Is Advent penitential?

[HatLady]

I was discussing the penitential aspect of Advent with some Roman Catholic friends who pointed out an article by Jimmy Akins who is the director of apologetics for Catholic Answers saying Advent isn’t penitential in the latin church. jimmyakin.typepad.com/defensor_fidei/2006/12/whats_with_all_.html

I found an article by the person who wrote the question to Mr. Akins and he said that Advent took on a penitential nature in the 1400s because of an eastern influence. romansacristan.blogspot.com/2006/12/is-advent-penitential.html

I know the early church didn’t even celebrate Christmas on its own, but grouped it together with Jesus’ baptism as Theophany. I am trying to find out how Philip’s Fast paralleling Lent fits into all of this and what the earliest church practice was and how it developed in the east and west. I hope someone in this folder will be able to help us.

Carly

 

[Aramis]

Purple vestments indicate penitential seasons. See the GIRM.

Jimmy is good, but he’s not perfect.

 

[twf]

We also don’t sing the Gloria during Advent, as during Lent. My diocese is offering Advent penitential services at most parishes.

 

[Deacon_Ed]

In the Latin Church, Advent does have a penitential nature, but it is different from that of Lent. Advent is designed to recall and prepare for the mission of Jesus in the world and has a Marian character in the sense that we recall her role in salvation history as the Theotokos. Lent, on the other hand, is the primary penitential season in which we recall the 40 days of Jesus in the desert. Lent’s focus is on the end times, both our personal end time (death) and the end of the world.

Deacon Ed

 

[Diak]

The St. Philip’s Fast (called Pylypivka amongst the Ukrainians) is most definitely a fast time. It is one of the minor fasts, along with the Petrivka/Apostles Fast the Spasivka/Dormition Fast, and the fasts on the days of the Exaltation of the Holy Cross, Christmas and Theophany Eve, and the Beheading of St. John the Baptist. The “Great Fast” is the 40-day Lenten fast preceding Holy Week.

“Minor” fasts mean those not in the Great Lent, and most certainly does not mean to ignore those important times of preparation before great feasts.

Archpriest Robert Anderson of the Ukrainian Greek Catholic Eparchy of Toronto has an excellent explanatory article:
stirenaeus.net/documents/parousia.htm

 

[jonnyws]

In the Latin Church (at least as my Priest explains it) from the first Sunday of Advent until the 17th of December we are looking forward to the coming of Christ at the end of time. After the 17th we are looking at the need for a Saviour in time and the fast approaching incarnation of our Lord.

Therefore even if Advent isn’t a penitential season it is a preparatory one as we ready ourselves first for the final coming of Christ and secondly for his saving incarnation. Preparation should involve confession of sin, a calling to prayer and a fast to cleanse the mind and body.

It really depends how you see fasting. If you see it as a way of doing penance then it makes no sense in Advent, however if you see it as a way of creating a gap in your daily life and a space in your soul for Christ to make his own, sanctify, fill and change you through then it makes good sense in a preparatory season as well as a penitential one. Both Advent and Lent are times we are called to change.

The same with the great feasts of SS Peter and Paul and of the Assumption. Obviously every Liturgy is meant to change us but these two embody major hopes for the Church. Firstly a hope in the Church itself built by Peter and Paul and secondly in the hope for the future of the Church shown in the Assumption. That we might one day to be truly united with Christ as Mary now is. Therefore before these feasts too we can fast in order to heighten our ability to change. Fasting is just one of many ways that allows us to open ourselves to God and let His Spirit work within us. It is not the only way but it is something that we could certainly do with paying more attention to in the West.