Advent Decorations

How can a Christian, especially a Catholic and Orthodox Christian, celebrate Christmas without actually celebrating too early? Why with Advent Decorations.

With all the pressure the stores place on consumers with their early decorating it is little wonder that many put up their Christmas decorations well in advance of the day. Long gone are the days the majority would wait until Christmas Eve to put up the decorations. As a rector who holds a party each year in the Rectory, I too have placed the decorations up way too early. Well here is the way to celebrate the season yet also stay true to the penitential and sober nature of this season of Advent: purple, lots and lots of purple.... maybe a spattering of blue too.

I'm more of a purple Advent guy than a blue guy, I just feel the focus should be more associated with Lent than with Mary. The season is penitential, that's why I use the BCP exclusively at this time of year (and during Lent) ... to focus on our brokenness. Blue is so Marian and though I understand I just feel being prepared for the Judgment of God is more the focus of Advent ... "being prepared" than the message of Mary in accepting the call to be the Theotokos, the God Bearer. So purple is the way to go for myself. There is a break with pink on the Third Sunday of Advent and so some pink is acceptable.

What we have done is decorate the Rectory with purple lights and with an Advent Tree, not a Jesse Tree, which looks like a dead twig and I find silly... ya I know, but it's the way I feel. I thought it might be odd, but actually I like all the purple and lavenders in the house.

Now our plan is to switch out the dead tree by Christmas Eve, maybe a little bit earlier 4th Sunday of Advent. And then we will decorate a new tree with all the gold and red of Christmas. Effort yea, Advent, yes, kids happy, yes. It's a great time of year to reconsider. So don't feel shy to set up advent in anticipation of Christmas... just don't Christmas up so much that the day it self loses it's joy and "umph".