The Advent Candle Meaning

The Advent candle meaning goes back many years. With the darkness of the days and nights leading up to Christmas, the candle provided light.

Candles also symbolized the hope for Spring and renewal, which seemed so far away, during the darkest days of the year.

Advent means the coming of something; in this case, Advent is the coming of Jesus Christ into this world. As such, the candle also symbolized the light of God.

Advent Candles

Advent is celebrated in the Western churches on the four weeks preceeding Christmas. The candles are traditionally placed into a wreath of evergreens. The tradition of the wreath itself comes from the Germanic peoples of Europe, and later spread throughout Europe and to the rest of the world.

Candles are lit each day during the Advent season. One candle is lit on the first week, usually during evening prayers, or at least before evening's dinner.

Two candles are lit the second week; three the week after, and the fourth week, all four are lit at night.

The Candle Colors

The candles for Advent have different colors. Three of the candles are purple (violet), while the fourth one is rose (pink). However, should and of the colors be a problem, either four violet candles or four white candles can be substituted.

When using violet and rose candles, the violet are lit in weeks one through three, while the rose candle is lit the final week of Advent.

The Advent candle meaning as far as the purple color is that purple is the color of royalty. It is also the traditiional church colors for the season, for the four weeks preceeding Christmas.

Wreaths using other colors are decorative, but are not technically true Advent wreaths.

I hope you have enjoyed this information on the Advent candle meaning. You can also see some additional information on holiday candles in this site.

Please remember to always monitor any candles closely, while you are burning them or melting them. Don't be a statistic -- be safe!

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