Cranston resident Liz Smith and her husband David have been observing Advent, a period that spans the 4 Sundays before Christmas, for thirty years, from the beginning of their marriage, through the upbringing of their three children, and into the present, after those children have grown up and moved out. She reflects her experience mirrors the nature of Advent, which combines thoughts about the past, present, and future.“It’s sort of like waiting for Christ in three different ways” Smith says, “waiting for his arrival two thousand years ago, waiting for his arrival on December 25th, but then, like all the liturgical readings have to do with waiting for the second coming of Christ.” It is this idea of patient anticipation which inspires Roman Catholic Advent traditions Smith practices, one of the most common of which is the Advent wreath and its four candles. The first was lit on November 27, at the beginning of the Advent season, and each Sunday another is added. This year, the 4th Sunday of Advent is December 18, and Christmas falls the next Sunday. This self-imposed waiting period provides an anchor for what can be a hectic season for many. “I think one of the best fruits of a good Advent season is peace, because it can be a very crazy time of year that’s filled with stress,” Smith said. The idea of intentionally waiting to celebrate something instead of diving in the day after Thanksgiving is counter cultural, but for Smith, it provides much needed relief. “I think the more you focus on what you’re really celebrating, the more you realize the other stuff is just stuff...if you don’t get all your shopping done or if you can’t make a batch of cookies, life goes on.” Another tradition Smith practiced, particularly when her children were young, was using Advent calendars. These calendars feature a small compartment for each day of Advent, containing sweets and tiny books, which each tell a bite-sized part of the story of Jesus’ birth from the Biblical narrative. It’s a tool that builds anticipation and excitement. For Smith, the Christmas season begins on December 25th instead of ending, and carries into the new year. “I think you appreciate anything more when you wait for it,” she says, “and it’s the same for Christmas.” Father Andrew Messina, the pastor of St. Timothy’s on 1799 Warwick Ave, connects this kind of inward, meditative reflection to outward expressions. His parish lights an Advent wreath, and follows a common Catholic liturgical schedule of scripture readings, but he says Advent observance shouldn’t end with ritual. “The nature of Advent is to be one of preparation...a time where we’re a little more quiet, and we’re trying to prepare ourselves mentally, spiritually, for the big day of Christmas” he says. “In this reflective nature, we think about those who are in need, and we reach out to them as much as we possibly can.” In that spirit, St. Timothy’s is making a Christmas caroling excursion to the neighborhood on December 10th after their 4:15pm mass. They also have programs for making donations like food and toiletries to supply those in need. Another community of Advent celebrants can be found at CCRI’s Knight campus in Warwick, where Christie Cocklin, Celina Oliver, and Aaron Bergeron gather for a student Bible study club. Oliver serves with a ministry that visits nursing homes and sponsors poorer families and provides Christmas gifts. Cocklin, the club’s leader, attends Resurrection Independent Baptist Church in West Greenwich, but is also part of a Catholic ministry called Church Beyond the Walls, which holds an outdoor mass every Saturday at 2pm at Burnside Park in Providence. For these students, one of the most salient qualities of Advent is its ability to unify diverse groups of people. “Advent’s just a really good time to come together” says Oliver. “A lot more people end up showing up to church. For Cocklin, Advent is “not just personal, but interpersonal” and events like those hosted by Church Beyond the Walls can “bring people together who might not be familiar with Advent.” Music, these students feel, brings people together. Oliver and Bergeron are both parishioners at St. Brendan’s on 60 Turner Ave in Riverside, where they have joined the choir for Christmas Eve concerts of traditional Christmas hymns. They are also both a part of a young adults ministry called Revive, an extension of St. Patricks on 244 Smith Street in Providence. The Revive band plays Christian rock, adult contemporary, and worship music, which are often more popular in evangelical circles. They see this crossing of denominational lines as positive and productive. Their Christmas concerts bring in diverse attendees, from priests and Catholic parishioners to those in the Methodist tradition as well as atheists who simply enjoy the music. This blending of different traditions and ideas is a weekly practice for Maggie Hutchins, the worship leader at the nondenominational evangelical church Cranston Christian Fellowship (CCF) on 1114 Scituate Ave. Her responsibilities range from coordinating a worship band to managing the flow of events, coordinating volunteers, and organizing for the use of art and music elements in services; essentially the evangelical equivalent of liturgy. As a member of a nondenominational church, she is part of a segment of the Christian culture that generally are not rooted to traditions like Advent, but she and her community still find value in staying connected to the heritage of the church at large. Last year, the church’s December services featured not only the usual sermons, but also videos that explained the symbolism of the Advent wreath to a Christian congregation that would otherwise be largely disconnected from the Catholic Advent heritage. She, like the CCRI students of her same generation, is comfortable with interweaving thousand-year old rituals with modern observances. “Tradition’s great,” Hutchins says, “but fresh perspective on something that is really important matters.” Her goal is to shed timely light on timeless ideas by offering “a mixture of old and new.” A congregant to a Sunday service at CCF might hear carols based on ancient Scriptures alongside songs written not five years ago. Even this reflects the time-spanning nature of the Advent ideal. For CCF’s closing song on the first Sunday of Advent, Hutchins leads the church in a modern worship song: “And He shall reign forevermore” she sings, “Unto us a child is born,” lyrics that harken to an ancient text from the Old Testament which foretold of Jesus’ birth. It is songs like these that many use as reminders of the timeless appeal of Advent, to remember the past, look forward to the future, and seek peace in the present.