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anticipating the birth of Christ. ("Adventists" are Christians who prepare for the imminent Second Coming of Christ.) The
faithful were forbidden from being absent from regular church attendance during the period and were to fast as strictly as
during Lent. Although the Orthodox Church still begins Advent on November 11, near 600 AD Pope Gregory I shortened the season
to the four Sundays before Christmas. Later the requirements for fasting & abstention were relaxed, but Advent remains a
season of spiritual preparation.
The Advent wreath is decorated with four candles, one of which is to be lit on each of the four Sundays. Advent is observed
festively in Nuremberg, Germany where the season is begun with a gala opening of the Christkindl Markt (Christ child shopping
market) on the Friday before the first Sunday of Advent. Christmas markets of stalls selling Christmas specialties in open
plazas are popular not only in Germany, but in Italy and Belgium.
Los Posados is a Mexican custom that has spread to several central American countries as well as to the Philippines. During
the nine days preceding Christmas a nightly procession ("los posados") enacts Joseph and Mary searching for shelter in
Bethlehem. According to tradition they must be refused at least once before an innkeeper lets them in.
Midnight Mass is the first of three masses held at Christmas by the Roman Catholic Church, each mass characterized by a
distinctive liturgy. For many people Midnight Mass is the most important of Christmas masses because of a popular belief that
Jesus was born at midnight. Midnight Mass from St. Peter's Cathedral in Rome and from the Church of the Nativity in Bethlehem
is broadly televised.
St. Stephen's Day (December 26th) commemorates the first Christian martyr Stephen, who was stoned to death for his religious
beliefs in 35 A.D. In the Middle Ages priests opened the church alms-box on St. Stephen's Day to distribute deposited coins
to the needy. St. Stephen's Day became Boxing Day in Britain and is a recognized holiday not only in Britain, but in
Australia, Canada and New Zealand. In British tradition, Christmas was a day of exchanging gifts whereas the day following
Christmas was a day in which people of less fortunate station (servants, tradespeople and the poor) received gifts from the
more fortunate — often in boxes — without the expectation of anything being given in return. The custom declined, partly
because tradespeople became too demanding of their annual "tips".
Holy Innocents' Day (December 28th) commemorates the slaughter of the boy babies of Bethlehem by King Herod. In England this
day was the occasion for ritual beating of children, but in continental Europe it was more common for children to be given
license to whip adults. The English did allow "boy bishops" to deliver sermons on December 28. In Spain and in many Latin
American countries Innocents' Day is celebrated like April Fools' Day — the victims of the practical jokes are the
"innocents".
The time between the holy season of Christmas and the holy season of Lent (the 46 days before Easter Sunday, in remembrance
of Christ's 40 days in the wilderness) is sometimes called carnival (Latin for "farewell to meat", in reference to the
fasting of Lent). Starting on the day after Epiphany, the peak day of partying with abandonment is the day before Ash
Wednesday (the first day of Lent), namely Mardi Gras (French for "Fat Tuesday") — although the days of celebration can
include the entire carnival period.
