Seasons of Church's Liturgical Year
Advent
The
church begins its new year with Advent Sunday, the first Sunday of the Advent
season. Advent Sunday always falls on or nearest St. Andrews Day, November 30.
Because the secular calendar changes from year to year, Advent Sunday may fall
on any day between November 27 and December 3. The season varies from 22 to 28
days in length, ending on Christmas Eve. It always contains four Sundays.
Advent
originated as a time of preparation for candidates for church membership prior
to their baptism on Epiphany, January 6. Between the fourth and seventh
centuries, the season varied from three to as many as seven weeks in different
parts of Christendom. During this time, Advent came to be seen as a time of
preparation for all believers in anticipation of Christmas. The Roman church set
the season's length at four Sundays in the sixth century, and in the eleventh
century Gregory VII decreed that this would be the standard for the whole
church. In the late Middle Ages, penitence was added to the emphasis on
preparation.
Advent
is above all a time of joyful anticipation. The word "Advent" means "coming." It
has a threefold meaning for Christians today: the coming of the Lord in human
form at Christmas, the coming of the Lord in Word and Spirit, and the coming of
the Lord in glory at the end of the age. It is, therefore, a time when the
church looks back at the historical event of Christ's nativity, looks around at
the revelation of Christ in scripture and experience, and looks ahead to
Christ's return at the end of time. It is still thought of as a time of personal
introspection and preparation. During Advent, emphasis is placed on the reading
of Old Testament prophecies of the coming of the Messiah.
The
lighting of an Advent wreath is a familiar custom during this season in churches
and in homes. A wreath is formed, usually of evergreen branches, and adorned
with four purple or blue candles. Some churches substitute a pink candle for one
of the purple ones. A single white candles sits in the middle of the wreath. On
each Sunday in Advent a new purple or red candle is lit until, at last, all four
candles are burning. Some churches attach meanings to the four candles, such as
hope, peace, love and joy. The increasing light shed by the candles represents
the believers' increasing joy as the day of Jesus' coming approaches. On
Christmas Day the white candle is lit to proclaim that the Light of the World
has come.
The
traditional liturgical color for Advent is purple (violet), though blue is
gaining in popularity.
Christmas is a season that begins on Christmas Day and lasts for 12 days (hence
the title of the popular Christmas song, "The Twelve Days of Christmas"), until
January 5, the eve of Epiphany (known in
The word
"Christmas" is a contraction of "Christ Mass," the name given to the worship
service for the day. Christmas is a season of great joy and is marked by reading
the story of Jesus' birth, singing Christmas carols and songs, and by giving
gifts after the pattern of God's greatest gift to us — His own Son.
Many of
the popular customs of the Christmas season, such as the Christmas tree, the
Yule log, and the Christmas wreath, have their origin in pagan observances and
were adopted and given new significance by Christians.
December
26 is the Feast of St. Stephen, popularly known in Commonwealth countries as
Boxing Day. Stephen was one of the church’s first deacons, appointed to help
feed the widows and the poor among the church’s fellowship. He was also the
first believer to be martyred for his faith. Boxing Day is celebrated by giving
gifts of food (“Christmas boxes”) to employees and to the poor after the example
of Stephen. St. Stephen’s Day is the setting for the popular yuletide carol
Good King Wenceslas, written in 1853 by John Mason Neale.
The
liturgical color for the Christmas season is white.
The
Epiphany season, which begins on Epiphany Day, January 6, varies in length
depending on the date set for Easter. It lasts until Septuagesima Sunday, 64
days before Easter. With the exception of Easter, it is the oldest season of the
church year. In the early church, it was a time when new converts were admitted
to the church after a period of preparation.
Like
several other Christian seasons, Epiphany was appropriated by the church from a
pagan festival. As early as 1996 B.C., the Egyptians celebrated the winter
solstice (which then occurred on January 6) with a tribute to Aeon, the Virgin.
At first, Epiphany was a celebration of both the birth and baptism of Jesus.
After Christmas became a separate season, Epiphany became an observance of
Jesus' baptism in the Eastern church and of the visit of the Magi in the Western
church.
"Epiphany" means "to be made manifest," and Epiphany observances emphasize the
manifestation of Jesus as "Light to the Gentiles" and the "Glory of Israel" to
Simeon when Jesus was presented at the temple, the manifestation of Jesus as
God's beloved Son at His baptism, and the manifestation of Jesus to the whole
world as represented by the Wise Men of the East. In fact, the earliest Epiphany
observances were based on the Jewish Feast of Lights, which today is called
“Hanukkah” (“Dedication”). The Jewish holiday celebrates the rededication of the
temple under the Maccabees, but the Christian observance of Epiphany celebrates
the astonishing revelation that it is in Christ that God dwells on earth among
men. Jesus made many references to himself as the true temple (e.g. John
2:12-22).
The
liturgical color for the Epiphany season is white.
Pre-Lent
lasts for three and one-half weeks, from Septuagesima Sunday until Ash
Wednesday. The three Sundays that fall during this season are called
Septuagesima (seventy), Sexagesima (sixty) and Quinquagesima (fifty).
Septuagesima may fall as early as January 18 and as late as February 22,
depending on the date set for Easter. The last few days of the season have
traditionally been a time of profound celebration in anticipation of the arrival
of Lent on Ash Wednesday. The last day of Pre-Lent is known as Shrove Tuesday
(named for the "shrift," or confession, made before Lent began), or Fastnacht in
The
origin of the season is difficult to ascertain, but it appears to have derived
from a period of fasting for candidates for the monastery. It has no widely
regarded character, but is seen as an interim period between two major seasons.
The
liturgical color for Pre-Lent is purple (violet) in the Roman and Anglican
churches, where is is considered an extension of Lent. In some Protestant
churches, green is used instead.
Lent is
a season lasting forty-six days which begins on Ash Wednesday and ends on the
eve of Easter. (The name "Ash Wednesday" comes from the practice, continued in
some churches today, of sprinkling ashes on the heads of the penitent.) Lent
includes Holy Week, the last week of the season. The six Sundays during Lent are
exempted, which means that Lent is observed for a total of forty days.
Lent
derives from two sources: the fast preceding the Pascha (an early commemoration
of both the Passion and the Resurrection), and a period of preparation for
candidates for baptism. The fast originally lasted one day but was eventually
extended to six. It became the model for Holy Week observances which were
separated according to the events of Jesus' last week. The preparation period
became the rest of the Lenten season.
The word
“Lent” comes from the Anglo-Saxon word lencten, which means “springtide”
(the time of year when days begin to lengthen). Lent covers the 40 days, not
including Sundays, leading up to Easter. It can begin as early as February 4 and
end as late as April 24. Sundays are not included in Lent because worship
services on the Lord’s Day are always a celebration of the Resurrection, and the
Lenten observance must be set aside for such a joyful day. Therefore, these
Sundays are referred to as the “Sundays in Lent” rather than the “Sundays
of Lent.” The number 40 has a biblical connotation of trial and testing,
as in the Hebrews’ 40 years of wandering before reaching the Promised Land and,
more specifically to Lent, the 40-day trial of Jesus in the wilderness (e.g.
Luke 4:1-13). In an important sense, Lent is meant to give us the experience of
having been tested as well.
Some
churches continue the tradition of Lenten fasting today. Others encourage
believers to make a sacrifice of self-denial in preparation for Easter
observances. Lent is characterized as a time of personal reflection and
repentance.
The last
Sunday of Lent is Palm Sunday, when Christ's triumphal entry into
The
liturgical color for Lent is purple (violet). On Good Friday, black is
substituted.
The
Easter season begins on Easter Sunday and continues for fifty days until
Pentecost and includes the Feast of the Ascension. Easter Sunday is the most
joyful day of the Christian year. Though every Sunday is considered to be a
"little Easter," Easter Sunday itself is the day of days on which Christ's
Resurrection is celebrated. It is the oldest of Christian festival days.In some
churches, Easter is celebrated with baptism or renewal of baptismal vows. In
liturgical worship, the joyful “Alleluia” returns to the service order after
having been omitted for the duration of Lent.
Easter
was originally called “Pascha” after the Hebrew word (“Pesach”) meaning
“Passover,” and much of Christendom still uses this term. The word “Easter,” on
the other hand, is derived from ancient names for the month of April in which
Easter often falls. The Easter season, sometimes called the “Great 50 Days,”
begins on Easter Sunday and continues until Pentecost. Easter was originally
celebrated as one continuous festival, but in the fourth century it was divided
into separate observances of the Resurrection and the Ascension.
The date
of Easter, which determines much of the rest of the church calendar, is fixed
according to the Paschal Calendar developed by Dionysius Exiguus, a Scythian
monk, in 527. Essentially, Easter falls on the first Sunday following the first
full moon falling on or after the first day of spring (March 21). Fixing Easter
in such a manner causes it to fall at the same time as the Jewish Passover,
since the first Easter coincided with that feast.
Because
of Easter's relation to the lunar calendar, many popular seasonal traditions,
such as Easter eggs and the Easter bunny, are more closely associated with pagan
rites of fertility and spring than with Easter.
Ascension Day falls on a Thursday, 40 days after Easter, but it is usually
celebrated in worship on the following Sunday. Ascension Day commemorates the
bodily return of Jesus to heaven (recorded in Mark, Luke and Acts) where he now
reigns at the right hand of the Father. Although there is no record of its
observance before the fifth century,
The
liturgical color for the Easter season is white.
Pentecost, which means "fiftieth day," is the beginning of the longest season of
the church year. It lasts until the first Sunday in Advent. In most traditions,
the Sundays following Pentecost comprise the church's longest period of
"ordinary time," though many refer to them informally as the "Trinity Season."
In some churches, Pentecost is known as Whitsunday, after the white robes once
worn by candidates for baptism on that day.
On
Pentecost, the Holy Spirit came upon the disciples while they were gathered in
The
model for the Christian Pentecost was the Feast of Shavuot celebrated by the
Jews at the end of the grain harvest. It was a time when they offered the
firstfruits of their harvest to God in acknowledgement of His providence—two
loaves of unleavened bread, of five pints of meal or four pounds each, according
to Leviticus 23:16,17. It was also called the Feast of Weeks because it fell
seven weeks after the Passover.
Over
time, the Feast of Weeks also came to be associated with the giving of the Ten
Commandments to Moses, which was believed to have occurred on the fiftieth day
of the Exodus. The Jews saw this event as the founding of the Jewish nation, and
early Christian believers were quick to note a parallel with the founding of the
Christian church. Believers themselves represented the firstfruits of the vine,
which is Christ Himself (John 15:5). On Pentecost, Christians celebrate the
fulfillment of Jesus’ promise to build His Church upon the confession made by
St. Peter: “You are the Christ, the Son of the Living God,” recorded in Matthew
16:18.
The
Sunday after Pentecost is known as Trinity Sunday, and is notable for being the
only major Christian festival that celebrates a doctrine of the church rather
than an event in its sacred history. The belief that we worship one God in three
Persons is a distinctive of the Christian faith, but the early church was
plagued by contrary views. The Athanasian Creed, named after St. Athanasius,
Archbishop of Alexandria, is recited in some churches on Trinity Sunday because
of its strong affirmation of the Triune nature of God. The ordinal Sundays
following Trinity Sunday are focused on Christian growth and discipleship after
a long period of emphasis on the life and ministry of Jesus.
Protestant and many Reformed churches celebrate the Reformation on the last
Sunday of October in observance of Martin Luther’s legendary posting of his “95
Theses” on the door of the
The last
Sunday of the Christian year is called the Feast of Christ the King. It can
occur on any date from November 20 to November 26. A relatively modern festival
(it was introduced in 1925), Christ the King provides an opportunity at the end
of the liturgical year for the church to proclaim and celebrate the
eschatological reign of Christ over all creation. More personally, it is an
occasion for every disciple to ponder and affirm the Lordship of Jesus in his or
her own life.
The
liturgical color for Pentecost is red. The liturgical color for the Sundays
after Pentecost is green.