Overview
- Advent Sunday in 2025 falls today, Nov. 30, the fourth Sunday before Christmas, with the start date varying between Nov. 27 and Dec. 3 depending on the year.
- The period concludes on Christmas Eve in many traditions as congregations prepare for the birth of Christ.
- Worship during Advent looks to both the nativity and Christ’s promised return, with early readings focused on the Second Coming before turning to Bethlehem.
- Many churches light an Advent wreath, a practice originating in Lutheran Germany that now often uses five candles and culminates with the Christ candle at Christmas.
- Once a longer, penitential observance with Ember Day fasts beginning Nov. 11, Advent has shifted toward joyful expectation and a call to pair hope with practical preparation.