No products in the cart.
The weekly lighting of the Advent wreath candles is one of the most beloved traditions in the Christian liturgical year. While the tradition first emerged among German Lutherans in the 16th century, it was not widely adopted across denominations until the 1930s. Today, congregations of every size and tradition use Advent candle lighting readings to mark each of the four weeks leading to Christmas — and the Christ candle on Christmas Eve.
This page provides original Advent candle lighting liturgy, week-by-week readings for families and children, call-and-response options for multiple speakers, and curated resources from progressive and mainline sources.
Need ideas for a complete Advent worship service? Click here →
Check out 60+ sermon topics for progressive churches →
Explore Christmas flyer templates →
Advent marks the beginning of the Church's liturgical year and spans the four Sundays leading to Christmas. It is a season of preparation, anticipation, and waiting. The Advent wreath and its candles give that waiting a visible, weekly rhythm — each Sunday we light one more candle and name one more way Christ is the light of the world.
The practice of lighting a candle while reciting an Advent devotional guides a congregation or family through the season week by week. Some of the earliest references to Advent as a distinct season of preparation appear in writings from the sixth century, though the wreath and candle tradition as we know it developed much later.
The wreath itself carries rich symbolism. Made from evergreens fashioned into a circular shape, it represents continuous and unending life — circles have no beginning or end. This speaks to the eternity of God, the immortality of the soul, and the everlasting life found in Christ. The use of living evergreens, which remain green through the darkest weeks of winter, is also a sign of hope.
The most common arrangement places four candles in a circle within the wreath, with one candle lit each Sunday of Advent. A fifth candle — the Christ candle — stands in the center and is lit during Christmas Eve worship.
Candle colors vary by tradition. In the Catholic and many Episcopal and Lutheran traditions, three candles are purple (representing prayer, penance, and preparation) and one is pink (for Gaudete Sunday, the third week). Many mainline Protestant and progressive congregations use blue candles, which represent hope and the night sky of Advent. Some traditions use all white or all red. PCM offers Advent worship media in all color traditions, so your congregation can find visuals that match your practice.
The first candle of Advent symbolizes hope. It is sometimes called the Prophecy Candle, in remembrance of the prophets — especially Isaiah — who foretold the birth of the Messiah. It represents the expectation and longing of all who waited for the coming of Christ.
Suggested scripture readings: Isaiah 9:2, 6–7 · Psalm 122 · Isaiah 2:2–5 · Romans 13:11–14
Leader: In the darkness of this Advent season, we light the first candle.
People: We light this candle as a sign of the hope to come.
Leader: The prophets proclaimed that a light would shine in the darkness. We hold that promise tonight.
People: Come, Lord Jesus. We wait in hope.
Leader: Let us pray. God of every promise: stir in us the same hope that sustained your people through long seasons of waiting. As this candle burns, remind us that no darkness is stronger than your light. Amen.
The second candle represents love. It is sometimes called the Bethlehem Candle, recalling the journey of Mary and Joseph to Bethlehem and the love that took flesh in a manger.
Suggested scripture readings: Isaiah 40:3–5 · Psalm 72:18 · Isaiah 11:1–10 · Luke 1:26–38
Leader: We light two candles now — hope, and love.
People: We light this candle as a sign of the love that came down to us.
Leader: Love did not stay at a distance. Love traveled the road to Bethlehem. Love took on flesh and bone and breath.
People: Come, Lord Jesus. We wait in love.
Leader: Let us pray. God of boundless love: you did not send a message — you sent yourself. May the love we proclaim this Advent season move through our hands and our voices into the world around us. Amen.
The third candle symbolizes joy. In many traditions it is called the Shepherd's Candle. This is Gaudete Sunday — from the Latin word for "rejoice" — marking the midpoint of Advent with a turn toward joyful anticipation. In Catholic and some Protestant traditions, this candle is pink or rose rather than purple or blue, visually marking the shift in tone.
Suggested scripture readings: Matthew 2:10–11 · Psalm 146:5–10 · Isaiah 35:1–10 · Luke 2:8–14
Leader: We light three candles — hope, love, and joy.
People: We light this candle as a sign of the joy that is coming, and the joy that is already here.
Leader: Gaudete! Rejoice! We have reached the midpoint of our waiting. The night is not as long as it was.
People: Come, Lord Jesus. We wait in joy.
Leader: Let us pray. God of surprising joy: you fill the mouths of the hungry and raise up the lowly. Teach us a joy that is not merely contentment, but the deep gladness of those who know the world is being made new. Amen.
The fourth candle is the Peace Candle, sometimes called the Angel's Candle — recalling the message of the angels: "Peace on earth, good will to all." As Christmas draws near, this candle names the fullness of what the season promises.
Suggested scripture readings: John 3:16–19 · Psalm 24 · Isaiah 7:10–14 · Luke 2:8–20
Leader: We light four candles — hope, love, joy, and peace.
People: We light this candle as a sign of the peace that passes understanding.
Leader: The angels announced peace not as the absence of conflict, but as the presence of God. We hold that promise in a world that aches for it.
People: Come, Lord Jesus. We wait in peace.
Leader: Let us pray. God of shalom: as Christmas approaches, quiet in us the anxiety of hurry. Let this final week of waiting be a week of stillness, of readiness, and of peace that the world cannot give and cannot take away. Amen.
The white Christ candle stands in the center of the wreath and is lit during Christmas Eve worship. White represents purity and the sinless life of Christ. When this candle is lit, the waiting is over.
Suggested scripture readings: John 1:14 · Psalm 96 · Isaiah 9:2–7 · Luke 2:1–20
Leader: Tonight we light all five candles — hope, love, joy, peace, and the Christ candle at the center of it all.
People: The waiting is over. The light has come.
Leader: The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us. What the prophets proclaimed, what we have waited and hoped for through four weeks of Advent — this night it is fulfilled.
People: Come, Lord Jesus. You are here.
Leader: Let us pray. Emmanuel, God with us: we began this season in the dark. Tonight the light is full and the manger is not empty. Fill us with the joy of this night and send us into the world as people who have seen your light. Amen.
For families lighting the Advent candles at home, simpler readings help young children participate meaningfully each week. The liturgies above can be adapted by having a parent or caregiver read the leader lines while children respond together. Some families add a brief question for reflection after each lighting:
For a complete family Advent devotional with weekly readings designed specifically for young children, Andrew Gabriel's resource offers discussion questions alongside each week's liturgy and is especially accessible for younger ages.
Many congregations prefer Advent candle lighting readings designed for two or more voices — a liturgist, a family, or a worship leader and congregation together. The original readings above are formatted as leader/people call-and-response and work well for this purpose.
For additional options with multiple readers, the Reformed Church in America offers several sets of readings for each week of Advent. The United Church of Christ publishes Advent candle liturgy that includes congregational responses, both spoken and sung. The United Methodist Church's Discipleship Ministries site offers Advent candle lighting liturgy designed for more than one reader — updated annually and well suited for mainline and progressive congregations.
For communities of faith committed to justice and inclusion, Advent candle lighting can be an act of proclamation as much as devotion. The season's traditional themes — hope, love, joy, and peace — carry particular weight for congregations that understand the gospel as good news for the marginalized.
Christian Peacemaker Teams has developed a full set of Advent candle lighting readings in both English and Spanish, centered on themes of social justice and solidarity. Each week's liturgy is paired with action steps and links to organizations doing justice work aligned with that week's theme. These are ideal for progressive and justice-oriented congregations looking for Advent candle liturgy with a prophetic voice.
The SALT Project publishes Advent candle lighting litanies each year that draw on contemporary theology and progressive Christian thought. Their liturgies consistently reflect an inclusive, justice-seeking approach to the season.
Process & Faith also offers Advent candle liturgy drawing on process theology — a natural fit for congregations in the UCC, UMC, or other mainline traditions that hold open and relational theology.
If you are introducing the Advent wreath tradition to your congregation for the first time, here are a few practical notes:
The wreath can be placed at the front of the sanctuary, near the pulpit or communion table, or in a central location where it is clearly visible. Some congregations invite a different family to light the candles each week — this distributes the ritual across the community and makes the tradition feel participatory rather than clerical.
The readings work best when printed in the bulletin or projected on screen so the congregation can join in the response. Keeping the liturgy brief — two or three minutes — lets it anchor the service without becoming a service within a service.
If your tradition uses blue candles, it may be worth a brief explanation early in the season. Many visitors and newer members may be accustomed to purple and will appreciate knowing the significance of the color choice. Our article on blue Advent candles covers the history and meaning in detail.
What are Advent candle lighting readings? Advent candle lighting readings are liturgical scripts read aloud during the weekly lighting of the Advent wreath candles. Each reading corresponds to one of the four weeks of Advent — hope, love, joy, and peace — plus a fifth reading for the Christ candle on Christmas Eve.
Why do we light Advent candles? Lighting a candle each week of Advent marks the season of anticipation before Christmas. Each candle names a different aspect of Christ's coming: hope, love, joy, and peace. The tradition traces to German Lutherans in the 16th century and became widely adopted in the 1930s.
What do the five Advent candles represent? The five candles represent hope (Prophecy Candle, week one), love (Bethlehem Candle, week two), joy (Shepherd's Candle, week three), peace (Angel's Candle, week four), and the Christ Candle (lit on Christmas Eve to represent the life and purity of Jesus).
Why is the third Advent candle pink? The third Sunday of Advent is Gaudete Sunday, from the Latin word for "rejoice." The pink or rose candle marks the midpoint of Advent and signals a shift from penitential waiting toward joyful anticipation. The tradition originated in the Catholic church but is observed in many Protestant denominations as well.
Are there Advent candle lighting readings for children? Yes. The call-and-response readings on this page can be adapted for family use, with adults reading the leader lines and children responding together. Many families add a brief discussion question after each week's lighting to help children connect the theme to their own lives.
What is the difference between blue and purple Advent candles? Purple candles are the traditional Catholic and Anglican choice, representing penance and preparation. Blue candles are used in many mainline Protestant and progressive congregations, symbolizing hope and the Advent night sky. Both are valid traditions — the color choice reflects denominational custom rather than theological correctness.
Can Advent candle lighting readings be used by multiple speakers? Yes. The liturgies on this page are formatted as leader/people call-and-response and can be read by a worship leader and congregation, two liturgists, or a family together. Resources from the UCC and UMC Discipleship Ministries also offer multi-voice options updated annually.
✅ Inclusive ✅ Downloadable instantly ✅ Bilingual options ✅ Affirming
