The Third Sunday of Advent
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An advent wreath lit for advent 3. The white christ candle is often included in an advent wreath to be lit on christmas day
Stir up your power, O Lord, and with great might come among us; and, because we are sorely hindered by our sins, let your bountiful grace and mercy speedily help and deliver us; through Jesus Christ our Lord, to whom, with you and the Holy Spirit, be honor and glory, now and for ever. Amen.
-The collect for the third Sunday of Advent
Because of this collect, the third Sunday of Advent is often called “stir up” Sunday. And the collect matches the gospel well in Year A, because John the Baptist is sitting in a jail cell wondering why Jesus is not stirring up more power to overthrow the Roman occupiers! But that’s not the way our messiah stirs things up. Jesus tends to stir things up one person at a time - one transformation at a time - until a whole new way of seeing and being begins to take hold.
The third Sunday of Advent is also the one on which we’ll light the pink candle in the advent wreath. I guess that’s a bit of a stir up in itself. What’s that all about? Here is what the Episcopal Church website says about “Gaudete Sunday:”
The third Sunday of Advent in the Roman Catholic calendar of the church year. The term is derived from the Latin opening words of the introit antiphon, “Rejoice (Gaudete) in the Lord always.” The theme of the day expresses the joy of anticipation at the approach of the Christmas celebration. This theme reflects a lightening of the tone of the traditional Advent observance. It was appropriate for the celebrant of the Mass to wear rose-colored vestments on this day instead of the deeper violet vestments that were typically used in Advent. This Sunday was also known as “Rose Sunday.” This custom is not required in the Episcopal Church, but it is…reflected by the practice of including a pink or rose-colored candle among the four candles of an Advent wreath.
In many Episcopal Churches, including ours, blue vestments are used during Advent instead of purple. (Vestments include what the celebrant wears plus the altar, pulpit and other cloth decorations arouned the altar.) This reflects that Advent, while an introspective season, has an emphasis on waiting and hope, and is not really as penitent as Lent, which uses the liturgical color purple. Blue is also the color traditionally associated with Mary, who we always remember during Advent. Some churches just use the purple set during Advent, though, because vestments are expensive, Advent is only four Sundays long, and purple and blue are equally appropriate. Most Episcopal Churches do not have a set of rose colored vestments because they are only used for one Sunday. However, some ‘high’ churches in the Episcopal church, where very formal and reverent Anglo-catholic liturgies are conducted, they go the whole 9 yards and have particularly beautiful rose colored vestments for the third Sunday of Advent. It’s also appropriate to pull out those rose vestments for “Laetare Sunday,” which is the fourth Sunday of Lent. But that’s a whole other story…
