Advent candle

For the use of four or more candles in a ring during Advent, see Advent wreath.

Advent candle

An Advent candle is a candle marked with the days of December up to Christmas Eve. It is typically used in a household rather than a church setting: each day in December the candle is burnt down a little more, to the mark for the day, to show the passing of the days leading up to Christmas. As with an Advent calendar, it does not strictly mark the days of Advent, which typically begins a few days before 1 December, but the calendar date. Some households will make a Christmas decoration out of sprigs of evergreen and Christmas ornaments, with the candle at its centre; others will simply put it in a candlestick. It is usually burned at the family evening meal each day.

Advent candles are traditionally white, though other Christmas-themed colors have become popular. The custom of having an Advent candle seems to have started in Germany, where children traditionally insert a small candle into a decorated orange. This candle is called the Christingle. It is now widespread in some other European countries such as the United Kingdom.