Advent and the Fathers of the Church: Echoes of the Marian Tradition

Advent and the Fathers of the Church: echoes of the patristic tradition in the season of awaiting Christmas.

Advent and the Fathers of the Church: Introduction

The relationship between Advent and the Fathers of the Church is particularly rich. Advent is the season of expectation: of the promised Messiah, of the Lord who comes and who will come again. The Fathers of the Church meditated on this mystery with extraordinary depth, offering today a treasury of homilies, hymns, and commentaries on Advent.

I. Advent and the Fathers of the Church: The Origins of the Expectation

The season of Advent as we know it today took shape between the fourth and sixth centuries, in parallel with Lent. Even before that, however, the theme of Advent and the Fathers of the Church appears in homilies preparing for Christmas. In Ambrose, Augustine, and Leo the Great we find texts that constitute the first theology of Advent in the Fathers of the Church.

II. Advent and the Fathers of the Church: Mary, Expectation of the Lord

Within the theme of Advent and the Fathers of the Church, Mary holds a central place. The Fathers saw in Mary the Daughter of Zion who is waiting for the Messiah. The homilies of Hesychius of Jerusalem, Chromatius of Aquileia, Peter Chrysologus, Leo the Great, and Augustine meditate on Mary as the model of the Advent of the Church. Advent and the Fathers of the Church bring together expectation and Mariology.

III. The Three Advents According to the Fathers

Within the theme of Advent and the Fathers of the Church, the Fathers distinguish three advents: the historical (the Incarnation in Bethlehem), the mystical (Christ who comes today in the life of the Church and of the soul), and the eschatological (the Parousia). Saint Bernard, heir of the Fathers, systematized this threefold coming. Advent and the Fathers of the Church propose a theology on three levels.

IV. Advent and the Fathers of the Church: Marian Typology

Marian typology flourishes in the patristic Advent sermons: Mary as the New Eve, as the Ark of the Covenant, as the Rod of Jesse, as the Tabernacle. Advent and the Fathers of the Church offer this symbolic richness, which prepares for the contemplation of Christmas: Christ is born of Mary as the Sun of Justice.

V. The Relevance Today of the Theme of Advent and the Fathers of the Church

To recover Advent and the Fathers of the Church is to rediscover the spiritual depth of this liturgical season. The patristic readings of the Liturgy of the Hours in Advent are a treasure worth studying. Study the Catecheses of Benedict XVI on the Fathers of the Church.

Deepen your studies: explore the Mariology portal, Marian Theology, and patristic Mariology at Locus Mariologicus.