An Advent candle is a candle marked with the days of December up to Christmas Eve. It is typically used in a household rather than a church setting: each day in December the candle is burnt down a little more, to the mark for the day, to show the passing of the days leading up to Christmas.[1] As with reusable Advent calendars, some Advent candles start marking the days from 1 December, rather than the exact beginning of Advent. Some households will make a Christmas decoration out of sprigs of evergreen and Christmas ornaments, with the candle at its center; others will simply put it in a candlestick. It is usually burned at the family evening meal each day.
Advent candles are traditionally white, though other Christmas-themed colors have become popular. The custom of having an Advent candle seems to have started in Germany, where children traditionally insert a small candle into a decorated orange. This candle is called the Christingle.[2] It is now widespread in some other European countries such as the United Kingdom.
References
- ↑ "Christian celebration of Advent". BBC. 16 November 2010. Archived from the original on 27 January 2011. Retrieved 27 December 2010.
- ↑ Henderson, Helene, ed. "Advent." Holidays, Symbols and Customs. Vol. 4. Detroit: Omnigraphics, 2009.
