God rest ye merry gentlemen
Let nothing you dismay
Remember Christ our Savior
Was born upon this day
Jesus was born on this day. That is how they sing it in Britain. Because they mainly sing it on Christmas Day. Get it?
So that brings up an interesting question: Should Advent (the four weeks before Christmas) be joyous and festive, like it is in the United States? And indeed should they be considered part of yuletide, again like they clearly are in the United States?
FWIW I once had a book written by this British woman. And she said Advent is or at least was somber in Britain. It was the time when you brought candles and other gifts to lonely people (whatever that means).
This is purely a religious and doctrinal question. (That is why I put it in GD.) I still invite you to celebrate Advent and Christmas whatever way you choose.
There was once a tradition of fasting in Advent, preparing for the feast days, as with Lent in preparation for Easter. AFAIK, the Church of England makes Advent a reflective, rather than sombre, period, but (as extensively discussed on the “Merry Christmas” thread), most of us are so secularised that Advent makes no great difference.
As for your opening quote, “God rest ye merry” isn’t necessarily reserved for Christmas Day. IIRC, it’s often sung “was born on Christmas Day”. Purists might change it to “upon this day” if sung on Christmas Day: likewise there’s a verse of “O Come All Ye Faithful” thaty appropriate for the day itself
Former altar boy here: in Catholicism, Advent is kind of Lent-light. There are days of fasting, and the official priestly garment for the period is purple, as it is in Lent.
Spent 25 years working with the liturgy team of my Catholic parish and did a lot of research. Advent in the Roman Catholic church is like Lent in that it is a season of preparation for a big religious celebration, and preparation in that sense involves more reflection, prayer, etc. But it lacks the gravity of Lent, which was originally a period during which adults were readied for baptism into the church at Easter; these catechumens were supposed to renounce and atone for their previous lives of sin. Fasting, sackcloth and ashes, that sort of thing. Eventually as the church ran out of adult converts and took to baptizing the babies born to Christian parents, Lent became a time for the whole church to spiritually cleanse itself. It was this meaning that was transferred to Advent. So there is this quality of “going deeper”. It is at least intended to be quiet and calm, not frantically baking cookies and shopping for presents.
Advent also tends to be quite Marian in character. She has some big feasts during that time, including the Virgin of Guadalupe, a giant event for the Hispanic part of the American church. And she’s kind of the star of Christmas in a way. At least, that’s where she fits into the narrative. There are a lot of Catholics more devoted to Mary than to Jesus.
As a liturgist I was always trying to make it clear that Advent was Not Christmas and also Not Lent. Which was challenging.
