WHAT IS THE CATHOLIC LITURGICAL YEAR

What is the Catholic Liturgical Year?

Also called the Church year or the Christian calendar, the Catholic liturgical calendar is the cycle of seasons in the Roman Rite of the Catholic Church. The Church year begins each year with Advent, the season of awaiting Christ’s coming, and ends with the final Saturday of Ordinary time. Within the standard calendar year, the Church year starts in early December (or sometimes the end of November) and goes through the following November.

The Church year consists of six liturgical seasons: Advent, Christmas, Ordinary Time after Epiphany, Lent, Easter, and Ordinary Time after Pentecost. Seasons begin or end based on a movable feast and so some seasons vary in length from year to year, and vary as to the calendar dates. The following is a brief overview of the Catholic liturgical seasons: their durations, their purpose and focus, and the liturgical year colors.

Advent: First Sunday of Advent through December 24th

Advent begins the Sunday closest to the feast of St. Andrew, which is November 30^th. Therefore Advent always falls sometime between November 28^th and December 3^rd, and lasts until the Nativity of the Lord. The season always has somewhere between 21 and 28 days.

The Advent season is the time of waiting and preparing for the coming of Jesus. This refers both to the anniversary celebration of the Incarnation, as well as the second and final coming for which we are waiting and preparing.

The liturgical colors of Advent are Purple and Rose, with Rose being used only on the third Sunday of Advent.

Christmas: December 25^th through The Feast of the Baptism of the Lord

The Christmas season begins with the celebration of the birth of Jesus, Christmas day, or as a vigil on Christmas Eve. The Feast of Christmas lasts 12 days, until Epiphany. However, the time from Epiphany until the Baptism of the Lord is also included in the Christmas season. Traditionally, Epiphany had been fixed to January 6^th, and the Baptism celebrated on the octave of Epiphany, which was January 13^th. In most countries, the Epiphany is now celebrated on the Sunday closest to January 6^th, and the Baptism celebrated the following Sunday. The Christmas season is a time of rejoicing in the Incarnation.

The liturgical color of Christmas is white.

Ordinary Time after the Baptism: Monday after the Feast of the Baptism through Shrove Tuesday

After the celebration of the Feast of the Baptism of the Lord, Ordinary Time begins. Ordinary does not mean plain. The name comes from “ordinalis” meaning "showing order, denoting an order of succession.” It is used in this sense to refer to the order of the counted weeks. That is to say, it is a season of counted weeks.

Ordinary Time after the Baptism focuses on the early life and childhood of Christ, and then on His public ministry.

The liturgical color of Ordinary Time is green; however, as in all seasons, other appropriate colors are worn on particular feast days. (For example, blue is typically worn for Marian feast days.)

Lent: Ash Wednesday through Holy Saturday

The season of Lent begins with Ash Wednesday and lasts until the final Saturday before Easter, Holy Saturday. Lent is a penitential season. It recalls the 40 days Jesus spent in the desert, and the 40 years the Israelites wandered in the desert. Lent focuses on the events leading up to Christ’s passion, and finally on the Passion itself.

Lent is 40 days long. This does not include Sundays, as Sunday is always a day for rejoicing in the Resurrection. Altogether, it covers 46 calendar days, the 40 days plus the six Sundays.

The liturgical colors of Lent are violet or purple, traditionally more of a red-violet color than the deep purple of Advent. Rose may also be used, where it is the custom, on Laetare Sunday (Fourth Sunday during Lent). On Passion Sunday (Palm Sunday) and on Good Friday (which has no Mass but a service remembering Christ’s passion) the color is red. White or violet is worn on Holy Thursday and Holy Saturday (once again, there is no Mass but there are other services on Holy Saturday).

Easter: Easter Vigil though Pentecost

The Easter season begins with the Easter Vigil, which is celebrated after night falls on the evening before Easter Sunday. The season of Easter is a joyous, celebratory season. It begins with celebrating Christ’s resurrection and ends by celebrating the descent of the Holy Spirit upon the Apostles and other followers of Jesus. Christ’s ascension into Heaven is celebrated just prior to Pentecost. The Easter season last 50 days, from Easter Sunday through Pentecost.

The liturgical colors of Easter are white, for most days, and red for Pentecost.

Ordinary Time after Pentecost: The day after Pentecost through the final day before Advent

(See the above section on Ordinary Time for the history of the term)

The second period of Ordinary Time is the longest liturgical season. Ordinary Time resumes after Pentecost and runs until the final Saturday before Advent. This period of Ordinary Time focuses on Christ’s reign as King of kings, and on the age of the Church. This is the age we live in now, which is the time between the age of the Apostles and the age of Christ’s second and final coming for which we are ever preparing. The final Sunday in Ordinary Time is the Feast of Christ the King; the Saturday after this feast is the final day of Ordinary time.

Again, the liturgical color of Ordinary Time is green; however, as in all seasons, other appropriate colors are worn on particular feast days.

Summary Table of Liturgical Dates
	2010	2011	2012	2013	2014	2015
	2010	2011	2012	2013	2014	2015
Lectionary (Sunday/Weekday)	C/II	A/I	B/II	C/1	A/II	B/I
First Sunday of Advent	29 November 2009	28 November 2010	27 November 2011	2 December 2012	1 December 2013	30 November 2014
Birth of the Lord	25 December	25 December	25 December	25 December	25 December	25 December
Epiphany	3 January	2 January	8 January	6 January	5 January	4 January
Ash Wednesday	17 February	9 March	22 February	13 February	5 March	18 February
Easter Sunday	4 April	24 April	8 April	31 March	20 April	5 April
Ascension	16 May	5 June	20 May	12 May	1 June	17 May
Pentecost	23 May	12 June	27 May	19 May	8 June	24 May
The Body and Blood of Christ	6 June	26 June	10 June	2 June	22 June	7 June
St Peter & St Paul	29 June	29 June	29 June	30 June	29 June	28 June
Assumption	15 August	14 August	15 August	15 August	15 August	16 August
All Saints	31 October	1 November	1 November	1 November	2 November	1 November
First Sunday of Advent	28 November	27 November	2 December	1 December	30 November	29 November

 

 

What is the meaning of the liturgical colors in the Catholic church?

In the Roman Rite, since Pius V, colours are five in number, viz.: white, red, green, violet, and black. Rose colour is employed only on Lætare and Gaudete Sundays. Blue is prescribed in some dioceses of Spain for the Mass of the Immaculate Conception.

White is the colour proper to Trinity Sunday, the feasts of Our Lord, except those of His Passion, the feasts of the Blessed Virgin, angels, confessors, virgins and women, who are not martyrs, the Nativity of St. John the Baptist, the chief feast of St. John the Evangelist, the feast of the Chains and of the Chair of St. Peter, the Conversion of St. Paul, All Saints, to consecration of churches and altars, the anniversaries of the election and coronation of the pope and of the election and consecration of bishops; also for the octaves of these feasts and the Offices de tempore from Holy Saturday to the vigil of Pentecost; it is used for votive Masses when the feasts have white, and for the nuptial Mass; also in services in connection with the Blessed Sacrament, at the burial of children, in the administration of baptism, Holy Viaticum, and matrimony.

Red(the color of the Holy Spirit) is used the week of Pentecost, on the feasts of Christ's Passion and His Precious Blood, the Finding and Elevation of the Cross, the feasts of Apostles and martyrs; and in votive Masses of these feasts. It is used on Holy Innocents if the feast occur on Sunday and always on its octave.

Green(a color of hope) is employed in Offices de tempore from the octave of the Epiphany to Septuagesima, and from the octave of Pentecost to Advent, except on ember-days and vigils during that time, and on Sundays occurring within an octave.

Violet is used during Advent and from Septuagesima to Easter, on vigils that are fast days, and on ember-days, except the vigil of Pentecost and the ember-days during the octave of Pentecost. Violet is also used for Mass on rogation-days, for votive Masses of the Passion and of penitential character, at the blessing of candles and of holy water. The stole used in the administration of penance and of extreme unction and in the first part of the baptismal ceremonies must be violet.

Black is used in offices for the dead, and on Good Friday.