An addition to the list of events put on by the campus ministry team this year, the Advent candle lighting ceremony is a way to bring people together on the Hill.

The campus ministry team, along with the liturgy committee, has planned and put on the services, two of which already have taken place, with two more scheduled for Dec. 13 and Dec. 20.

Mrs. Sara Bozzelli-Levine, a member of the campus ministry team, answered questions over email about the special services.

This is the first year that Advent has had its own services, as Bozzelii-Levine noted. She said, “In the past we have had an Advent wreath in the chapel and marked the weeks accordingly, but not a special service.” The campus ministry team hopes that the services will provide a way to increase inclusivity and spiritual connection with all the distancing that is necessary during the pandemic.

“We have marked places six feet apart around the circle where we light the Advent wreath,” Bozzelli-Levine wrote, “(with the goal to) respect the same social distancing rules Cathedral has used since we started this school year.” With four classes and four Sundays of Advent, each class has a Sunday in which any member of that class, along with their family, can participate.

Students and family alike walk up the Hill, which is lit by candles representing Christ, the light of the world, and proceed onto the brief but prayerful ceremony. “In our creed we proclaim ‘Oh come, oh come, Emmanuel’ as together we prepare, anticipate and wait,” Bozzelli-Levine says, referring to the goal of each of the four Advent services.