Advent Wreath

To symbolize the waiting of Jesus’ birth, Christians use the Advent wreath. This can be seen in many homes during December. It consists of four candles that one by one gets lit up the four Sundays before Christmas eve.

The concept originated from German Lutherans in the 16th century. However, it became more widespread three centuries later. This happened because of German Johann Wichern. He was a protestant pastor who was engaged with helping children. In 1839 he built a large wooden ring with 20 small red and 4 large white candles. Every candle represented a day in advent, the large candles represented each Sunday before Christmas. He used this to show school children how much they had to wait for Christmas.


Reading Sources:

https://www.crosswalk.com/special-coverage/christmas-and-advent/advent-wreath-candles-understanding-the-meaning-history-tradition.html