The Liturgical Year
Advent
Begins Four Sundays before the Solemnity of the Nativity of the Lord (Christmas) and Ends after Midafternoon Prayer on the Vigil of the Solemnity of the Nativity of the Lord.
We call the days and nights before the Nativity of the Lord (Christmas) Advent, which means "coming." The Church reads and sings about God's promises. We tell the stories of many holy people: Mary and John the Baptist, Nicholas and Lucy. We strive for the time when God's love will be seen in all of us, when peace will come through people's acts of justice and love for each other. But, primarily, we wait. We wait for the blessed hope, the coming of our Savior, Jesus Christ, when all will be one, and the Kingdom of God will flourish. The Son of God already came to us, born in the city of David. this is what we celebrate at the Nativity of the Lord, and in Advent, we ready ourselves and our hearts for this birth. But, we also wait for his coming again. We wait for his light to completely extinguish our darkness.
CHRISTMAS TIME
Begins with Evening Prayer on the Vigil of the Solemnity of the Nativity of the Lord (Christmas) and Ends after Evening Prayer on the Feast of the Baptism of the Lord.
On December 25 we proclaim, "Today is born our Savior, Christ the Lord." And so begins the celebration of the Lord's birth, of God becoming man. God loved us so much, that he gave us his only Son to be one with us, to dwell among us, and to show us how to live in that love. He came to bring peace, to heal division, to end all pain, and to bring us into his eternal light. And so we celebrate the gift of his love. We fill the long darkness with beautiful lights. We sing carols and eat delicious food. Around the festive trees - trees right inside our houses! - we give one another gifts because God has given such good gifts to us, and we open our homes to guests because God has opened heaven to us.
Lent
Begins on Ash Wednesday and Ends before the Celebration of the Evening Mass of the Lord's Supper on Holy Thursday
The 40 days of Lent are not literally 40, but the number evokes all other uses of 40 in the Scriptures. For 40 days Jesus fasted and prepared to proclaim the Good News. Long before Jesus, Moses and Elijah had their 40-day fasts. It rained on the earth and on Noah's Ark for 40 days, and the earth had a new beginning. And for 40 years the people of Israel wandered in the wilderness toward the Promised Land. In the Bible, the number 40 means that something important is taking place. We enter Lent with ashes on our heads, and we fast in various ways, perhaps by eating less food and foregoing treats. We give alms, which means that we find ways to share what we have, our time and our goods. In these ways we remember our Baptism and so try to grow more deeply in the Christian life.
The Sacred Paschal Triduum
Begins on Holy Thursday with Evening Mass of the Lord's Supper and Ends after Evening Prayer on Easter Sunday
Triduum means the "Three Days." For the Jewish people, Passover celebrates the great event when God delivered the people of Israel from slavery. the followers of Jesus proclaim that in the life, Passion, Death, and Resurrection of Jesus, God has freed and saved us.
When Lent ends, we stand at the heart of the liturgical year. On the night of Holy Saturday we keep the Easter Vigil. We gather to light a great fire and a towering candle, to listen to our most treasured Scriptures, to sing psalms and other songs. Then we gather around the waters of the font as those who have been preparing for new life in Christ receive the Sacraments of Initiation. The newly baptized are then anointed with fragrant oil called chrism; and, at last, with these newly baptized, who are now called neophytes, we celebrate the Eucharist.
We prepare for this Vigil by celebrating the institution of the Holy Eucharist on Holy Thursday and by commemorating the Lord's Passion by adoring the Cross on Good Friday. We also prepare by keeping the Paschal fast, the special fast of Good Friday and Holy Saturday. The Church fasts - from food, from entertainment, from chatter, from work - so we have time to ponder deeply the Death and Resurrection of the Lord, the mystery of faith that we will celebrate in our Vigil.
Easter Time
Begins with the Easter Vigil and Ends after Evening Prayer on the Solemnity of Pentecost
Easter is 50 days. Easter Sunday is to the year what Sunday is to the week. We live as if God's Kingdom has already come - because it has. We put aside our fasting for feasting and celebration. We bless ourselves with baptismal water to remind us of our share in Jesus's Passion, Death, and Resurrection. "Alleluia" is our song because we delight to praise the Lord. The stories we read from Scripture are Thomas's and Mary Magdalene's encounters with the risen Lord, of meals with Jesus, of the Good Shepherd, and of the outpouring of the Holy Spirit.
Ordinary Time
Begins after Evening Prayer on the Feast of the Baptism of the Lord until the Day before Ash Wednesday and Resumes after Evening Prayer on the Solemnity of Pentecost until before Evening Prayer I of the First Sunday of Advent.
For a few weeks in January and February, and then all through the summer and fall, the Church is in Ordinary Time. Ordinary comes from the word ordinal and means "counted." In other words, each of the weeks has a number (for example, the Third Sunday in Ordinary Time).
Ordinary Time is full of solemnities, feasts, and memorials of the Lord and the saints. In its last weeks, we keep All Saints' Day on November 1, and All Souls' Day on November 2. The whole month of November becomes a time to rejoice in the communion of saints and to remember that our true home is in the heavenly Jerusalem.
Advent
Begins Four Sundays before the Solemnity of the Nativity of the Lord (Christmas) and Ends after Midafternoon Prayer on the Vigil of the Solemnity of the Nativity of the Lord.
We call the days and nights before the Nativity of the Lord (Christmas) Advent, which means "coming." The Church reads and sings about God's promises. We tell the stories of many holy people: Mary and John the Baptist, Nicholas and Lucy. We strive for the time when God's love will be seen in all of us, when peace will come through people's acts of justice and love for each other. But, primarily, we wait. We wait for the blessed hope, the coming of our Savior, Jesus Christ, when all will be one, and the Kingdom of God will flourish. The Son of God already came to us, born in the city of David. this is what we celebrate at the Nativity of the Lord, and in Advent, we ready ourselves and our hearts for this birth. But, we also wait for his coming again. We wait for his light to completely extinguish our darkness.
CHRISTMAS TIME
Begins with Evening Prayer on the Vigil of the Solemnity of the Nativity of the Lord (Christmas) and Ends after Evening Prayer on the Feast of the Baptism of the Lord.
On December 25 we proclaim, "Today is born our Savior, Christ the Lord." And so begins the celebration of the Lord's birth, of God becoming man. God loved us so much, that he gave us his only Son to be one with us, to dwell among us, and to show us how to live in that love. He came to bring peace, to heal division, to end all pain, and to bring us into his eternal light. And so we celebrate the gift of his love. We fill the long darkness with beautiful lights. We sing carols and eat delicious food. Around the festive trees - trees right inside our houses! - we give one another gifts because God has given such good gifts to us, and we open our homes to guests because God has opened heaven to us.
Lent
Begins on Ash Wednesday and Ends before the Celebration of the Evening Mass of the Lord's Supper on Holy Thursday
The 40 days of Lent are not literally 40, but the number evokes all other uses of 40 in the Scriptures. For 40 days Jesus fasted and prepared to proclaim the Good News. Long before Jesus, Moses and Elijah had their 40-day fasts. It rained on the earth and on Noah's Ark for 40 days, and the earth had a new beginning. And for 40 years the people of Israel wandered in the wilderness toward the Promised Land. In the Bible, the number 40 means that something important is taking place. We enter Lent with ashes on our heads, and we fast in various ways, perhaps by eating less food and foregoing treats. We give alms, which means that we find ways to share what we have, our time and our goods. In these ways we remember our Baptism and so try to grow more deeply in the Christian life.
The Sacred Paschal Triduum
Begins on Holy Thursday with Evening Mass of the Lord's Supper and Ends after Evening Prayer on Easter Sunday
Triduum means the "Three Days." For the Jewish people, Passover celebrates the great event when God delivered the people of Israel from slavery. the followers of Jesus proclaim that in the life, Passion, Death, and Resurrection of Jesus, God has freed and saved us.
When Lent ends, we stand at the heart of the liturgical year. On the night of Holy Saturday we keep the Easter Vigil. We gather to light a great fire and a towering candle, to listen to our most treasured Scriptures, to sing psalms and other songs. Then we gather around the waters of the font as those who have been preparing for new life in Christ receive the Sacraments of Initiation. The newly baptized are then anointed with fragrant oil called chrism; and, at last, with these newly baptized, who are now called neophytes, we celebrate the Eucharist.
We prepare for this Vigil by celebrating the institution of the Holy Eucharist on Holy Thursday and by commemorating the Lord's Passion by adoring the Cross on Good Friday. We also prepare by keeping the Paschal fast, the special fast of Good Friday and Holy Saturday. The Church fasts - from food, from entertainment, from chatter, from work - so we have time to ponder deeply the Death and Resurrection of the Lord, the mystery of faith that we will celebrate in our Vigil.
Easter Time
Begins with the Easter Vigil and Ends after Evening Prayer on the Solemnity of Pentecost
Easter is 50 days. Easter Sunday is to the year what Sunday is to the week. We live as if God's Kingdom has already come - because it has. We put aside our fasting for feasting and celebration. We bless ourselves with baptismal water to remind us of our share in Jesus's Passion, Death, and Resurrection. "Alleluia" is our song because we delight to praise the Lord. The stories we read from Scripture are Thomas's and Mary Magdalene's encounters with the risen Lord, of meals with Jesus, of the Good Shepherd, and of the outpouring of the Holy Spirit.
Ordinary Time
Begins after Evening Prayer on the Feast of the Baptism of the Lord until the Day before Ash Wednesday and Resumes after Evening Prayer on the Solemnity of Pentecost until before Evening Prayer I of the First Sunday of Advent.
For a few weeks in January and February, and then all through the summer and fall, the Church is in Ordinary Time. Ordinary comes from the word ordinal and means "counted." In other words, each of the weeks has a number (for example, the Third Sunday in Ordinary Time).
Ordinary Time is full of solemnities, feasts, and memorials of the Lord and the saints. In its last weeks, we keep All Saints' Day on November 1, and All Souls' Day on November 2. The whole month of November becomes a time to rejoice in the communion of saints and to remember that our true home is in the heavenly Jerusalem.