Have you started counting down the remaining days to December 25? We certainly have!
With all the hustle and bustle that’s going on for Christmas, time is just flying by; all of a sudden it’ll be Christmas eve, but you still have so many things to cross off your to-do list.
This is where the Christmas Advent Calendar comes in handy.
Whilst they certainly get us all in the festive spirit, advent calendars also help get through the hectic Christmas schedule.
That said, to pay tribute to this goodie, in this article we’ll be unveiling the story, the origins of advent calendars. This will help you know a little more about these calendars every time you open a new door.
Originally considered as a time that marked Christ’s second birth to judge humanity, the word advent is derived from the Latin term “adventus” which means ‘coming’ or ‘arrival’.
However, it wasn’t till the Middle Ages that it marked Jesus’ birth in Bethlehem, acting as a means to countdown days to Christmas, the day when he was born.
What’s more, even if people now typically use advent calendars from December 1st to December 24th, they aren’t necessarily for this month only. In fact, Advent Sunday (the first of 4 Sundays before Christmas) falls between 27th November and 3rd December, and people use calendars for that too.
Having said that, the majority of people still wait until December 1st to open the first door – meaning, you can see advent calendars in the month of November only in churches.
We, however, can’t help but think advent calendars from November should be the norm – after all, who says no to extra days of chocolate and gifts?
The actual celebration of Advent was first started in 567 AD, when the monks were believed to fast for a month leading to Christmas.
Now, whilst this could seem the opposite of the holidays (we personally feel December is the best time to pig out!) fasting for days leading to Christmas is actually a common thing.
As a matter of fact, in many Eastern Catholic and Orthodox churches, advent continues for nearly 40 days and is popularly known as “Nativity Fast”.
This brings us to the design aspect; advent calendars originally came with a Nativity scene which was presented in a ‘vessel cup’ or ‘advent images’. It came as a box with a glass lid, further adorned with flowers, ribbons and two dolls portraying baby Jesus and Mary.
However, the main concept of counting days leading up to Christmas was initiated in Germany.
In the 19th century, German families began the countdown to Christmas using chalk marks on their door’s wall. This tradition further evolved into various forms from hanging different religious pictures every day to lighting a candle leading to Christmas eve. Gradually, by the 1900s, publishing companies and newspaper agencies in Germany started producing paper calendars.
Speaking of German publishing companies, it was the printer Gerhard Lang whose cardboard design calendar significantly increased the fame of advent calendars.
By the early 20s, he came up with the concept of creating small doors in cardboard, each holding a Bible verse or biblical picture.
However, once the paper ration in WW2 was implemented, the calendar’s production started seeing a dip but the love for it never died. By the 50s, a lot of calendars started coming with little gifts like toys and chocolates behind every door.
Over a period of time, advent calendars became a fun way to countdown days leading to Christmas. Since then, they’ve been miles away from being looked at as a religious box.
Across the globe, the decor and countdown to Christmas have evolved into many forms!
For example, the Christian civilians in China celebrate this holiday season by hanging red paper pagodas and paper lanterns in windows. Whereas in Scandinavia, the Lutheran Churches light around 24 candles as a countdown to Christmas.
Similarly, people in Germany hang around 24 wreaths of fir branches and open a gift every day.
Alongside the decor, advent calendars have also started moving away from traditional designs. In fact, some people have altogether shelved the concept of creating a box filled with chocolate. A jeweller in Belgium created an advent calendar full of 24 glass tubes that had silver and diamonds in it; it was sold for around £1.7 million.
Well, here are the three types of creative advent calendars created by Christmas-lovers:
If you have a crate or old pallet at home, then grab a few pegs, some paints, a string and a card to come up with your own design.
Not only is it a relatively easy calendar to the traditional ones, but also quite strong and long-lasting. Give this article a read to find more such inspiration for your Christmas countdown!
A contemporary and stylish idea, mason jars make for the perfect way to enjoy Advent in a traditional way.
Simply place one candle each in one jar and light them up every Sunday until Christmas eve. As an alternate option, you could use 24 jars, sterilise them and hide gifts in them.
For this type of calendar, grab some matchboxes and stick them sideways to create a pyramid.
Start with nine boxes in the base and reduce one on each layer until you have only one matchbox at the top. Next, cover it with festive wrapping paper and then write numbers on every door. Once done, fill them up with gifts.
For most of us, advent calendars are nothing but a box with doors hiding chocolates and gifts behind them. Having said that, people in Christian churches have a completely different take on the calendar.
Advent, for them, is not marked with doors hiding chocolates, rather with Advent Wreath.
Taking the shape of a circle, an advent wreath is made by intertwining fir branches that symbolise the concept of never-ending life. These are then finished by placing five candles on top of it, out of which four are red (placed on the outside) and the fifth is white (placed in the middle).
The four candles on the outside depict the four Sundays whereas the fifth one represents Christmas day.
Every Sunday, one candle is lit so that come Christmas all four candles are twinkling. Then on December 25, the white (fifth) candle is lit – on the day of Jesus’ birth.
Here are the four candles of Christmas Advent and their traditional meaning:
By unfolding the story behind advent calendars, we hope that we have encouraged you to open new doors this year.
This holiday season, do not settle for the usual calendar. Instead, think out of the box and treat yourself and your loved ones to something extra-sweet and special this Christmas – after all, you truly deserve it!
This is a collaborative post.
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