Origins of the Advent Wreath

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xixxvmcm85

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I’m hearing conflicting information here. Some say that the Advent Wreath began in the Middle Ages, others say it’s a Lutheran tradition of the 16th century which made its way into Catholicism in the 19th century (specifically in the US). The wikipedia article says its a tradition which began in Lutheran Germany in the 19th century.

Can anybody make a convincing argument one way or the other, or is this simply a heavily contested point?
 
xixxvmcm85 said:
I’m hearing conflicting information here. Some say that the Advent Wreath began in the Middle Ages, others say it’s a Lutheran tradition of the 16th century which made its way into Catholicism in the 19th century (specifically in the US). The wikipedia article says its a tradition which began in Lutheran Germany in the 19th century.

Can anybody make a convincing argument one way or the other, or is this simply a heavily contested point?
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No convincng argument except to say that I saw a programme on Catholic ritual many years ago that said that the Advent wreath was an imported phenomenen from the Lutheran church, specifically from Germany, that then spread to other western churches - it is unknown in the East. Interestingly it seems to have been a northern European (and now US) custom as I have rarely seen them in southern Europe.
 
The Advent wreath is a Lutheran tradition from the 19th century, adopted by German Catholics and then brought to America.

Advent itself is a period in the Church that has varied throughout the history of the Church, see: newadvent.org/cathen/01165a.htm
 
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