A Very Purple Advent Liturgy
This year during Advent, my church will be exploring the theme of purple. Advent is traditionally associated with the colour purple for many reasons, in part because it is a combination of red symbolising humanity and blue symbolising divinity, coming together in the person of Jesus.
We have chosen to explore four unique purple images to reflect upon to help us better prepare for the journey towards Bethlehem.
This post includes:
Candle lighting liturgy for the four Sundays in Advent
Printable at home reflection cards with instructions
A Christmas blessing bringing together the purple images explored during Advent.
We hope you find this resource helpful in your walk towards the baby in the stable.
Week 1 HOPE
Before service begins:
· Project image of Claude Monet’s 1886 painting, The Manneporte near Etretat, which is the public domain and free to download here: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Claude_Monet_-_La_Manneporte_pr%C3%A8s_d%27%C3%89tretat.jpg
· Set up candle wreath on communion table with four purple candles (and an optional white Christ candle that remains unlit until Christmas Day).
Reader 1: Today is the first Sunday in Advent. It’s the beginning of our journey to Bethlehem and the birth of Jesus, the Hope of Humankind. Advent is traditionally associated with the colour purple, a combination of red symbolising humanity and blue symbolising divinity, coming together in the person of Jesus.
Reader 2: The image we’re exploring today is Claude Monet’s painting, The Manneporte near Etretat. In days gone by, artists were limited to painting shadows with blacks and muddy greys. Then came the Impressionists. With easy access to a new form of purple pigment, these experimental painters embraced this colour with gusto. Claude Monet was particularly fond of using purple to paint shadows, mainly because it allowed him to capture the light.
And this is the hope that Jesus brings: no darkness is so dark that the light cannot find it.
Let us light the candle of hope.
(Reader 2 lights the first candle.)
Reader 1: You’re invited to spend a few moments in silence contemplating the painting. Notice the way the purple shadows capture the light. Where are the shadowy places in your life right now? Where are the shadowy places in a world desperately in need of God’s love? What is the invitation lying within this painting? As we anticipate the arrival of the baby Jesus, imagine the shadows filling with the light.
One minute’s silence.
Leader: Let us pray.
Caring God
Thank you for the gift of hope.
May your light find those living in the shadows of grief, despair and loneliness.
Amen
Week 2 – PEACE
Before service begins:
· Project image of a purple sea snail, freely downloadable here:
Credit: Rebecca R. Helm. Image by Denis Riek., CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons.
Or make a model of a purple sea snail out of modelling clay in advance.
· Set out candle wreath on communion table with four purple candles (and an optional white Christ candle that remains unlit until Christmas Day). Ensure one purple candle is lit prior to the service.
Reader 1: Jesus is known as the Prince of Peace. As we await his arrival on this, the second Sunday in Advent, we continue to explore the significance of the colour purple during this season of waiting. Consider the purple sea snail. Unlike the garden snails that inches their way towards their chosen destination, the sea snail makes a bubble raft which they use to float upside on the surface of the sea. Unable to control the direction of the waves, they trust that the current will take them wherever they need to be.
Reader 2: How much of our lives do we spend trying to control the situation, the outcome, or other people? How much pain, division and discontent does this cause? The sea snail reminds us that yes, we need to play our part and build our rafts, but we are then invited to let go, trusting in God’s promise to meet all our needs. The more we trust, the more the peace which surpasses all understanding can fill our hearts and minds.
Let us light the candle of peace.
(Reader 2 lights the second candle.)
Reader 1: Since Advent is a time of repentance, of returning to God, you’re invited to spend a minute contemplating the purple sea snail. What might God be inviting you to turn back from? What are you being asked to surrender? How would it feel to be carried on the current of God’s love to wherever you need to be? As you let go, imagine God’s peace surrounding you and filling your heart.
One minute’s silence.
Reader 1: Let us pray.
Merciful God
Thank you for the gift of peace.
May our fractured world, marred by grievance, power plays and division, be made whole through your peaceful Spirit.
Amen
Week 3 – JOY
Before service begins:
· Decorate the communion table with jacaranda blossom or project a photo of jacaranda blossoms on a screen. Here is a link to a freely downloadable image: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Jacaranda_mimosifolia_1.jpg
Credit: Haneesh K M, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons
· Set out candle wreath on communion table with four purple candles (and an optional white Christ candle that remains unlit until Christmas Day). Ensure two purple candles are lit prior to the service.
Reader 1: This is the third Sunday in Advent, a time when we prepare our hearts for the birth of Jesus. As we continue to explore the significance of the colour purple, let us gaze upon the jacaranda. Towards the end of spring, jacaranda trees bloom up and down the streets, creating avenues of joy and wonder. As we draw closer to Christmas, these purple trumpets herald the imminent arrival of the baby Jesus – a joyful thought!
Let us light the candle of joy.
(Reader 1 lights the third candle.)
Reader 2: Because December is full of exams and plans and shopping and crowds, it rarely leaves us time to stop and breathe, let alone experience the true meaning of the season. Today, you’re invited to slow down and tune into the quiet place within. Contemplate the marvel that is the jacaranda tree and recall a moment when you have felt joy. Perhaps ask God to draw your attention to something you may have overlooked. The baby Jesus is on his way. Can you feel that sense of joyful anticipation?
One minute’s silence.
Reader 2: Let us pray.
Creator God
Thank you for the gift of joy.
We pray for those for whom joy seems elusive, unsafe or a low priority. May joy cross their paths in unexpected ways, and may it be a gateway into your presence.
Amen
Week 4 – LOVE
Before service begins:
· Project an image of the Aurora Australis or the Aurora Borealis that features the colour purple, e.g. this freely downloadable image taken in Sweden: https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=148263774
Credit: By W.carter - Own work, CC BY-SA 4.0 via Wikimedia Commons.
Alternatively, you could ask an artist in your congregation to paint a watercolour aurora in advance.
· Set out candle wreath on communion table with four purple candles (and an optional white Christ candle that remains unlit until Christmas Day). Ensure three purple candles are lit prior to the service.
Reader 1: This is the fourth Sunday in Advent, a time when we prepare our hearts for the birth of Jesus. Our final purple image for the season is the Aurora. Occurring in both the southern and northern hemispheres, these light displays are created when the sun sends out charged particles in the form of a solar wind. These particles collide with gases in the Earth’s atmosphere leading to explosions of light that dance across the skies.
Reader 2: This meeting of heaven and earth is reminiscent of our Saviour’s arrival on Earth; divinity and humanity coming together in the person of Jesus. Here is God’s love made manifest– the very Light of the World.
Let us light the candle of love.
(Reader 2 lights the fourth purple candle.)
Reader 2: Today, you’re invited to take a sacred pause, breathe, and contemplate the awe-inspiring Aurora. What parts of your life are filled with love? What parts do you find hard to love? Image the splendour of the Aurora’s light filling your heart with love. Then imagine it surrounding the Earth and touching the hearts of every creature.
One minute’s silence.
Reader 2: Let us pray.
Generous God
Thank you for the gift of love.
We pray for those who feel unloved, unwanted or afraid to let love in.
Surround them in your loving embrace.
Amen
A Christmas Day Blessing (optional)
As the purple night gives way to the golden dawn of Jesus’ birth,
May the light find its way into the shadowy corners of your life, illuminating the way forward.
May you know the way of the purple sea snail: faithful, trusting and peaceful.
Like the wide branches of a jacaranda tree, may God’s canopy of joy cover you this day
And should you find yourself dejected or distressed, may the colours of God’s Aurora fill
your heart and mind, surrounding you with a love that never ceases.
Amen
Candle Lighting Liturgy
Printable at home weekly reflection cards:
Instructions for Advent reflection cards
Printable Advent reflection cards
Christmas blessing card
Credits
Writing:
You are welcome to use or adapt the materials featured on this blog with the following credit: © Marianne Vreugdenhil, locustsandwildhoney.net.
Image credits: As above.
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