30 November: Advent

The four weeks before Christmas, Advent, begins on St Andrew's Day according to some traditions. 10 things you might not know about Advent.

1. The word Advent derives from the Latin word adventus, meaning arrival.
2. No-one knows when people first observed it, but it was in the beginning a time of fasting and prayer. By the 5th century, monks were fasting three times a week in the lead up to Christmas and Epiphany, traditionally a time when new Christians would be baptised.
3. Some churches take the start of Advent as being the Sunday four weeks before Christmas Day, so the start date can vary. The Eastern Orthodox Church begins Advent in the middle of November, so it lasts six weeks instead of four.
4. Some churches call Advent St Philip's Feast, The Nativity Feast or Winter Lent.
5. One tradition is to make an Advent wreaths from evergreens and place four candles in them, one to be lit on each of the four Sundays leading to Christmas. A fifth candle may be lit on Christmas Day. People in Britain may remember that you can make them from a couple of coat hangers and some tinsel, a regular feature on the children's TV show Blue Peter in November.
6. While red, Green and gold are colours associated with Christmas, the colour for Advent is usually purple. Priests may wear purple during this period to represent repentance, fasting and the coming of a king. Some denominations also use Pink and blue.
7. The third Sunday of Advent is known as Gaudete Sunday and is more joyful because the arrival of the baby Jesus is now imminent. Candles are now rose coloured and priests will preach about joy, redemption and blessings.
8. On the last days of Advent, the days leading to Christmas, it was once the tradition for Calabrian minstrels to enter Rome and Naples and be seen everywhere saluting shrines of Mary. This was to soothe the mother of Jesus until she gave birth. These minstrels were known as Pifferari, and played instruments similar to bagpipes.
9. It wasn't the done thing for devout Christians to sing Carols during advent. They had special songs which included some of the carols we sing today, such as O Come O Come Emmanuel, but most of the familiar carols weren't sung until Christmas Day.
10. Advent is the first season of the liturgical year. In some churches it is taken to represent the time in history before Jesus came. It also represents the anticipation and hope of Christ's second coming.

A Christmas Novella

A Very Variant Christmas

Last year, Jade and Gloria were embroiled in a bitter conflict to win back their throne and their ancestral home. This year, Queen Jade and Princess Gloria want to host the biggest and best Christmas party ever in their palace. They invite all their friends to come and bring guests. Not even the birth of Jade's heir just before Christmas will stop them.

The guest list includes most of Britain's complement of super-powered crime-fighters, their families and friends. What could possibly go wrong?

Gatecrashers, unexpected arrivals, exploding Christmas crackers and a kidnapping, for starters.

Far away in space, the Constellations, a cosmic peacekeeping force, have suffered a tragic loss. They need to recruit a new member to replace their dead colleague. The two top candidates are both at Jade and Gloria's party. The arrival of the recruitment delegation on Christmas Eve is a surprise for everyone; but their visit means one guest now faces a life-changing decision.

Meanwhile, an alliance of the enemies of various guests at the party has infiltrated the palace; they hide in the dungeon, plotting how best to get rid of the crime-fighters and the royal family once and for all. Problem is, they all have their own agendas and differences of opinion on how to achieve their aims.

Not to mention that this year, the ghosts who walk the corridors of the palace on Christmas Eve will be as surprised by the living as the living are by them.

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