Advent Wreath a Lutheran Tradition?

[turtle18]

There is a blurb in our church bulletin that says the Advent wreath was started by German Lutherans. That seems very strange that the Catholic Church would adopt a Lutheran practice. Anyone know?

 

[puzzleannie]

don’t know about Lutherans but it certainly started as a German custom, and was brought here mainly by German priests, who predominated in the 1800s.

 

[Phemie]

According to Wikipedia (yes, I know, consider the source),

The ring or wheel of evergreens decorated with candles was a symbol in northern Europe long before the arrival of Christianity. The circle symbolized the eternal cycle of the seasons while the evergreens and lighted candles signified the persistence of life in the midst of winter.

Some sources suggest the wreath–now reinterpreted as a Christian symbol–was in common use in the Middle Ages, others that it was established in Germany as a Christian custom only in the 16th century, and others that the Advent wreath was not invented until the 19th century. This last theory credits Johann Hinrich Wichern (1808-1881), a Protestant pastor in Germany and a pioneer in urban mission work among the poor, as the inventor of the modern Advent wreath.

During Advent, children at a mission school founded by Wichern would ask daily if Christmas had arrived. In 1839, he built a large wooden ring (made out of an old cartwheel) with 19 small red and four large white candles. A small candle was lit successively every weekday during Advent. On Sundays, a large white candle was lit. The custom gained ground among Protestant churches in Germany and evolved into the smaller wreath with four or five candles known today. Roman Catholics in Germany began to adopt the custom in the 1920s, and in the 1930s it spread to North America.[1]

It was only in the mid '80s that I first saw an Advent wreath in a Catholic church where I worshipped. Now it’s ubiquitous and the ‘rites’ associated with the lighting often take on more importance than the Opening Rites of Mass. I’m a Scrooge where this wreath is concerned, I think it should go back to being a ritual in the home rather than in the church.

 

[japhy]

There is a blurb in our church bulletin that says the Advent wreath was started by German Lutherans.

A non-Catholic non-Lutheran minister states that the wreath and colored candles themselves predated Luther; he (or Lutherans unknown) merely popularized the decoration:
Martin Luther had a number of ideas for things that people could do at home to teach the catechism to their children. He certainly didn’t invent the wreath itself, because that goes back to ancient Roman times, and probably even earlier. People used wreaths as an Advent decoration long before Luther, but Luther may have used the wreath as a Christian-education device and thus popularized it. I suspect he had a hand in it because the Advent wreath in its present form started in Germany as a Lutheran family custom. Since Advent wreaths were originally used in the home, most of the ones you find for sale are small. They didn’t become popular in churches until the middle of the twentieth century. Now they are nearly universal. (source)

 

[Seatuck]

catholiceducation.org/articles/religion/re0132.html

 

[Galnextdoor]

catholiceducation.org/articles/religion/re0132.html

That is a great link. Thanks for posting it.

 

[Seatuck]

You’re welcome!

 

[bpbasilphx]

There have been attempts made to adapt this to Orthodoxy and Byzantine Catholic use, but six candles, at least, would be required, because there are 40 days in the Advent fast, even though only the last 2 weeks have a liturgical character.