Advent

The liturgical year begins with Evening Prayer I of the First Sunday of Advent. The season of Advent continues through the four Sundays of Advent and ends at Christmas Eve. Advent, therefore, is first of all a time of preparation for Christmas.

Even though Christ was actually born over 2000 years ago, during Advent we prepare our hearts to "receive" Jesus into the world each year as a light to the nations, at a time when our calendar is reaching its darkest period. Advent is also a time of looking forward to Christ's Second Coming in the last days.

The Lectionary for Mass, which cycles through three liturgical years (A, B, and C), changes to a new year at Advent.

The third Sunday of Advent is called Gaudete Sunday. It takes its name from that Sunday's traditional reading from the Epistle to the Philippians (now read only in Year C) which begins with Gaudete in Domino semper ("Rejoice in the Lord always").

The liturgical color for Advent is violet, a deep bluish red (often mistakenly called "purple") symbolizing mourning and penance. On Gaudete Sunday, however, rose-colored vestments may be used for this joyful day. Hence the one rose-colored candle among the other three violet candles of the Advent wreath.

Christmas

No one knows the actual date on which the Child Jesus was born. The date on which the Church observes his birth has more symbolic value than anything, coming five days (five being the number of the physical senses) after the winter solstice. Thus we celebrate the Word become flesh, coming to dwell among us as the light of the human race, just after the darkest point of the solar year. And so Christmas is a holy day second only to Easter in the Roman calendar.

The Octave of Christmas (octave means eight; hence the octave of Christmas lasts for eight days) begins with Christmas day and ends after the Solemnity of Mary, Mother of God.

Then the liturgical calendar focuses on the next immediate Sunday, counting off days before and after it: Epiphany. Epiphany commemorates the recognition of Jesus as the Son of God by the three Wise Men (and by extension, by all nations). Also, by tradition, the movable feasts of the current liturgical year are announced to the people on Epiphany (Ceremonial of Bishops, 240).

The season of Christmas ends on the Monday after the Solemnity of the Baptism of the Lord, which signifies the purification of the world, through Christ himself.

The liturgical color of the season of Christmas is white, symbolizing purity and joy.

Ordinary Time

Two periods in the Roman calendar are called Ordinary Time. The first period "begins on Monday after the Sunday following 6 January and continues until Tuesday before Ash Wednesday, inclusive " (Ceremonial of Bishops [CB], 378). The second period begins "on Monday after Pentecost and ends before Evening Prayer I of the First Sunday of Advent" (CB, 378). This time is called "ordinary" because it is, well, ordinary; that is, not part of any special liturgical season. Of course, many feast days and solemnities occur in Ordinary Time: the Most Holy Trinity, the Most Holy Body and Blood of Christ, the Nativity of Saint John the Baptist, the Most Sacred Heart of Jesus, Saints Peter and Paul, the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary, All Saints, and All Souls, for example.

Weekdays during Ordinary Time on which no solemnities, feasts, or memorials of saints fall are called ferial days.

The liturgical color of Ordinary Time is green, symbolizing life and hope.

Lent

The liturgical season of Lent lasts for 40 weekdays in remembrance of the 40 days and nights that Christ spent fasting in the desert, tempted by Satan. The beginning of Lent, Ash Wednesday, is therefore dependent on the date of Easter. (Go ahead, count for yourself. Counting Ash Wednesday as number one, and skipping all Sundays, you will end up on Holy Saturday as number 40.)

Lent is a time of penance, so that the faithful may share in the joys of Easter Sunday with purity of heart. The three traditional forms of penance, fasting, prayer, and almsgiving, "express conversion in relation to oneself, to God, and to others" (Catechism of the Catholic Church, 1434). For those adults preparing for Baptism at the Easter Vigil, Lent focuses on inner and outer scrutiny. For the baptized, Lent calls us to contemplate the redemption wrought for our sake by Christ's passion; and it admonishes us to contemplate the effort we put into accepting that redemption. In our Baptism, this redemption was planted in us when we promised to renounce sin and Satan and to live a chaste, holy life in devout service to Christ. Our salvation depends on our fulfilling those promises.

Because of the austerity of Lent, Alleluia is not said in prayer or sung in liturgy. The Gloria is not sung at Mass during Lent except for the few feasts and solemnities which may occur then. During Lent, "the altar is not to be decorated with flowers, and the use of musical instruments is allowed only to support the singing" (Ceremonial of Bishops, 252).

The liturgical color of Lent is violet, just as for Advent. Rose-colored vestments, however, may be used on the Fourth Sunday of Lent, called Laetare Sunday from the first words of that day's Introit at Mass, Laetare Jerusalem ("Rejoice, O Jerusalem").

Easter

The season of Easter begins at the Easter Vigil. But before that, the week previous to Easter is called Holy Week; it begins with Passion Sunday (Palm Sunday). On Passion Sunday the Church celebrates Christ's riding into Jerusalem on a road strewn with cloaks and leafy branches (Mark 11:8; cf. Matthew 21:8, Luke 19:36, John 12:13), as he set about to accomplish his paschal mystery. The week culminates with the Triduum (a Latin word for a three-day period) that includes Good Friday, Holy Saturday, and Easter itself.

The Triduum begins with the Evening Mass of the Lord's Supper on Holy Thursday. The next day, Good Friday, is the most somber day of the liturgical year, for it commemorates Christ buried in his tomb. The tabernacle is empty, the altar is bare, statues of saints are removed from the church (or veiled), and the holy water fonts are dry-and no Mass is celebrated. The Good Friday liturgy begins with the proclamation of the Passion of Our Lord Jesus Christ according to John, it continues with the veneration of the Cross, and it concludes with a simple Communion service with the Eucharist reserved from Holy Thursday's liturgy.

The Triduum intensifies at Easter Vigil on Holy Saturday, a liturgy that begins in total darkness until the Gloria returns with a thunderous roar of bells and Alleluias. Christ is risen!

Easter is such a special time that it continues not just for the eight days of the octave of Easter (all celebrated as solemnities of the Lord), but for 50 days (including Sundays and counting Easter Sunday itself) of the season of Easter. The season of Easter comes to a close, and Ordinary Time returns, on the Monday after Pentecost Sunday (from the Greek pentekoste, fiftieth day) on which we celebrate the descent of the Holy Spirit (Acts 2:1-13).

The liturgical color of the season of Easter is white, symbolizing purity and joy. Red, the color of passion, is used on Passion (Palm) Sunday and Good Friday. Red, symbolizing fire, is also used on Pentecost Sunday.

THE LITURGICAL YEAR

102. Holy Mother Church believes that it is for her to celebrate the saving work of her divine Spouse in a sacred commemoration on certain days throughout the course of the year. Once each week, on the day which she has called the Lord's Day, she keeps the memory of the Lord's resurrection. She also celebrates it once every year, together with his blessed passion, at Easter, that most solemn of all feasts.

In the course of the year, moreover, she unfolds the whole mystery of Christ from the incarnation and nativity to the ascension, to Pentecost and the expectation of the blessed hope of the coming of the Lord.

Thus recalling the mysteries of the redemption, she opens up to the faithful the riches of her Lord's powers and merits so that these are in some way made present for all time; the faithful lay hold of them and are filled with saving grace.

103. In celebrating this annual cycle of the mysteries of Christ, Holy Church honors the Blessed Mary, Mother of God, with a special love. She is inseparably linked with her son's saving work. In her the Church admires and exalts the most excellent fruit of redemption, and joyfully contemplates, as in a faultless image that which she herself desires and hopes wholly to be.

104. The Church has also included in the annual cycle memorial days of the martyrs and other saints. Raised up to perfection by the manifold grace of god and already in possession of eternal salvation, they sing God's perfect praise in heaven and pray for us. By celebrating their anniversaries the Church proclaims achievement of the paschal mystery in the saints who have suffered and have been glorified with Christ. She proposes them to the faithful as examples who draw all men to the father through Christ, and through their merits she begs for God's favors.

105. Finally, in the various seasons of the year and in keeping with her traditional discipline, the Church completes the formation of the faithful by means of pious practices for soul and body, by instruction, prayer, and works of penance and mercy.

Accordingly the sacred Council has decided to decree as follows:

106. By a tradition handed down from the apostles, which took its origin from the very day of Christ's resurrection, the Church celebrates the paschal mystery every seventh day, which day is appropriately called the Lord's Day or Sunday. For on this day
Christ's faithful are bound to come together into one place. They should listen to the word of God and take part in the Eucharist, thus calling to mind the passion, resurrection, and glory of the Lord Jesus, and giving thanks to God who "has begotten them again, through the resurrection of Christ from the dead, unto a living hope" (1 Pet. 1:3). The Lord's Day is the original feast day, and it should be proposed to the faithful and taught to them so that it may become in fact a day of joy and of freedom from work. Other celebrations, unless they be truly of the greatest importance, shall not have precedence over Sunday, which is the foundation and kernel of the whole liturgical year.

107. The liturgical year is to be revised so that the traditional customs and discipline of the sacred seasons shall be preserved or restored to suit the conditions of modern times. Their specific character is to be retained so that they duly nourish the piety of the faithful who celebrate the mysteries of the Christian redemption and, above all, the paschal mystery. If certain adaptations are necessary because of local conditions,
they are to be made in accordance with the provisions of Articles 39 and 40.

108. the minds of the faithful should be directed primarily toward the feasts of the Lord whereby the mysteries of salvation are celebrated throughout the year. For this reason, the Proper of the Time shall be given due preference over the feasts of the saints so that the entire cycle of the mysteries of salvation may be suitably recalled.

109. The two elements which are especially characteristic of Lent -- the recalling of baptism or the preparation for it, and penance -- should be given greater emphasis in the liturgy and in liturgical catechesis. It is by means of them that the Church prepared the faithful for the celebration of Easter, while they hear God's word more frequently and devote more time to prayer.

(a) More use is to be made of the baptismal features which are proper to the Lenten liturgy. Some of them which were part of an earlier tradition are to be restored where opportune.

(b) The same may be said of the penitential elements. But catechesis, as well as pointing out the social consequences of sin, must impress on the minds of the faithful the distinctive character of penance as a detestation of sin because it is an offense against God. The role of the Church in penitential practices is not to be passed over
and the need to pray for sinners should be emphasized.

110. During Lent, penance should be not only internal and individual but also external and social. The practice of penance should be encouraged in ways suited to the present day, to different regions, and to individual circumstances. It should also be recommended by the authorities mentioned in Article 22.

But the paschal fast must be kept sacred. It should be celebrated everywhere on Good Friday, and where possible should be prolonged throughout Holy Saturday so that the faithful may attain the joys of the Sunday of the resurrection with uplifted and responsive minds.

111. The saints have been traditionally honored in the Church, and their authentic relics and images held in veneration. For the feasts of the saints proclaim the wonderful works of Christ in his servants and offer to the faithful fitting examples for their imitation.

Lest the feasts of the saints should take precedence over the feasts which commemorate the very mysteries of salvation, many of them should be left to be celebrated by a particular Church, or nation, or family of religious. Only those should be extended to the universal Church which commemorate saints who are truly of universal importance.