Three-Fold Advent

The word ‘Advent’ comes from the Latin word for arrival, adventus, and is used because it is in anticipation of the coming of Our Lord to dwell with us visibly and in the flesh.

I recently had the pleasure of listening to a homily by Father Stephen Robert LeBlanc, the Parochial Vicar at Mary Immaculate of Lourdes Catholic Church in Newton for the First Sunday of Advent. The homily centered on describing what Advent is and in particular, centered on what Fr. LeBlanc referred to as the ‘three-fold’ Advent. I couldn’t recall if he was quoting someone, or these were his own musings on Advent, but I very much enjoyed his homily, and it was the first I had heard someone speak about a ‘three-fold’ Advent, so I was naturally curious and paid more attention than I usually would for a homily.

The reflection on Advent as being three-fold concerns firstly, the Nativity of Our Lord in Bethlehem, born miraculously to the Blessed Virgin Mary. Secondly, it concerns the coming of the Lord, Jesus in the Eucharist at Mass, when He appears on the altar, albeit veiled under the species of bread and wine. And thirdly, it concerns our particular judgment when we die.

The ‘first-fold’ of the three-fold Advent is what the Liturgy and the readings of the Mass prepare us to celebrate on Christmas day. The penitential violet color of the priest’s vestments at Mass reminds us that the liturgical year is not of a buy-now-pay-later structure; despite what commercials, far-too-early Christmas trees, the jolly greetings of people saying “Merry Christmas,” the less-than-jolly greetings of those saying “Happy Holidays,” and the white, red, and green colors displayed around shopping centers, Advent is not just Christmas-before-Christmas. Rather, Advent is an intentional time of preparation for Christmas. In the same way that the wise men and shepherds were not leaping for joy during the days before the birth of Our Lord, we too should save Christmas for Christmas.

The ‘second fold’ of the three-fold Advent is what we have the opportunity to experience today, which is Our Lord in the Eucharist. To quote Saint Robert Bellarmine, “He says this is my body, who am I to believe, you or Jesus Christ?” Jesus is truly present in the Eucharist and while we might wait for the words of consecration to be said at Mass, on the macro-scale, during the liturgical year, Advent is a time preparing for that same presence. We receive this in a liturgical rather actual manner when the faithful actually wait for Jesus to appear on the Altar.

The third, and final fold of the three-fold Advent is being cognizant of our ever-approaching death, where we will again, meet Our Lord, and He will in His mercy, we pray after we undergo the sanctification and purification of Purgatory, welcome us into the Beatific Vision where we might enjoy Heaven with Him forever.