Editing Advent (section)

== History ==
It is not known when the period of preparation for Christmas that is now called Advent began, though it was certainly in existence from about 480; the novelty introduced by the [[Council of Tours of 567]] was to order monks to fast every day in the month of December until Christmas.<ref>{{cite web |first1=Prosper|last1=Guéranger |first2=Lucien |last2=Fromage |first3=James Laurence |last3=Shepherd |date=13 October 1867 |title=The liturgical year |publisher=J. Duffy |place=Dublin, IE |url=http://archive.org/details/liturgicalyear01gura |via=Internet Archive}}</ref> According to [[J. Neil Alexander]], it is "impossible to claim with confidence a credible explanation of the origin of Advent".<ref>{{cite book |first=J. Neil |last=Alexander |section=Advent |editor-first=Paul F. |editor-last=Bradshaw |year=2013 |title=New SCM Dictionary of Liturgy and Worship |publisher=Hymns Ancient and Modern Ltd. |isbn=978-0-33404932-6 |page=[https://books.google.com/books?id=vRLJKonMfwQC&pg=PA2 2] |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=vRLJKonMfwQC }}</ref>

[[File:Saintperpetuus.jpg|thumb|upright|A representation of [[Saint Perpetuus]]]]
Associated with Advent as a time of penitence was a period of [[fasting]], known also as [[St. Martin's Day#Eve of St Martin's Lent|St Martin's Lent]] or the [[Nativity Fast]].<ref>{{cite book |last=Bingham |first=Joseph |year=1726 |title=The Antiquities of the Christian Church |publisher=Robert Knaplock |page=[https://books.google.com/books?id=bmpZAAAAYAAJ&pg=PA357 357] |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=bmpZAAAAYAAJ |access-date=20 December 2014}}</ref> According to Saint [[Gregory of Tours]] the celebration of Advent began in the fifth century when the Bishop [[Saint Perpetuus|Perpetuus]] directed that starting with the [[St. Martin's Day]] on 11 November until Christmas, one fasts three times per week; this is why Advent was sometimes also named "Lent of St. Martin". This practice remained limited to the diocese of Tours until the sixth century.<ref>{{cite book |author=St.&nbsp;Gregory, bishop of Tours |author-link=Gregory of Tours |year=1836 |title=Histoire ecclésiastique des Francs, revue et collationnée |lang=fr |trans-title=Ecclesiastical history of the French, reviewed and collated |translator1=Guadet, J. |translator2=Taranne }}</ref>

The [[Council of Macon]] held in 581 adopted the practice in Tours. Soon all France observed three days of fasting a week from the feast of Saint Martin until Christmas. The most devout worshipers in some countries exceeded the requirements adopted by the council, and fasted every day of Advent.

The first clear references in the Western Church to Advent occur in the [[Gelasian Sacramentary]], which provides Advent Collects, Epistles, and Gospels for the five Sundays preceding Christmas and for the corresponding Wednesdays and Fridays.<ref>{{cite book |editor-first=F.L. |editor-last=Cross |year=1974 |title=The Oxford Dictionary of the Christian Church |edition=2nd |publisher=Oxford University Press |page=19}}</ref> The homilies of [[Gregory the Great]] in the late sixth century showed four weeks to the liturgical season of Advent, but without the observance of a fast.<ref>{{cite web |title=L'Avent prépare Noel – Le développement historique |lang=fr |trans-title=Advent prepares for Christmas – Historical development |department=Liturgie |website=infocatho.cef.fr |url=http://infocatho.cef.fr/fichiers_html/liturgie/aventhistoire.htm |access-date=15 November 2017}}</ref> Under [[Charlemagne]] in the ninth century, writings claim that the fast was still widely observed.

In the 13th century, the fast of Advent was not commonly practised although, according to Durand of Mende, fasting was still generally observed. As quoted in the bull of canonisation of St. Louis, the zeal with which he observed this fast was no longer a custom observed by Christians of great piety. It was then limited to the period from the feast of Saint Andrew until Christmas Day, since the solemnity of this apostle was more universal than that of St. Martin.<ref name=Mershman-Advt-CEnc>{{cite encyclopedia |last=Mershman |first=Francis |title=Advent |encyclopedia=The [[Catholic Encyclopedia]] |publisher=Robert Appleton Company |url=http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/01165a.htm |via=newadvent.org |access-date=3 December 2019}}</ref>

When [[Pope Urban V]] ascended the papal seat in 1362, he imposed abstinence on the papal court but there was no mention of fasting. It was then customary in Rome to observe five weeks of Advent before Christmas. The [[Ambrosian Rite]] has six. The Greeks show no more real consistency: Advent was an optional fast that some begin on 15 November, while others begin on 6 December or only a few days before Christmas.<ref name=Mershman-Advt-CEnc/>

The liturgy of Advent remained unchanged until the [[Second Vatican Council]] introduced minor changes, differentiating the spirit of Lent from that of Advent, emphasising Advent as a season of hope for Christ's coming now as a promise of his Second Coming.<ref>{{cite web |title=Origines et raison de la liturgie catholique |lang=fr |orig-year=1842 |website=La France pittoresque (france-pittoresque.com) |year=2012  |url=http://www.france-pittoresque.com/spip.php?article1924}}</ref>