Pre Kindergarten

Sunday School Teacher: Jackie Abodeely Fahey


Dear Pre Kindergarten Class,

This Sunday will be our first full school rehearsal for our Sunday School Pageant.  Classes will be scheduled as normal, from Communion till 1p.m.  The children will be provided a lunch after class, and then continue for our rehearsal.  Please plan on staying for this mandatory rehearsal.  I know many of you are planning to stay and enjoy the Ladies Guild Bazaar in the Church Hall while the children rehearse!  This program includes the entire school Pre-K through High School so please make your older siblings aware we are all sticking around for rehersal.  Attendance will be taken and points will be given for rehearsals.  

Next Saturday, December 17, as posted on the Sunday School Calendar, we will be having our full dress rehearsal at 1 p.m.  The Christmas Program, entitled “Christ is Born, Pass It On”  will be Sunday, December 18 following the Divine Liturgy.   Thank you all for you cooperation and support to your children in preparing for the Christmas Pageant.  
On behalf of the entire Sunday School Staff, we wish you all a blessed Advent Season in preparation for the birth of our Lord.  

Have a great week!

Ms. Jackie

 

The ORTHODOX Advent Wreath

 

Advent wreaths are used in many Christian homes during Advent in anticipation of Christmas, the birth of our Savior. In Western Christian tradition the Advent wreath consists of four candles that are placed equally spaced in the wreath itself with a fifth candle that is placed in the center. For the purposes of Orthodox Advent, which is two weeks longer than the Western Church, we have added two additional candles to the wreath, for a total of seven.

 

There are many symbolic meanings that are associated with the Advent wreath.

  • The wreath beginning a circle manifests the unending love of God and eternity.
  • The greens used in making the wreath express eternal life, being that they are ever green.
  • The use of candles during Advent speaks of Christ’s approach. The traditional act of increasing the number of candles lighted each week on Sunday tells of the increasingly brighter light of His approach. We start out lighting one candle on the first day of Advent to pierce the darkness of the world and increase the lighting of candles each week up to the bright light of Christmas, the celebration of the birth of Jesus Christ who is the Light of the world. It is on Christmas that we light the eighth candle, in addition to the other seven.

 

 

In the use of seven candles for the season of Advent, thee has been a specific meaning placed on each candle.

    1. The first candle is lit on the first day of Lent, November 15, and is dedicated to Repentance.
    2. The second candle is lit on the first Sunday of Lent and is dedicated to the Mother of God, Mary the Theotokos (the closest Sunday to the Presentation of Theotokos, November 21).
    3. The third candle is lit on the second Sunday of Lent and is dedicated to Thanksgiving to God for the gifts He has given us and especially Jesus Christ (it is also usually the closest Sunday to Thanksgiving Day).
    4. The fourth candle is call the Prophecy Candle, which represents those who spoke God’s word hundreds of years before Christ was born. It is lit on the third Sunday.
    5. The fifth is the Bethlehem Candle which reveals Christ becoming a man, the Incarnation. It is lit on the fourth Sunday.
    6. The sixth candle, lit on the fifth Sunday, is the Angles Candle, which tells us of the final coming of Christ and His actions to save us.
    7. The seventh candle recalls what the shepherds did – they saw, believed, and told all what had happened to them. It is lit on the sixth Sunday.
    8. The eighth candle in the middle of the wreath is the Christ Candle, because Christ is the Light of the World. It is to be lit on Christmas Day.

 

The eight candles that make up the wreath are seven purple and one white. The purple candles manifest the royalty of Christ, and represent humility and penitence, which is the attitude with which we should await the Lord’s coming. The free-standing white candle in the center of the wreath reveals the purity and perfection of Christ the Light giver.

 

The Advent Wreath should be lit every evening during the family devotions.

 

 

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