- from ' Of Ceremonies, why some be abolished, and some retained '. Pray Tell has a good piece on the Advent Wreath by Episcopal priest and Nashotah House assistant professor of Liturgics and Pastoral Theology Matthew S. C. Olver. I confess to having something of the zeal of the convert on this matter. Once a fan of the Advent Wreath, experience in the parish has increasingly convinced me that it can become a hindrance to the meaningful observance of Advent.Referring to the various themes associated with each of the candles, Olver states:So what should be done about this "fetishizing (is that too strong a word?) of the Advent wreath as something somehow intrinsic to the season". Olver points to a 2005 article by Bruce Russell in a Prayer Book Society of Canada publication, encouraging a "focus and tendency toward simplicity":Perhaps the "simplest solution" is have the respective candle of the Advent Wreath lit without liturgical ceremony. It is not as if the various meanings attached to the candles are deeply embedded in liturgical tradition: Russell shows quite clearly that the liturgical use of the Wreath is a 20th century devotion. It can have value as a means of marking the four Sundays of Advent and the culmination of the season in the celebration of the Nativity of our Lord, while the use of greenery instead of flowers is an Advent custom.Crowding other meanings on top of this, however, risks disordering the Advent liturgy, introducing a 'thematic' observance of the Sundays of Advent which does not cohere with either traditional or contemporary lectionaries. For example, this Second Sunday in Advent the Gospel reading in the contemporary lectionary is Like 3:1-6, on the witness of St John the Baptist, the theme of the lighting of the Wreath on the Third Sunday in Advent.In other words, the Advent Wreath should be - to use words from the title of Olver's piece - on the periphery of the Advent liturgy, certainly not at its centre. The use of greenery and light in Advent can be meaningful in itself, not requiring liturgical ceremony. In fact, the significance of greenery and light in Advent can be overshadowed by the addition of the thematic approach and accompanying ceremony.This seems to be "within the spirit and form of traditional Anglican liturgy". As Liam Beadle said in a recentarticle:Such noble simplicity helps to ensure that the traditional focus of Advent is not overlaid and obscured by ceremonies and devotions which are not oriented towards "the last day, when he shall come again in his glorious Majesty".