Can LDS celebrate Advent?


andypg
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This will be my first Christmas season as a Latter-Day Saint. One of my favorite traditions of the Christmas season is Advent. For Catholics, Advent is celebrated 4 weeks before Christmas. It is meant as a reminder to prepare ourselves spiritually for the coming of the baby Jesus.

So my question is, can I still celebrate Advent and light the Advent candles every night as while meditating on the incarnation and while praying?

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Let turn the question around... Have you in your studies and learning about the LDS church given you any reason to think that you can't?

Not really, I'm just afraid of being seen as "too Catholic" and people thinking I'm not sincere about my conversion. I tend to keep things from my former Catholic faith that really helps me, so I often post Catholic quotes on Facebook or bring them into discussion.

Wasn't sure if Advent is considered "too Catholic".

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There's no such thing as "too Catholic". I gained a lot of my testimony from the Catholic Church, therefore, I will always be grateful to her for my spiritual journey. The only thing you need to remember is to make sure that you don't hang on to Catholic teaching that has become invalid after learning about the restored gospel... such as Priesthood Authority and the like... everything else that remains true with the restored gospel is still true... and that includes spiritual preparation to remember the Atonement during Holy Week and spiritual preparation to celebrate Christ's birth during Advent.

I still do the yearly 40 days abstinence starting on Ash Wednesday.

Edited by anatess
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If you are worried about what others might think of you then you are going to heap upon yourself much stress.

Advent is not a LDS tradition... That doesn't make it evil or wrong. When it comes to what traditions that you observe (or make) is something you get to decide. Other people will clearly have their own opinions. Listen to them politely and if you think they have a point then adjust, and if you don't then ignore them.

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I think it sounds kind of lovely. If it helps put Christ more in our hearts during the Christmas season, what could be bad? Could you explain more about it, though? For my own curiosity. Maybe I want to work it in. :)

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There's no such thing as "too Catholic".

:lol: You would have made the nuns at my old schools proud.

Now if I could just stop the urge to make the sign of the cross after prayer.

It's the strangest thing - I was Jewish for years and never thought about it. Put me in a church and I have to consciously stop myself from making the sign of the cross. I guess the past of one's childhood is deeply ingrained.

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Advent is a great process of preparation. I do it myself. Everybody does it different, but the main thing is we start the "advent season" 4 Sundays before Christmas and we ponder and pray and read scriptures with a different theme each week.

I use an advent wreath for my preparation. It is simply a circular metal frame with 4 "corners" connected to a center stand (I bought this frame from the Catholic store). I cover this frame in Christmas tree leaves and decorated with holly and ornaments. This circle of evergreens reperesents eternal salvation. I lay it down flat on a table and put 4 candles equally spaced on the "corners" of the wreath and one candle in the middle. Then I put the wreath on a stand to be put on my formal living room coffee table. I use 3 purple candles and 1 pink candle on the "corners" and a white candle in the middle.

I light one candle each of the Sundays of advent before breakfast and I blow it before going to Church to be safe. Then I light it again after we get home. Everytime I light it, I ponder and pray about the theme for that week. And on Christmas Eve midnight, I light the white candle in the middle and we ponder and pray before we open presents. Yes, we don't wait until morning to open presents!

And each candle comes with reflection and prayer and scripture reading as follows:

First candle - Purple - Prophesy (Salvation)

2nd candle - Purple - Manger (Love)

3rd candle - Pink - Shepherds (Joy)

4th candle - Purple - Angel (Peace)

5th candle - White - Light of Christ

It's a really good way to keep the Christmas Spirit centered on Christ instead of the commercial things.

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Could you explain more about it, though? For my own curiosity. Maybe I want to work it in. :)

To add to what anatess said (and I apologize if I am being repetitive), Advent is part of the Catholic liturgical calendar. The season of Advent begins four Sundays before Christmas and is a season of preparing spiritually for the coming of Christ.

The way most Catholics celebrate it, as anatess previously stated, is through Advent candles. There are 4 candles (3 purple, 1rose/pink). Every Sunday a new candle is lit (the rose colored candle is lit).

How I do it, and my family did before I went to college, was every night we light the appropriate amount of candles, pray, read from a book of Advent meditations, and sing (usually "O Come, O Come, Emmanuel" since it is about waiting for Christ's birth).

I'll be researching between now and the start of Advent (Dec. 1st this year) to see what LDS Scriptures or words from the prophets I can add to my Advent reading.

(Also, if you want to learn more abotu Advent in depth, this is from the Catholic Encyclopedia Advent - Original Catholic Encyclopedia)

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I'm all for this, and have even stated in some places that I wish the LDS Church would informally recognize some of the liturgical holidays for no reason other than education.

I'll warn you though, I've had some members get really fiesty about the idea of celebrating these holidays. One reaction my family got from another member when they found out we were fasting for Lent was a very snotty, "LDS shouldn't practice Lent...we fast all year round." And then she got rather irritated when we tried to point out that her response indicated that she really didn't know much about Lent. Another response we got was simply, "That's stupid!"

So be prepared to need thick skin against some. But I think if you find ways to talk about what Advent it, and why you celebrate it (as well as some of it's history), I think the majority of members will be interested in learning about it and generally supportive.

For what it's worth, Advent is something I intend to read up on in the coming weeks so I can incorporate some of its traditions in my Christmas celebrations.

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We've done similar things, they just don't include candles. In fact, I just made a 5 Days of Christmas kit at a Relief Society activity, with scriptures and a story and a treat for each of the days (I think it was only 5 days because that's how much the creator of it could fit into a #10 can. LOL). Years ago we made a binder of 24 Christmas devotionals. I don't see how it's much different, except for the candle lighting ritual. I actually really like that it's done on the Sabbath.

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  • 4 weeks later...
This will be my first Christmas season as a Latter-Day Saint. One of my favorite traditions of the Christmas season is Advent. For Catholics, Advent is celebrated 4 weeks before Christmas. It is meant as a reminder to prepare ourselves spiritually for the coming of the baby Jesus.

So my question is, can I still celebrate Advent and light the Advent candles every night as while meditating on the incarnation and while praying?

we celebrate all sorts of holidays, and most of those holiday things ultimately stem from pagan rites.. i don't see any reason why not to, especially if it in some way helps you focus on Christ.

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My only advice (thought really) would be to make sure your traditions don't get in the way of things God has commanded you to do. For instance you may feel that your traditions bring you closer to Christ therefore you don't feel the need to attend the temple on a regular basis, well, because you already "feel close to God". Or, put in another way, don't let traditions become a substitute for true gospel principles. This would be Satan using a subtle manipulation to try and keep you from going to the temple or doing your hometeaching or other such ordinances and commandments God has asked us to keep.

To be clear I am NOT saying that celebrating Advent is Satanic only that Satan can and does use neutral or otherwise "good" things to keep us from doing the BEST things.

I like the idea of having some tradition that helps you to focus on Christ during Christmas.

-Finrock

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For those of you wondering how celebrating Advent's been so far this season, here's a link to my blog where I discuss my reflections on the readings I chose for the last two weeks of Advent

Advent Reflections: First and Second Weeks of Advent

Advent Reflections: First and Second Weeks of Advent | Latter-Day Thoughts

The passages I read were:

First Week: Luke 1:26-38 and concentrated on the verse "Behold the handmaid of the Lord; be it done to me according to thy word.”

Second Week: Luke 1:39-45 and concentrated on the verse “For, lo, as soon as the voice of thy salutation sounded in my ears, the babe leaped in my womb for joy.”

Hope you enjoy my reflections (and if it isn't very LDS, let me know)

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Now if I could just stop the urge to make the sign of the cross after prayer.

I got asked about my weird variation on it after the closing prayer at some Church function.

Actually, I just don't wear suit jackets all the time, and don't have my concealed carry vest anymore, so it was just my quick check to see which of the six jacket pockets (seven if you count the outside breast pocket, but that's only for a pocket square) and four pants pockets my keys, phone, ereader and wallet ended up in.

When I always wore the vest, I had a system down that translated well to suit jackets. Now it fouls up my routine to have extra pockets.

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I got asked about my weird variation on it after the closing prayer at some Church function.

Actually, I just don't wear suit jackets all the time, and don't have my concealed carry vest anymore, so it was just my quick check to see which of the six jacket pockets (seven if you count the outside breast pocket, but that's only for a pocket square) and four pants pockets my keys, phone, ereader and wallet ended up in.

When I always wore the vest, I had a system down that translated well to suit jackets. Now it fouls up my routine to have extra pockets.

I need the laugh button!

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I got asked about my weird variation on it after the closing prayer at some Church function.

Actually, I just don't wear suit jackets all the time, and don't have my concealed carry vest anymore, so it was just my quick check to see which of the six jacket pockets (seven if you count the outside breast pocket, but that's only for a pocket square) and four pants pockets my keys, phone, ereader and wallet ended up in.

When I always wore the vest, I had a system down that translated well to suit jackets. Now it fouls up my routine to have extra pockets.

Ah, yes, the self-frisk. Can often draw stares. When I do it, I always want to say, "I have the right to remain silent!"

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