What is Advent? Meaning, dates and history of the season

Advent is the season of the four Sundays before Christmas, when Christians prepare for the coming of Christ. The word comes from the Latin adventus, "a coming". So what is Advent for? It remembers the long wait for the Messiah that ended in Bethlehem, and it waits for Christ to come again. In 2026 it begins on Sunday, November 29.

Advent also opens the church's year. While the shops count down to a date, the church starts its calendar over with the prophets.

What is Advent, and what does the word mean?

Advent is the first season of the Christian year: the weeks from the fourth Sunday before Christmas to Christmas Eve, kept as a time of waiting, repentance and hope. The word means an arrival, and the church uses it for two arrivals of Christ: his birth at Bethlehem and his return at the end of time.

In ordinary English "the advent of" something is simply its arrival, as in the advent of spring. The church kept the larger sense, a coming that changes everything after it.

When does Advent begin each year?

Advent starts on the fourth Sunday before Christmas Day, which is always the Sunday falling between November 27 and December 3. In 2026 that is Sunday, November 29, and Advent ends on Christmas Eve, Thursday, December 24. Because Christmas moves through the week, the season lasts between 22 and 28 days.

The older way of saying it is "the Sunday nearest St Andrew's Day", which falls on November 30. Either rule gives the same date.

Sunday	Date in 2026	Candle	Common theme	Gospel (Year B)
First Sunday of Advent	November 29	Purple	Hope	Mark 13:24-37
Second Sunday of Advent	December 6	Purple	Peace	Mark 1:1-8
Third Sunday of Advent	December 13	Rose	Joy	John 1:6-8, 19-28
Fourth Sunday of Advent	December 20	Purple	Love	Luke 1:26-38
Christmas Eve	December 24	White, in the centre	Christ	Luke 2:1-20

The Gospels are from the Revised Common Lectionary, which many churches follow and which begins its Year B this Advent. Looking further ahead, Advent begins on November 28 in 2027 and on December 3 in 2028, when it lasts only 22 days because Christmas Eve is itself the fourth Sunday.

An Advent calendar works differently. It usually runs from December 1 to December 24, whichever day of the week Advent actually begins.

Why does Advent look to two comings of Christ?

Advent looks to two comings because the church waits for Christ twice: it remembers his first coming as a child in Bethlehem and it waits for his second coming at the end of time. That is why Advent's early Sundays read about Christ's return and its last ones about the birth.

The Vatican's Directory on Popular Piety and the Liturgy puts both in one line (§96): Advent is a time of waiting for "the first, humble coming of the Lord in our mortal flesh" and for "his final, glorious coming".

Protestant prayer says the same. The collect for the first Sunday of Advent in the 1662 Book of Common Prayer, which the Church of England still prints, asks for grace now, in the time "in which thy Son Jesus Christ came to visit us in great humility", so that we are ready "in the last day, when he shall come again in his glorious Majesty".

Both comings are in Scripture. Paul writes of the first: "But when the fulness of the time was come, God sent forth his Son, made of a woman, made under the law" (Galatians 4:4, KJV). Two men in white speak of the second to the disciples on the Mount of Olives, as they stare up after the risen Jesus: "this same Jesus, which is taken up from you into heaven, shall so come in like manner as ye have seen him go into heaven" (Acts 1:11, KJV).

What is the history of Advent?

The history of Advent is one of slow growth after Christmas itself became a feast. The earliest trace is a synod at Saragossa in Spain in 380, which told Christians to be in church every day from December 17 to Epiphany. Fasts before Christmas spread through Gaul, and Rome settled on four Sundays by the eleventh century.

According to the Catholic Encyclopedia's article on Advent, no one can say exactly when it began. What can be dated looks like this:

When	What happened
380	The Synod of Saragossa orders daily church attendance from December 17 to Epiphany
581	The Synod of Mâcon in Gaul sets Lenten-style Masses on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays from November 11, St Martin's Day, to Christmas
About 600	Gregory the Great's collected sermons open with one for the second Sunday of Advent
1073-85	Pope Gregory VII reduces the season from five Sundays to four
By 1300	Violet replaces black as Advent's colour
1839	Johann Hinrich Wichern makes the first Advent wreath in Hamburg
Mid-1900s	Church supply houses give the four candles their themes of hope, peace, joy and love

Eastern Orthodox Christians went another way, with the Nativity Fast from November 15.

The wreath is the youngest of the old customs. The Rauhes Haus in Hamburg, the home for poor children Wichern founded, says he set a ring in its prayer hall in 1839 with a candle for every day until Christmas Eve, large white ones for Sundays and small red ones for weekdays.

Is Advent in the Bible?

The word Advent is not in the King James Bible, and neither are the season's dates, colours, wreath or candle themes. What Advent reads is in the Bible: the prophets' promises of a coming king, the births of John the Baptist and Jesus, and Christ's own words about his return. The season is the church's way of reading them in order.

Here is which is which:

Part of Advent	Scripture or tradition	Where it comes from
Waiting for a promised king	Scripture	Isaiah, Micah and Malachi
The births of John and Jesus	Scripture	Luke 1-2 and Matthew 1
Watching for Christ's return	Scripture	Mark 13, Acts 1 and Revelation 22
The name Advent	Tradition	Latin adventus, "a coming"
Four Sundays before Christmas	Tradition	Rome's calendar, by the eleventh century
Purple and rose	Tradition	Violet by about 1300; rose for the third Sunday
The Advent wreath	Tradition	Wichern, Hamburg, 1839
Hope, peace, joy, love	Tradition	Church supply houses, mid-twentieth century

None of this makes the customs less worth keeping. A candle lit while someone reads Isaiah aloud is a good way to hear Isaiah. Our guide to the Advent wreath and what each candle means goes candle by candle.

What Bible passages are read during Advent?

Advent's Bible passages fall into three groups: the prophets who promised a coming king, the Gospel accounts of John the Baptist preparing the way, and the announcements of Jesus' birth. Many churches also open the season with Jesus' words about his return. Here are the best known in the King James words, with who is speaking.

Isaiah, promising comfort. "The voice of him that crieth in the wilderness, Prepare ye the way of the LORD, make straight in the desert a highway for our God" (Isaiah 40:3, KJV). Many readers hear it addressed to Israel in exile in Babylon. Centuries later all four Gospels apply it to John the Baptist.

Isaiah, to a frightened king. "Behold, a virgin shall conceive, and bear a son, and shall call his name Immanuel" (Isaiah 7:14, KJV). Isaiah gives the sign to King Ahaz, and Matthew reads it as fulfilled in Mary's son.

Isaiah, promising a ruler. "For unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given: and the government shall be upon his shoulder" (Isaiah 9:6, KJV). This is the verse Handel set in Messiah, and it is read across Advent and at Christmas.

Malachi, the last of the prophets. "Behold, I will send my messenger, and he shall prepare the way before me: and the Lord, whom ye seek, shall suddenly come to his temple" (Malachi 3:1, KJV). Malachi is the last book of the Old Testament, so the promise of a messenger is the last word before the Gospels.

Gabriel, to Mary in Nazareth. "And, behold, thou shalt conceive in thy womb, and bring forth a son, and shalt call his name JESUS" (Luke 1:31, KJV). It is the Gospel for the fourth Sunday in 2026.

Jesus, to his disciples, about his return. "Take ye heed, watch and pray: for ye know not when the time is" (Mark 13:33, KJV). He says it on the Mount of Olives, days before his death, and it opens Advent this year.

Paul, to the church in Rome. "The night is far spent, the day is at hand: let us therefore cast off the works of darkness, and let us put on the armour of light" (Romans 13:12, KJV). The 1662 collect above is built from this verse.

If you want a passage for every day of the season, our Advent Bible reading plan, week by week reads the whole Christmas story in order from November 29. For single verses to write in a card, see the Christmas Bible verses in the King James words.

What do the Advent colours mean?

Purple, or violet, is the main colour of Advent: the colour of repentance and preparation, and of royalty, fitting for a coming king. Rose marks the third Sunday, called Gaudete, Latin for "rejoice", when the waiting turns toward joy. Many Lutheran and Methodist churches use blue instead of purple.

White, or gold, belongs to Christmas itself, which is why the Christ candle at the centre of a wreath is white. Black was once used in Rome, but by the end of the thirteenth century violet had taken its place.

How do you keep Advent at home?

Keeping Advent at home needs little more than a regular time, a candle and something to read aloud. Most families use one or two of four customs: an Advent wreath lit at dinner, an Advent calendar opened each morning, a short Bible reading each day, and the Christmas story read together before Christmas Eve.

• Choose one time and keep it. Dinner works for most families, because everyone is already at the table.
• Read in order. Prophets and Christ's return early in the season, Gabriel and Mary in the last week, the shepherds on Christmas Eve.
• Hold back a little. Some families leave the figure of Jesus out of the crib until Christmas morning, so the scene waits too.
• Let the youngest read. Isaiah 9:6 is short enough for a child to read aloud.

Pictures help the reading land, and painters have long told the whole story in one frame. In Munich's Alte Pinakothek, Hans Memling's panel of 1480, which the museum catalogues as The Seven Joys of the Virgin and which is also known as Advent and Triumph of Christ, sets the Annunciation, the shepherds and the Nativity in one landscape, with the rest of the story running to the right. More of these images are gathered in our guide to famous Nativity paintings and the Scripture behind them.

A book can do the same at home. CHRIST, Mercy & Light's art book of the life of Jesus, begins as Advent does, with John's "the light shineth in darkness" and Micah's Bethlehem, and its first chapter, God With Us, tells the Nativity in the words of Matthew and Luke. It has more than 200 illustrations, each made for its scene and set beside the King James text, so a family can read a few pages each Sunday and look as they listen.

The scenes that follow Christmas are set out in order in our timeline of the life of Christ, from Bethlehem to the empty tomb, and the house's other books are in our books collection.

Frequently asked

How long is Advent?

Advent lasts from the fourth Sunday before Christmas to Christmas Eve, which makes it between 22 and 28 days long. In 2026 it runs from November 29 to December 24, 26 days. It always contains four Sundays, so people often call it four weeks, though it is rarely exactly that.

What are the four meanings of Advent in order?

The four themes of Advent are hope, peace, joy and love in the order many churches use, one for each Sunday's candle. Others go hope, love, joy, peace, the order Ask The UMC gives, and it traces the themes to church supply houses in the mid-twentieth century. Many churches also name the candles Prophecy, Bethlehem, Shepherds and Angels.

How do you explain Advent to a child?

Advent can be explained to a child as the weeks of getting ready for Jesus' birthday, the way a family gets ready for a guest. Each Sunday you light one more candle, so the light grows as Christmas comes closer. Reading one short part of the Christmas story each week lets a child feel the wait.

What is the difference between Advent and Christmas?

Advent is the season of waiting and Christmas is the season of celebrating what was waited for. Advent's prayers ask Christ to come; Christmas gives thanks that he has. That is why many churches keep Advent quieter, with purple and fewer carols, and save the white, the gold and the carols for December 25.

When the last purple candle is burning and the white one still waits, Christmas is close. Leave the Bible open on the table where you will pass it.

Passages cited: Galatians 4:4; Matthew 1; Revelation 22; Acts 1:11; Isaiah 40:3; Isaiah 7:14; Isaiah 9:6; Malachi 3:1; Luke 1:31; Mark 13:24-37; Mark 13:33; Romans 13:12; Mark 1:1-8; John 1:6-8; John 1:19-28; Luke 1:26-38; Luke 2:1-20; John 1:5; Micah 5:2.