Advent comes from the Latin adventus, meaning “coming.” Adventus signifies the approach of someone of dignity, power, and glory, someone who has the power to bestow favor or exact penalties.
For Christians, the season of Advent is a time of preparation for Christmas, a time of patient waiting for the reappearing of Christ, and a time to cultivate the gift of patience for daily life.
Advent begins the last Sunday of November or the first Sunday in December. It is always four Sundays before Christmas.
[The Lord Will Answer: A Daily Prayer Catechism. St. Louis, MO: CPH, 2004]