Advent is a western Christian season of expectant waiting and preparation for both the nativity of Jesus on Christmas Day and the return of Jesus at the Second Coming. It is also the beginning of the western Christian liturgical year, the cycle of seasons of public worship. The Advent season begins on the fourth Sunday from Christmas Day, which is the Sunday nearest to 30 November, Saint Andrew’s Day, and extends to 24 December, Christmas Eve.

The term Advent, meaning ‘arrival’ or ‘coming’, derives from the Latin adventus, itself a translation of the ancient Greek parousia, meaning the presence or arrival of an important personage. The first documentation of any religious preparation at this time was in Book X of Gregory of Tours’ History of the Franks, where he records that in 480 A.D., bishop Perpetuus of Tours decreed a fast three times weekly for six weeks from the feast of St Martin (11 November) until Christmas. Before that, there may have been some penitential observances in Gaul and Spain lasting a similar period, perhaps precursors to a formal liturgical season.

But from what did this season emanate? No one knows for sure, but some speculation accretes around a Christian response to continuing memories of pagan Roman winter celebrations, such as Brumalia and Saturnalia. The Roman church was renowned for reworking or supplanting pagan festivals – 25 December had been celebrated in Rome since at least 274 A.D. as the day of the sun god Sol Invictus, and was popular enough that St Augustine still had to preach against it in the 5th century A.D. Pope Gregory I even wrote an abbot in 601 A.D. on how to adapt Saxon heathen practices to Christianity without alienating those “devil-worshiping” pagans.

Interesting parallels between contemporary Advent observances and the pagan winter feasts seem to exist. Have you heard of families in the Saanenland hosting Advent gatherings, each on a different night of the season? The Brumalia, which ran from 24 November until 17 December, honoring the Greek god of the harvest Kronos, included nighttime feasting and socializing, with parties thrown every night by a person’s first name according to their place in the 24-letter Greek alphabet.

Anyone noticed chalets adorned with verdant garlands and spruce wreaths decorated with sparkling lights? The Saturnalia, which continued the season until 23 December, featured urban porches bedecked with evergreens and brightly lit wax tapers and torches. Been jostled by fellow shoppers desperately searching for that perfect gift? Libanius, a 4th-century Greek sophist, lamented that the “impulse to spend seizes everyone” at the turn of the new year.

How about quiet family evenings spent in thoughtful contemplation of the meaning of the season? Nope, that’s a Christian original. The Saturnalia was a raucous party on the order of an early-morning Ushuaïa rave, embracing cross-dressing, non-stop libations, gluttony, role-reversal, boisterous singing and rapier-like bon mots.

Therefore, in the midst of this Advent season, continue to decorate your domiciles with evergreens, light candles, shop, be thoughtful…and celebrate, over-eat, and drink like it’s a Roman holiday. After all, there’s good precedent.

Alex Bertea