Symbols of Advent and Liturgical Services

One thing I’ve never taken notice of is the different ‘Christmas’ seasons of Advent, Christmas, and Epiphany. Use of the symbols discussed in the text could enrich believers’ experience when celebrating Christ’s birth. Although we use an advent wreath every year at church, the meaning of the colours of the candles has never been explained. Out of all the candles, I only remembered that there was a Christ candle. It seems that the meanings of some traditions at Christmas are not always explained well. I like that there are many untapped symbols that could add visually to some aspects of community celebration of Christmas. For example, the Advent rose and the Jesse tree could be very interesting and beautiful icons used in multimedia presentations or liturgical art.
Another topic discussed in the text was the order of liturgical services. I visited a Greek Orthodox church last year with no foreknowledge of that type of structure, or knowledge of the Greek language, for that matter. Although Klein does not discuss Orthodox services specifically, seeing an order of similar services helps to make sense of that experience.