Advent History
Advent didn't become part of the official church year until about the fourth century, when the festival of Christmas was established. But this festival is not just a Christian event.
Thousands of years ago in ancient Egypt, Asia and elsewhere, festivals were held at the same time of year that Christianity now celebrates the birth of Christ. People celebrated the end of the winter season and the approach of spring ... the end of darker, drearier days and the beginning of longer, brighter ones.
Ancient peoples celebrated the solstice as a time of renewal and rebirth and as a promise, always fulfilled, that soon the land would be green, lush, and fertile again. The Romans celebrated Saturnalia. Nordic countries held feasts to honor Balder, the god of the sun. These celebrations helped to take people's minds off the short gloomy days and to focus with hope to the better days ahead.
Advent officially starts on the Sunday closest to Saint Andrews' Day, which falls on November 30th.
In the early centuries, lectionaries listed six Sundays in Advent.
According to the Harper Collins Encyclopedia of Catholicism, Gregory the Great, who died in 604, was the real architect of the Roman Advent season. He fixed the season at the current four weeks to set it apart from Lent and also composed seasonal prayers and antiphons.
Christian denominations differ in their emphasis on Advent (and Lent). Some Baptists, for example, give Advent little attention, preferring to start emphasizing Christmas and start singing Christmas carols and hymns after Thanksgiving.
