As we opened another day on our very tasteful Smurfs advent calendar Bobby asked the valid question of “What is advent then?”.
We were all happy with the idea that it had something to do with the lead up to Christmas and therefore must be some kind of religious thing, but we needed to know more to speak with any authority.
Here’s what we now understand:
- Advent in 2011 started in November, that was a surprise, we kinda thought it was the 1st of December. This year it was 27 November – Advent Sunday
- While we look forward to our daily chunk of tasteless chocolate, what we should be celebrating is the Sundays leading up to Christmas by lighting candles on our advent wreaths, and if we’re Catholic we can use different coloured candles, wowzer!
- We should be fasting in preparation for the feast that is Christmas, which in its turn is celebrating the coming of Christ
It’s all about recognising the period of waiting by the Hebrews, and celebrating the coming.
That’s a tad more serious than the Smurfs might indicate, but that’s religion for you.