Advent has been called Little Lent. The idea is interesting since it captures the spirit of penance.
Although the Code of Canon Law, precisely in Canon 1250 says that The penitential days and times in the universal Church are every Friday of the whole year and the season of Lent, this does not take away the fact that Advent has imbued in it that spirit of penance. This point clearly helps us understand what Gregory DiPippo said concerning Church’s traditions: The Church’s traditions are not comprehensively determined by or summed up in any Code of Canon Law, nor in any Missal or other liturgical book.
In the General Instruction of the Roman Missal (GIRM), we notice that Advent offers us a time to deeply reflect and prepare ourselves spiritually for the coming of Christ, Our Redeemer, Our Lord, Our God in human flesh. Already when talking about the decoration of the Altar the GIRM is so careful and precisely in helping us fully maintain the spirit of moderation, which is itself penance, during Advent. In number 305 we find: Moderation should be observed in the decoration of the altar. During Advent the floral decoration of the altar should be marked by a moderation suited to the character of this season, without expressing prematurely the full joy of the Nativity of the Lord. During Lent it is forbidden for the altar to be decorated with flowers. Laetare Sunday (Fourth Sunday of Lent), solemnities, and feasts are exceptions. Floral decorations should always be done with moderation and placed around the altar rather than on its mensa.
The same concept of moderation is even felt within Church music. The GIRM says explicitly: In Advent the organ and other musical instruments should be used with a moderation that is consistent with the season’s character and does not anticipate the full joy of the Nativity of the Lord. In Lent the playing of the organ and musical instruments is allowed only to support the singing. Exceptions are Laetare Sunday (Fourth Sunday of Lent), solemnities, and feasts (no. 313).
Reflecting upon the bottom-line idea of Advent as a time of waiting I would say that even the fact that we are waiting for the Lord to come should set the scene for us to embrace a qualitative way of waiting. We too are invited to wait patiently for the Lord. In his Angelus address of 28 November 2010, which was First Sunday of Advent, Pope Benedict XVI helps us enter into the penitential spirit of Advent. He said:
Expectation or waiting is a dimension that flows through our whole personal, family and social existence. Expectation is present in thousands of situations, from the smallest and most banal to the most important that involve us completely and in our depths. Among these, let us think of waiting for a child, on the part of a husband and wife; of waiting for a relative or friend who is coming from far away to visit us; let us think, for a young person, of waiting to know his results in a crucially important examination or of the outcome of a job interview; in emotional relationships, of waiting to meet the beloved, of waiting for the answer to a letter, or for the acceptance of forgiveness…. One could say that man is alive as long as he waits, as long as hope is alive in his heart. And from his expectations man recognizes himself: our moral and spiritual “stature” can be measured by what we wait for, by what we hope for.
Every one of us, therefore, especially in this Season which prepares us for Christmas, can ask himself: What am I waiting for? What, at this moment of my life, does my heart long for? And this same question can be posed at the level of the family, of the community, of the nation. What are we waiting for together? What unites our aspirations, what brings them together? In the time before Jesus’ birth the expectation of the Messiah was very strong in Israel – that is, the expectation of an Anointed one, a descendent of King David, who would at last set the people free from every form of moral and political slavery and find the Kingdom of God. But no one would ever have imagined that the Messiah could be born of a humble girl like Mary, the betrothed of a righteous man, Joseph. Nor would she have ever thought of it, and yet in her heart the expectation of the Savior was so great, her faith and hope were so ardent, that he was able to find in her a worthy mother. Moreover, God himself had prepared her before time. There is a mysterious correspondence between the waiting of God and that of Mary, the creature “full of grace”, totally transparent to the loving plan of the Most High. Let us learn from her, the Woman of Advent, how to live our daily actions with a new spirit, with the feeling of profound expectation that only the coming of God can fulfil.
Obviously to wait like Mary is not something that will happen to us haphazardly. It will not happen without our slightest interest. Hence, we essentially need to invite Mary to help us wait for the coming of the Messiah in the most fruitful of ways. As Archbishop Gregory J. Hartmayer, OFM Conv wrote in the article Living Advent with the Blessed Virgin Mary as our guide: the central character of the Advent season is Mary. Not only does Mary guide us in living out the holy season, she personifies Advent. What better way to prepare for the coming of Jesus, than to accompany Mary in the last month of her pregnancy as she carried the Messiah is in her womb.
But what does this journeying with the pregnant Mary means in reality? Archbishop Gregory J. Hartmayer, OFM Conv writes: At this stage of the Advent season, we might meditate on the virtues of faith, hope and love reflected in the life of the Blessed Virgin Mary.
Mary shares our faith journey and through her splendid testimony of faith we learn to live our faith amid the challenges we go through. Thanks to her powerful intercession and example we start realizing that if our life is to be truthful it must necessarily be open and embrace God’s will with utmost trust as she did. After her sincere and constructive dialogue with Gabriel she was nicely led to give her free consent to God’s plan for her: Behold, I am the handmaid of the Lord; let it be to me according to your word (Luke 1:38). The culmination of her Yes would later be expressed at the foot of the Cross of her Son and Our Brother and Saviour Jesus.
Mary is the icon of hope during the Advent journey. In her Canticle of praise, commonly known as the Magnificat, Mary strongly asserts that nothing is impossible for God. She sang:
My soul magnifies the Lord, and my spirit rejoices in God my Savior, for he has regarded the low estate of his handmaiden. For behold, henceforth all generations will call me blessed; for he who is mighty has done great things for me, and holy is his name. And his mercy is on those who fear him from generation to generation.He has shown strength with his arm, he has scattered the proud in the imagination of their hearts, he has put down the mighty from their thrones, and exalted those of low degree; he has filled the hungry with good things, and the rich he has sent empty away. He has helped his servant Israel, in remembrance of his mercy,as he spoke to our fathers, to Abraham and to his posterity for ever (Luke 1:46-55).
The obvious conclusion is that God will be at work in our lives irrespective of the rough seas they have to face on their journey to Heavenly Jerusalem.
Mary, pray for me to follow your persuasive example of what it means to have faith and hope in our waiting for the coming of your Beloving Son Jesus Christ at Christmas, every day and at the end of time. Amen.
