Lent and Advent are two liturgical times with some similarities and, at the same time, with marked differences. Knowing them helps Catholics to live them better, attending to the characteristics that the Church has given to each of them.
These are some similarities between Lent and Advent:
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1. These are preparation times
Both Lent and Advent are preparation times. In the first, the Church is ready to celebrate Easter. While in the second, Catholics prepare for Christmas and the second coming of the Lord.
2. The purple as a characteristic color
The characteristic color of both liturgical times is purple, which in the Catholic Church refers to penance. Therefore, both in Lent and Advent, the Church invites the faithful to approach the sacrament of penance or reconciliation.
3. The priest dresses up
Lent and Advent are also distinguished by having a Sunday in which the priest celebrates the Holy Mass coated with a pink chasuble. In the case of Lent, that day is called Domingo de rejoice While in Advent it takes the name of Gaudete Sunday.
In both days, the Church invites the faithful to renew with joy the hope on the road to Easter and Christmas, respectively.
4. The hymn of glory is omitted
The general instruction of the Roman Missal establishes that the anthem of glory “is sung or says out loud on Sundays outside the times of Advent and Lent.”
Gloria is omitted in Advent and takes up at Christmas, because it is a hymn that repeats the words of Los Angeles after the birth of Jesus.
On the other hand, its disappearance in Lent serves to emphasize the austere and penitential character of this liturgical time in contrast to the joy of Easter.
5. Call for conversion
The Church constantly calls for the conversion of the faithful, but in a very special way in Lent and Advent.
Lent begins with Ash Wednesday, in which the priest emphasizes the words of the Lord: “Become and believe in the Gospel.” This call is present during all this liturgical time.
Similarly, the invitation to conversion becomes particular relevance during Advent, because in those days the return of Our Lord “is proclaimed to judge alive and dead.”
Central writing
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