"All things have their season, and in their times
all things pass under heaven. A time to be born and a time to die.
A time to plant, and a time to pluck up that which is planted."
-Ecclesiastes 3:1-2
THE LITURGICAL YEAR EXPLAINED
ADVENT - Liturgical color is Purple and represents penance, purification and expectation
Advent is the Season that includes four Sundays preceding Christmas. The Advent Season marks the beginning of the Liturgical Calendar. It always begins in late November or early December. On November 30th or on the Sunday that is the closest to this date, the Catholic Church begins the Liturgical Season of Advent. Advent ends on December 24th before the evening prayer of Christmas.
The word "advent" is derived from the Latin word “adventus,” which means "coming" or "arrival." During this time the faithful are admonished to prepare themselves for the coming of the Lord Jesus in three ways:
to prepare themselves for the coming of the Lord as the Judge, either at death or at the end of this world, whichever may come first.
to prepare themselves to receive the Real Presence of our Redeemer at Christmas through the Sacrament of the Holy Eucharist.
to prepare themselves for the coming of Christmas, the birthday anniversary of the Lord's coming into this world as God incarnate.
CHRISTMAS - Liturgical color is white or gold and represents purity and joy
Christmas is the season when Catholics and other Christian Churches give thanks to God the Father for the birth of His Son, Jesus Christ. This Season lasts 12 days, beginning on Christmas Eve (December 24th) and continues to the Feast of Epiphany (January 6th).
The word “Christmas” comes from “Christes Maesse,” which means “Christ’s Mass.” This is the Old English name for the service of Holy Communion that commemorates the birth of Christ. Christmas is one of the three great Feasts that are celebrated by the Catholic Church. The other two are Easter and Pentecost.
THE FEAST OF MARY, THE MOTHER OF GOD – Holy Day of Obligation – January 1st
On New Year's Day, the octave day of Christmas, the Church celebrates the Solemnity of the Holy Mother of God. The divine and virginal motherhood of the Blessed Virgin Mary is a singular salvific event: for Our Lady it was the foretaste and cause of her extraordinary glory; for us it is a source of grace and salvation because "through her we have received the Author of life".” (# 115, Directory of Popular Piety and the Liturgy; Principles and Guidelines; Vatican City, December, 2001)
EPIPHANY (SUNDAY) - Liturgical color is white or gold
Beginning with the Epiphany (Sunday) of our Lord and the Sundays that follow, Christ's manifestation of Himself to the world is traced out through His public ministry and miracles. The Epiphany Season celebrates the many ways that Christ made Himself known to the world. The Feast of the Epiphany of our Lord places emphasis on three events: the visit of the Magi [Mt. 2:1-12], the baptism of Jesus [Mk. 1:9-11], and the miracle at Cana [Jn. 2:1-11]. Nowadays, emphasize is placed on the visit of the Magi (the three wise men) on Epiphany Day, Christ's baptism being commemorated on the First Sunday that follows.
The Epiphany of our Lord is observed on January 6th. Some countries have moved the Feast of the Epiphany of our Lord to the nearest Sunday, calling that day “Epiphany Sunday.” The Epiphany Season lasts until the beginning of Lent. It includes four to nine Sunday, depending on the date of Easter Sunday.
The word “Epiphany” originates from the Greek word “epiphainen.” It is a verb that means "to shine upon," "to manifest," or "to make known."
ORDINARY TIME I – Liturgical color is green and represents hope.
Ordinary Time I begins with the Monday that immediately follows the Baptism of the Lord. It ends on the Tuesday before Ash Wednesday. During this part of the Liturgical Calendar, all the Sundays are numbered consecutively. During this time frame, the Liturgy of the word (Church readings) is devoted to the mysteries surrounding the life of Christ.
ASH WEDNESDAY – Liturgical color is purple
Ash Wednesday is the first day of Lent. It is a day of repentance and self-examination. It reaches its peak in Holy Week, the commemoration of our Lord's passion and death.
In the Roman Rite, the beginning of the forty days of penance is marked with the austere symbol of ashes which are used in the Liturgy of Ash Wednesday. The use of ashes is a survival from an ancient rite according to which converted sinners submitted themselves to canonical penance. The act of putting on ashes symbolizes fragility and mortality, and the need to be redeemed by the mercy of God. Far from being a merely external act, the Church has retained the use of ashes to symbolize that attitude of internal penance to which all the baptized are called during Lent.
The sacramental ashes are made from burned palms that were distributed during the previous year on Palm Sunday. The sacramental ashes remind us that we are dust and unto dust we shall return. A symbol of penance made sacramental by the blessing of the Church, the ashes help us to develop a spirit of humility and sacrifice.
Those who are physically healthy, they are called to abstain from eating meat on Ash Wednesday and on all the Fridays during Lent. Fasting consists of one full meatless meal and other limited meatless meals as required to maintain strength. The sick, the young, the elderly are not required to fast. This sacrificial fasting and abstinence should be done with the goal of spiritual development and conversion.
LENT – Liturgical color is purple
Lent precedes and prepares for Easter. It is a time to hear the Word of God, to convert, to prepare for and remember Baptism, to be reconciled with God and one's neighbour, and of more frequent recourse to the "arms of Christian penance": prayer, fasting and good works (cf. Mt 6, 1-6. 16-18).”
Lent is a 40 day Liturgical Season that initiates the most sacred part of the Christian year. It begins on Ash Wednesday, covers 6 Sundays and ends at the Mass of the Lord’s Supper on the evening of Holy Thursday. During Lent, Catholics are called to meditate with awe and thanksgiving on the great Paschal mystery, the salvation God offers to us sinners through the suffering, death, and resurrection of Jesus Christ. The season of Lent is a highlight in the Catholic calendar.
Because the Season of Lent is a time of penitence, reflection and prayer that is solemn and restrained, flowers are generally removed from the sanctuary. Songs of praise such as the “Gloria in Excelsis” and the “Alleluias” are removed from the Liturgical Calendar.
HOLY WEEK - Liturgical colors are purple and black
During Holy Week, the holiest time of the liturgical year, the faithful gather to relive the final week of our Lord's life.
PASSION (PALM) SUNDAY - Liturgical color is red
Holy Week begins with Palm Sunday, or ‘Passion Sunday’, which unites the royal splendour of Christ with the proclamation of his Passion.
The procession, commemorating Christ's messianic entry into Jerusalem, is joyous and popular in character. The faithful usually keep palm or olive branches, or other greenery which have been blessed on Palm Sunday in their homes or in their work places.
Palms and olive branches can be kept in the home as a witness to faith in Jesus Christ, the messianic king, and in his Paschal Victory.
THE EASTER TRIDUUM - Liturgical colors are purple and black
“Triduum” is Latin for “Great Three Days.” The Easter Triduum, of 3 days duration, recalls the events of the First Holy Thursday, Good Friday and Holy Saturday.
Every year, the Church celebrates the great mysteries of the redemption of mankind in the "most sacred triduum of the crucifixion, burial and resurrection. The Sacred Triduum extends from the Mass of the Lord's Supper to Vespers on Easter Sunday and is celebrated "in intimate communion with Christ her Spouse.
GOOD FRIDAY - Liturgical color is black
Good Friday is the second day of the Sacred Triduum. It is the solemn remembrance of the death of Jesus on the Holy Cross. “Good Friday” was formerly known as “God’s Friday.” In time, the name was corrupted and came to be known as “Good Friday.”
The Church celebrates the redemptive death of Christ on Good Friday. The Church meditates on the Lord's Passion in the afternoon liturgical action, in which she prays for the salvation of the world, adores the Cross and commemorates her very origin in the sacred wound in Christ's side [Jn. 19, 34].
HOLY SATURDAY - Liturgical color is black
On Holy Saturday, the Church pauses at the Lord's tomb, meditating his Passion and Death, his descent into Hell, and, with prayer and fasting, awaits his resurrection.
EASTER VIGIL (The Resurrection)
From antiquity, Holy Saturday, the third and last day of the Triduum has been known as the Great Vigil.
EASTER - Liturgical color is white or gold
Easter is the greatest Feast of the liturgical year, the climax and center of the Catholic Liturgical Calendar. It celebrates the glorious Resurrection of the Lord Jesus at the Masses.
The day of Easter, which varies from year to year, is celebrated on the Sunday that follows the first full moon after the vernal equinox, the day in Spring when there is a 12-hour day and a 12-hour night (March 20). (The Council of Nicea in A.D. 325) Easter can be as early as March 22 nd and as late as April 25th.
EASTER SEASON - Liturgical color is white or gold
The Easter Season begins with the celebration of the Easter Vigil on Easter Sunday and ends 50 days later with Pentecost Sunday.
The fifty days from Easter Sunday to Pentecost are celebrated in joyful exultation as one Feast day, or better as one ‘‘great Sunday’’ During this season, above all other, it is a time to sing the Alleluia.
ASCENSION - Liturgical color is white or gold
The Ascension is celebrated on the 7th Sunday after Easter. It focuses on the entry of Jesus’ humanity into Divine glory in God’s heavenly Kingdom, 40 days after His Glorious Resurrection.
PENTECOST SUNDAY - Liturgical color is red
Eastertide concludes with Pentecost Sunday, the fiftieth day, and its commemoration of the outpouring of the Holy Spirit on the apostles (cf. Acts 2, 1-4), the Church's foundation, and the beginning of its mission to all nations and peoples. The protracted celebration of the vigil Mass has a particular importance in cathedrals and some parishes, since it reflects the intense persevering prayer of the Christian community in imitation of the Apostles united in prayer with the Mother of Jesus.
The mystery of Pentecost exhorts us to prayer and commitment to mission and enlightens popular piety which is a ‘continued sign of the presence of the Holy Spirit in the Church. He arouses faith, hope and charity, in the hearts [of the faithful] and those ecclesial virtues which make popular piety valuable. The same Spirit ennobles the numerous and varied ways of transmitting the Christian message according to the culture and customs of all times and places’.
ORDINARY TIME II - Liturgical color is green
Beginning on the Monday following Pentecost Sunday (mid-May to mid-June) until the Saturday before the 1st Sunday of Advent, Ordinary Time II is celebrated. The Sundays of this season do not celebrate any specific aspect of the mystery of Christ. Instead they are devoted to the mystery of Christ in all its aspects.
TRINITY SUNDAY
On the First Sunday following Pentecost Sunday, the Church celebrates the Feast of the Holy Trinity. On this Sunday, the Church rejoices in the revealed truth that God is triune, three-in-one, in the Father, in the Son and in the Holy Spirit.
BODY AND BLOOD OF CHRIST (CORPUS CHRISTI)
The Solemnity of the Body and Blood of Christ is observe on the Thursday following the solemnity of the Most Blessed Trinity. This Feast is both a doctrinal and cultic response to heretical teaching on the mystery of the real presence of Christ in the Eucharist, and the apogee of an ardent devotional movement concentrated on the Sacrament of the Altar. It was extended to the entire Latin Church by Urban IV in 1264. (# 160, Directory of Popular Piety and the Liturgy; Principles and Guidelines; Vatican City, December, 2001)
ORDINARY TIME II (Continues...) - Liturgical color is green
The months during Ordinary Time II are a time of growth for its members as the church meditates on the Bible's teachings as they apply to the daily life of each believer.
SOLEMNITY OF CHRIST THE KING - Liturgical color is white or gold
The Solemnity of Christ the King commemorates the closing of the liturgical year. It reminds us that over and above being the universal King, Christ is the Head of the Body, the Church. His Divine reign stretches out from the alpha of time to the omega.