Advent, Advent, Ein Lichtlein Brennt! 

Advent, Advent, Ein Lichtlein brennt! 

Erst eins, dann zwei, dann drei, dann vier, 

Dann steht das Christkind vor der Tür.

This is the most popular song sung by every child in Austria before Christmas. As a festive season, Advent t begins on the fourth Sunday before Christmas, often referred to as Advent Sunday. Advent season is observed in most Christian denominations as a time of waiting and preparation for both the celebration of Jesus’s birth at Christmas and the return of Christ at the Second Coming 

In Western Christianity, Advent is the beginning of the liturgical year. The name comes from Latin adventus (‘coming; arrival’), translating the Greek parousia from the New Testament, originally referring to the Second Coming.

Advent in the Christian calendar anticipates the “coming of Christ” from three different perspectives: the physical nativity in Bethlehem, the reception of Christ in the heart of the believer, and the eschatological Second Coming.

Practices associated with Advent include Advent calendars, lighting the candles of an Advent wreath, praying an Advent daily devotional, erecting a Chrismon tree, lighting a Christingle, as well as other ways of preparing for Christmas, such as setting up Christmas decorations, a custom that is sometimes done liturgically through a “hanging of the greens” ceremony.

In Eastern Christianity, the analogue of Advent is called the Nativity Fast. But it differs in meaning, length, and observances, and does not begin the liturgical church year as it does in the West. The Eastern Nativity Fast does not use the term parousia in its preparatory services. (With source from Wikipedia)