Advent
The weeks prior to Christmas are known in the West as Advent, from a Latin word meaning “coming.”
In the Orthodox Church, the season of preparation for Christmas always begins on November 15/28, the day after the Feast of the Apostle Philip. For this reason it is sometimes known as St. Philip’s Fast, or simply the Nativity Fast. From this date until the Feast of Christ’s Nativity the fast lasts 40 days.
Because of its emphasis on expectancy and sober preparation, Advent is a season of great seriousness, not a time proper for festivity, much less of partying and secular concerns. Advent is not part of the Christmas holidays, and Christians of earlier times would be shocked at the current habit of treating this as a period of jolly good times and “Christmas cheer,” complete with office parties and the exchange of gifts.
All of these festive things are part of the celebration of Christmas itself, which lasts twelve days beginning December 25/January 7.
The seasons of the liturgical year involve more than liturgical services. The liturgical seasons are meant to shape the lives of those who observe them. For this reason, anticipating these properly Christmas activities during Advent considerably lessens the chance of our being properly prepared, by repentance, for the grace of that greater season; it also heightens the likelihood that we will fall prey to the worldly spirit that the commercial world would encourage during this time.