<P> The Advent wreath, or Advent crown, is a Christian tradition that symbolizes the passage of the four weeks of Advent in the liturgical calendar of the Western church . It is traditionally a Lutheran practice, although it has spread to many other Christian denominations . </P> <P> It is usually a horizontal evergreen wreath with four candles, sometimes with a fifth, white candle in the center . Beginning with the First Sunday of Advent, the lighting of a candle can be accompanied by a Bible reading, devotional time and prayers . An additional candle is lit during each subsequent week until, by the last Sunday before Christmas, all four candles are lit . Many Advent wreaths include a fifth, Christ candle which is lit at Christmas Eve or Christmas Day . The custom is observed both in family settings and at public church services . </P> <P> The concept of the Advent wreath originated among German Lutherans in the 16th Century . However, it was not until three centuries later that the modern Advent wreath took shape . </P> <P> Research by Prof. Haemig of Luther Seminary, St. Paul, points to Johann Hinrich Wichern (1808--1881), a Protestant pastor in Germany and a pioneer in urban mission work among the poor as the inventor of the modern Advent wreath in the 19th century . During Advent, children at the mission school Rauhes Haus, founded by Wichern in Hamburg, would ask daily if Christmas had arrived . In 1839, he built a large wooden ring (made out of an old cartwheel) with 20 small red and 4 large white candles . A small candle was lit successively every weekday and Saturday during Advent . On Sundays, a large white candle was lit . The custom gained ground among Protestant churches in Germany and evolved into the smaller wreath with four or five candles known today . Roman Catholics in Germany began to adopt the custom in the 1920s, and in the 1930s it spread to North America . Professor Haemig's research also indicates that the custom did not reach the United States until the 1930s, even among German Lutheran immigrants . </P>

What do the purple candles on the advent wreath represent