Editing Advent (section)

=== Anglican, Lutheran, Presbyterian, and Methodist traditions ===
[[File:Celtic cross in memorial garden.jpg|thumb|Celtic cross in memorial garden, Bon Air Presbyterian Church, Virginia, with Advent [[wreath]]s decorating the gates]]

A variety of practices derived from the [[Roman Catholic Church|Roman rite]] are observed in various protestant churches which retain similar liturgical practices.<ref name=StPaulsLuth-Advent>{{cite web |title=Advent |website=stpaulskingsville.org |publisher=St. Paul's Lutheran Church |place=Kingsville, MD |url=http://www.stpaulskingsville.org/advent.htm |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130317153104/http://www.stpaulskingsville.org/advent.htm |archive-date=17 March 2013 }}</ref><ref name=ELCA-FAQ>{{cite web |series=Growing in faith |title= Advent wreath |type=FAQ |publisher=[[Evangelical Lutheran Church in America]] |url=http://www.elca.org/Growing-In-Faith/Worship/Learning-Center/FAQs/Advent-Wreath.aspx}}</ref>

*Last Sunday before Advent: In the Roman Catholic Church since 1969, and in most [[Anglican church]]es since at least 2000, the Sunday before Advent (the final Sunday of the [[liturgical year]]) is celebrated as the [[Feast of Christ the King]]. This feast is now also widely observed in many Protestant churches, sometimes as the ''Reign of Christ''.{{citation needed|date=November 2023}}
*First Sunday in Advent: The readings for the first Sunday in Advent relate to the Old Testament patriarchs who were Christ's ancestors, so some call the first Advent candle that of hope.
*Second Sunday in Advent: The readings for the second Sunday concern Christ's birth in Bethlehem and other prophecies, so the candle may be called the "Bethlehem candle", the "way candle", or the "prophets' candle".
*Third Sunday in Advent: The third Sunday, called {{lang|la|Gaudete}} Sunday after the first word of the introit (Philippians 4:4), is celebrated with rose-coloured vestments similar to Laetare Sunday at the middle point of Lent. The readings relate to [[John the Baptist]], and the rose-coloured candle may be called the "joy candle", "Mary candle", or "shepherds' candle".{{efn|In the [[Episcopal Church in the United States of America|U.S. Episcopal Church]], the [[collect]] "Stir up" (the first words of the collect) may be read during the third Sunday in Advent, although before the 1979 revision of the [[Book of Common Prayer]] it was sometimes read in the first Sunday in Advent. Even earlier, "stir-up Sunday" was once jocularly associated with the stirring of the Christmas [[mincemeat]], begun before Advent, since the phrase "stir up" occurs at the start of the collect for the last Sunday before Advent in the old [[Book of Common Prayer (1662)|1662 ''Book of Common Prayer'']].<ref>{{cite dictionary |dictionary=[[Oxford English Dictionary]] |title={{grey|[no title cited]}} |edition=second |year=1989 |orig-year=1917 (first published in ''New English Dictionary'')}}</ref>}}
*Fourth Sunday in Advent: The readings for the fourth Sunday relate to the annunciation of Christ's birth, for which the {{lang|la|[[Magnificat]]}} or "Song of Mary" may be featured. The candle may be known as the "angel's candle".
*First Sunday after Advent: Where an Advent wreath includes a fifth candle, it is known as the "Christ candle" and is lit during the Christmas Eve service.