The Evangelical Lutheran Church’s Advent Calendar Surprises: Essayist Antti Nylén Challenges to Consider the Contradictions of Christmas

The Helsinki capital region Lutheran parishes’ advent calendar will be delivered to letter boxes in Helsinki, Vantaa, Espoo, and Kauniainen during the next few weeks. This is the ninth advent calendar to be published by the parishes. In addition to the paper version, you can open the calendar’s doors on the parishes’ social media accounts and on www.kirkonjoulukalenteri.fi. This year, the calendar will be distributed in Kerava, Turku, Kaarina, Seinäjoki, Kouvola, Vaasa, and Kuopio, too.

Based on feedback from previous years, the advent calendar has become one of the highlights of the Christmas season. This is what the public said about the 2023 advent calendar:

“The advent calendar was a hit! Our next-door neighbour made a habit of opening the door and reading the text out loud to his family each day. I read the text out loud as well, but only to myself.”

“It’s been a total surprise to my husband and I how funny and insightful this free Jesus-calendar is!”

“The calendar has been brought to this day and age, and my circle of friends have all been largely interested in it.”

This year’s novelty are the calendar doors that are opened every day on social media and contain videos where the calendar’s author Antti Nylén discusses what he has written for the day and expands on the theme of the text. The videos will be posted on the social media accounts of the Helsinki capital region Evangelical Lutheran parishes. They will also be published on www.kirkonjoulukalenteri.fi. The webpage includes press images of the advent calendar for the media to use.

The Advent Calendar’s Texts are an Invitation and a Challenge to the Reader

This year, the calendar’s texts were written by essayist, philosopher Antti Nylén, who has handled religious, philosophical, and societal themes in his previous works. The advent calendar showcases his profound understanding of the message of Christmas. The texts invite and challenge the reader to contemplate Christmas, and the anticipation related to it. They do not stop at Christmas alone, but look further, from the celebration of Jesus’ birth all the way to the events of Easter. They invite each reader to pause and reflect on their life and thinking. The texts behind the doors can be approached and interpreted from different angles while considering the ideas and emotions they awaken.

- Christmas is full of paradox. At its core is the most miraculous and at the same time the most natural event: a child is born. Christmas is a reoccurring beginning. The world does not end. There is a new beginning arrives, there always is. The road from Christmas to Easter has many good Fridays, but the direction is more important than the road. Christmas need not be hoped for or feared. It comes regardless of our emotions and our goodness. In Christmas, at Christmas, the reality of mercy solidifies, Nylén says.

The Artwork of the Calendar is a Combination of Traditional and Modern Christmas Imagery

This year, the advent calendar features an angel-themed cityscape shining with distinct energy. The artwork is by illustrator, picture book author Ilja Karsikas. He also illustrated the advent calendar in 2018.

- The dancing angel is a powerful, independent creature, a herald of new life, who announces unique love and brings light and energy to the world. The image was inspired by a loved one’s spontaneous dance in a laundry room as well as the copious angel paintings and sculptures of art history. The journey towards the Christmas miracle is realized in the crossroads of celebration and mundane as well.

The Advent Calendar is a Gift

The advent calendar is a gift from the Helsinki, Espoo, Vantaa, and Kauniainen parishes to their members. Its primary audience is adults, but the calendar is suitable for the whole family. The advent calendar has garnered hundreds of reviews and feedback from readers. It has been described and praised as thought-provoking, unexpected, merciful, hopeful, humane, joyful, and humoristic. It has spoken especially to those, whose relationship with the Evangelical Lutheran Church is more distant. The calendar creates community as well. Its doors are opened among family, via video calls, in daycare classes, care homes, and social media.

Around 370,000 calendars are sent by post at the end of November to Finnish-speaking members of Helsinki, Espoo, Vantaa, and Kauniainen Evangelical Lutheran parishes. Its Swedish version is delivered with the Kyrkpressen paper. The texts have been translated into Swedish by Magnus Strandberg. Churches also carry an English version of the calendar, translated by Kasper Salonen.

www.kirkonjoulukalenteri.fi

Rebekka Naatus
Vantaan seurakuntien viestintäpäällikkö
rebekka.naatus@evl.fi, 050 321 2322