As an art history graduate student, I learned the Adventus was a Roman imperial triumphal procession into a city (often a newly conquered one) culminating in a “blessing” reception, a ceremony that Christian emperors adopted for their rites and official images. 

So how, I wondered, did that historical information fit with my childhood experience of Advent as preparation for Christmas through its seasonal calendar, with a window that opened on something different every day?

A picture formed gradually. My family’s Advent calendars depicted the season as stages in time leading to Christmas. Today I see Advent time on multiple simultaneous levels, as experienced in stages by the Holy Family (whatever the actual chronology), by centuries of Christians, and by us every year. 

I also came to see the Christian season of Advent as a journey towards a triumphal arrival. The concept officially applies to the arrival of Christ—and his formal reception in the world. That pivotal moment comprises multiple journeys: the physical journeys of the Holy Family, shepherds, and Wise Men; the spiritual and ritual journeys of countless Christians; and now us. In all cases, they involve stages in time. They also involve a time of waiting and of expectation.

AdventWord is another such journey in time, a spiritual one enacted in a succession of daily reflections during the three weeks preceding Christmas. We have many possible directions to turn, and we don’t proceed alone unless by choice: Others are similarly engaged. Our reflection even might gain from that community of earlier pilgrims whom we have honored, as today’s Holy Persons. 

We thus offer this year’s Advent journey as a combination of AdventWords with mentions of Lectionary Holy Persons designated for each date. AdventWords are treated briefly, open-ended to prompt our own reflection. We then identify Holy Persons for these dates (where applicable), or any tradition or practice attached to this season. We have many dimensions and guides, options for approach, and traditions to enrich this journey. And we remember that Advent marks the beginning of a new Church year and a cycle of birth, the emergence of a life of service in conflict, an illegitimate arrest and torture, a murder, and a resurrection. Advent is the great teacher.

-- Suzanne Glover Lindsay, St. Stephen’s historian and curator