Did You Know? The Meaning of the Advent Season

November 27, 2019

Many people may know that the Advent season focuses on expectation and think that it serves as an anticipation of Christ’s birth in the season leading up to Christmas. This is part of the story, but there’s more to Advent.

The word “Advent” is derived from the Latin word adventus, meaning “coming,” which is a translation of the Greek word parousia. Scholars believe that during the 4^th and 5^th centuries in Spain and Gaul, Advent was a season of preparation for the baptism of new Christians at the January feast of Epiphany, the celebration of God’s incarnation represented by the visit of the Magi to the baby Jesus, his baptism in the Jordan River by John the Baptist, and his first miracle at Cana. During this season of preparation, early Christians would spend 40 days in penance, prayer, and fasting to prepare for this celebration; originally, there was little connection between Advent and Christmas.

By the 6^th century, however, Roman Christians had tied Advent to the coming of Christ. But the “coming” they had in mind was not Christ’s first coming in the manger in Bethlehem, but his second coming in the clouds as the judge of the world. It was not until the Middle Ages that the Advent season was explicitly linked to Christ’s first coming at Christmas. More on the “anticipation” part of modern Advent practices in a future Did You Know segment.

“Did You Know?” is a mostly regular feature in upbeat in which dimensions of Catholic practices of faith are unpacked. If you have a question, please contact Fr. Jim Gallagher (gallaghe@up.edu) or Karen Eifler (eifler@up.edu).

Jeffrey White, international languages & cultures, attended “Engaging College Students Using Active Learning Techniques,” .Magna Online Seminar, October 2020; and Southeast Supplemental Instruction Conference (SESI), University of North Georgia (online), September 2020.

Fr. Jim King, C.S.C., conducted the first session in a six-part workshop on the Catholic Church’s social justice teaching and Christian education from a Holy Cross perspective to the faculty and staff of Holy Redeemer Parish in North Portland on November 4, 2020.

Simon Aihiokhai, theology, presented “Alterity and Violence in Nigeria: Rethinking Interfaith Encounters” at the 63^rd annual meeting of African Studies Association (Virtually). November 20, 2020. He also presented “Rethinking One’s Gifts as a Leader in a World of Radical Diversity,” a virtual lecture on transformative leadership given to FGEN sophomores at the University of Portland Shepard Academic Resource Center, November 20, 2020; as well as “Reading Things Fall Apart through a Decolonial Lens of Inquiry: Retelling Africa’s Stories,” a virtual lecture given to students registered in PHL 410: Education and Politics. University of Portland, October 22, 2020.

Aziz Inan, Shiley School of Engineering, presented and published the paper titled, “Conducted Emissions Feedback from VSD operated products” with Pete Perkins (Principal Product Safety & Regulatory Affairs Consultant), Henry Benitez (Electromagnetic Investigations), Christian Miles (Mentor Graphics), and Joshua Thompson (Intel Corporation), in the IEEE Symposium on Product Compliance Engineering (SPCE) 2020 Virtual Conference, November 16-20, 2020. Note that except Inan, all of the other authors are UP alumni.

Alice Gates, social work, received national recognition from the Council on Social Work Education (CSWE) as the 2020 recipient of the Early Career Faculty Award for Service and Leadership in Social Work Education. Gates was recognized during the virtual Annual Program Meeting of CSWE on November 20, 2020. The award presentation highlighted the contributions Gates has made at the university, local, state, and national level to address injustice and amplify the reach and impact of social work.