Advent II -- 4 December --- Advent teaching

Today's teaching involved the colours of Advent.

Originally the vestments and paraments used in Advent were purple ("Violet") for the first, second, and fourth Sundays. On the third Sunday - the Sunday of Rejoicing - pink ("Rose") was the colour of the vestments and paraments. This reflected a more joyful theme in the readings and a relaxing of the fast for a bit. (This last idea is a possibility.) The colours of the candles in the Advent wreath followed this same schema, at least in North America. In Europe, all four candles were traditionally red. Information about this use of colour is unavailable to me at this time.

The Lutheran Church can use the traditional violet/rose colours or, as has been done recently, it can use a mid-blue shade called "Sarum Blue" as a colour of waiting or anticipation. The colour was used in the ancient Sarum Rite in Britain. ("Sarum" is the ancient name of the area of Great Britain usually called Salisbury.) During the Reformation, the Anglican Church translated the Latin prayer books and added pieces from the Sarum Rite. The Lutheran Church took the use of the blue vestments from the revival of that colour in the Church of Sweden.

Red and green, the colours associated with the secular understanding of Christmas, come from either the poinsettia or the holly. Liturgically, the colour of Christmas, the Festival of the Nativity of Our Lord, is gold or white. The colours, red and green, find an interesting place in the Irish Christmas carol, "The Holly She Bears a Berry."

Oh the Holly, she bears a berry, as white as the milk.
And Mary she bore Jesus all wrapped up in silk.

Chorus:
And Mary she bore Jesus our Savior for to be.
And the first tree that's in the green wood, it was the Holly.
Holly. Holly.
And the first tree that's in the green wood, it was the Holly.

O the Holly, she bears a berry, as green as the grass.
And Mary she bore Jesus who died on the cross.

Chorus

O the Holly, she bears a berry, as blood it is red.
And we trust in our savior who rose from the dead.

Chorus