(singing in foreign language)

- Advent is a preparationperiod for Christmas.

It was felt that, because Easterhad the preparatory season

of lint, Christmas as agreat celebration should have

a period of spiritual preparation.

- Although it's not clear whenAdvent was first celebrated.

It's roots go back to the fifth century,

when Catholic monks inFrance were ordered to fast

during the month of December.

- It is a penitential season.

And it was taken as seriously as lint.

Which meant heavy duty denial,

you don't eat certainfoods, certainly nothing

fat or anything delicious.

- At the end of this sixthcentury, beginning of the seventh

Pope Gregory the Great saidit would be four weeks.

And it would focus on thefour Sundays preceding

Christmas Day, December 25th.

- In the more liturgical churches, such as

Anglican or Catholic,you'll see that the Church

now becomes ready for Christmas.

There'll be Adventcandles, Advent wreaths,

special Advent hymns sung, sermons given.

- [Gordon] The Advent wreath,often made with evergreens,

is a symbol of god's eternal nature.

A circle with no beginning and no end.

- And there are four candlesthat are placed within this

wreath, three of the candles are purple,

and one candle is rose pink.

And on each Sunday ofAdvent, a candle is lit.

For the first and secondSundays of Advent are

Sunday's in which purple candles are lit

because these are pointsof which the gospel

readings have to do withwarning and with preparation,

and with hope.

And on the third Sunday,the pink candle is lit

because it represents celebration and joy.

We know the lord is coming,we expect him to be here soon.

- [Gordon] On the fourth Sunday, the last

purple candle is lit.

Symbolizing the royalty of Christ.

Many people also mark theAdvent season with calendars

that count the days until Christ's birth.

- Some advent calendarswill have scriptures,

or depictions of differentaspects of the nativity story.

Promises of scriptureconcerning the messiah.

And others will have littletreats or little toys.

If you don't want to getchocolate, you can get

a Lego advent calendar.

That would be like theultimate modern adaptation.

- [Gordon] The Advent seasonalso comes with it's own hymns.

- Traditionally, Adventhymns are sung throughout

Advent and Christmascarols were not sung until

Christmas Eve and Christmas night.

And we break all therules because we start

playing our Christmasmusic before Thanksgiving.

So now we are really breaking the rules.

Oh come Oh come Emmanuelis an Advent hymn.

It comes from an ancient Latin poem.

The poem was writtenaround the 12th century.

And it was based on prayersthat were written in and

around the seventh to eighth century.

They were called the Oh Antifans.

- [Gordon] Antifans areproclamations about the coming

Messiah, taken from the Prophet Isaiah.

- Around the 12thcentury, these titles were

put into a song thatexisted only in Latin.

This Advent hymn really hasits roots deep deep in church

history and in the reflectionof so many Christians

over the centuries onthese beautiful passages

from the Old Testamentthat anticipate the coming

of the Messiah and whathe would do in the lives

of his people.

♪ O come o come Emmanuel ♪

O come thou Lord of might isassociated in the original

antifant with the appearanceof God in the burning bush.

In Exodus chapter three.

The lord of might who bringsliberation to his enslaved

people and this attributeof might also is reflected

in Isaiah when we talkabout the names of God.

He's the almighty God, thefather, the prince of peace.

♪ Emmanuel shall come to the Israel ♪

The Rod of Jesse actuallycomes from Isaiah 11 verse 10,

in which it's prophecizedthat a rod of Jesse will come

who will deliver and liberate his people.

Come and be the divitic King.

Come and be the ruler of your people,

come in your might and set us free.

♪ And close the handto may you use on me ♪

O come thou dayspring from on high

really refers to thatscripture in Malachi four.

The son of righteousnesswill rise with healing

in his wings, he will bring light and cast

the light into the darkplace and this day spring

is going to come and dispelthe darkness in our lives

to set free the hearts of human beings.

♪ Who to or try to untie his hand ♪

They key of David comes from Isaiah 22:22,

in which the lordprophecized that he will give

to him the key to the house of David

and he will open doorsthat no one can shut.

And shut doors that no one can open.

♪ Rejoice Emmanuel ♪

- [Gordon] For the earlychurch Advent was not only

a time to prepare for thecelebration of Christs' birth,

it was also a time toanticipate his return.

- As they started tothink about the meaning

of Christs first coming, theyalso tried to personalize

it within their lives whatdid it mean for Christ

to come to them individually?

And of course, when wethink of the first coming,

we also think of the second coming.

So the season of Adventstarted with the prayer

and celebration of themass which would focus

on longing for Jesus to bereal, to come into their hearts

and that idea led to prayersof desire and longing

and repentance, but alsoprayers of hope and expectation

and joy because hope isbased in the promises of God.

♪ Rejoice rejoice Emmanuel ♪

♪ Shall come to thee of Israel ♪