prayer before
the day of our Lords Resurrection,
doubtless led to the establishing, in
many parts of the world, of similar
but shorter season as a preparation
for the other greatest festival of our
faith, the day Of the Saviour's birth.
Longer in Early Times.
In the year $50 Advent was OBJ
served in Spain, and was longer than
it is at present, for it included five
Sundays. A little later the prohibi-
ton of the solemniZation of marriages
during this season was put into force,
land various local laws were enacted,
by diocesan and national synods, re-
garding fasting and abstinence; for
the season of Advent has always been
looked upon as a time not only of
prayer but of penance, though not to
the extent that the Church requires
during the season of Lent. By some
nf fhnyn hct nh
fasting were enjoined from early in
November to Christmas, and even
from the date of September equinox
and the beginning of autumn. But
about the ninth century the time of
Advent was arranged as we have it at
the present day-taking in four Sun
days only. Thus the present practice
of our Church in observing this holy
season is of very respectable an
thousand years.
Advent Penances.
The law of the Church requires a
certain amount of fasting and abstin-
ence during the time of Advent but
in regard to this her practice has
varied greatly. In the earlier ages,
after the establishment of this sea-
son, the regulations were very strict,
and Advent was observed almost as
vigorously as Lent. Later on, the
strictness was considerably relaxed.
At the present day, the Fridays of Ad-
vent are kept as fasting days in this
and other English-speaking countries;
but in France and other parts of con-
tinental Europe the practice of observ-
ing them has died out except in relig-
ious communities. And the special
dispensations recently granted by the
Holy See in favor of working people
and their families have made this fast
ing no longer obligatory for many of
the faithful. The idea of the Church
has nearly always been that Advent,
while a penitential season, is not to
be observed as strictly as Lent; and
therefore, at the present day, she has
restricted the, physical modification
to Fridays only, and even that restric-
ton binds only a comparatively small
number of the faithful
The Advent Liturgy.