Advent Day starts the Christmas Season on the fourth Sunday before Christmas. If Christmas falls on a Sunday, it is considered the fourth Sunday of Advent. Advent comes from the Latin word "adventus" which means "arrival" or "coming."

The color purple is associated with the Advent because it represents royalty. It also represents penitence and fasting. Purple is used during Lent because it denotes suffering, so purple ties in Jesus' birth with the reason He came to earth. Advent is a time of anticipation of Christ's birth and of His return as King.

The Advent wreath has many meanings during this time of year. It is made of evergreens shaped in a circle with four candles around and one in the middle. The circle demonstrates that God has no beginning, no end. The green in the wreath symbolizes hope of eternal life. The candles represent Jesus as the Light of the World. The four outer candles represent the four millennium between Adam's Fall in the Garden of Eden and the Birth of Jesus and also represent the four centuries between Malachi's prophesy and the birth of Jesus.

The candles symbolize Jesus as the Light of the World and the colors are also symbolic. There are usually three purple candles to represent royalty and one pink candle that represents rejoicing. One purple candle is lit on the first Sunday and is called the Candle of Hope. The next Sunday another purple candle is lit and the first one relit. The pink candle is lit on the third Sunday as a sign of Joy. The final purple candle is lit on the final Sunday of the Advent.

Some churches include a fifth candle that is white and placed in the center of the wreath. It is lit on Christmas Eve or Christmas.