3rd Sunday of Advent - the pink candle

Today at mass Ellie wanted to know why the pink candle comes at the 3rd week of Advent.  Honestly, I didn't have a good answer for that question.  Later in the day I said,' let's go look that up," she already had!  She showed me the response.

"Why is there One Pink Advent Candle? 

"In our Advent Wreath, three candles are purple and one is pink. Why the one pink candle?"

In the earliest years of the church the only church season was Lent, the seven weeks prior to Easter. Lent was a season of fasting and prayer as the church commemorated the crucifixion of Jesus. The traditional color of banners in the church during this time was a deep purple, signifying royalty, repentance, and suffering. During Lent the church lit seven candles, one for each week of the solemn season. However solemn the season, the story of Lent also has a twinge of hope and joy since the death of Christ prefigured the resurrection. So, on the third Sunday of Lent, the church was encouraged not to fast, but to feast. In ancient times on this particular Sunday the Pope would honor a citizen with a pink rose, and as time passed the priests wore pink vestments on this day as a reminder of the coming joy.

When the season of Advent was instituted the church viewed it as a mini-Lent, a time for reflection and repentance (thus the purple). In so doing, the church adopted the first four candles of Lent and changed the third candle of Advent to pink in honor of the Lenten tradition. This is why we have a pink candle in our Advent Wreaths. 

To further heighten the sense of anticipation of Christ's coming during Advent, the church named each candle in the wreath -- the first being hope, the second peace, the third joy, and the fourth love (there are a number of other traditional names as well, though these are some of the most ancient). It has always seemed fitting to me that the pink candle is the candle of joy, the one that speaks to us with its twinge of color.

Incredibly fitting as she'd given me this drawing earlier in the day.  When I asked her what it meant to her she said, "not to leave any one or any color out, use them all!"  I loved her response, as i had thought of something different altogether.  I'm so glad I asked her what it meant to her first before sharing what it meant to me!