ADVENT (Lat. Adventus, sc. Redemptoris, "the coming of the Saviour"), a holy season of the Christian Church, the period of preparation for the celebration of the nativity or Christmas. In the Ethiopic Church it lasts from Nov. 11, in other Churches from the Sunday nearest to Nov. 3o, till Christmas. It is uncertain at what date the season began to be observed. A council at Saragossa in 38o forbade the faithful to be absent from church from Dec. 17 to Epiphany; but the first unquestionable mention of Advent is at the Council of Tours (567). It has long been recognized in the West as the beginning of the ecclesiastical year. The Roman Catholic Church forbids the solemnization of marriage during Advent.
In many countries Advent was marked by diverse popular ob servances, some of which still survive. In some parts of England poor women used to carry round the "Advent images," two dolls dressed to represent Christ and the Virgin Mary, visiting every household and demanding halfpence.
In Normandy the farmers still employ children under 12 to run with torches through the fields and orchards setting fire to bundles of straw to drive out vermin. In Italy the last days of Advent are marked by the entry into Rome of the Calabrian pifferari who play bagpipes before the shrines of the Holy Mother (as the shepherds of Bethlehem are believed to have done before the infant Saviour).