The
calendar (BCP, pp. 15-33) orders the liturgical year of the Episcopal
Church by identifying two cycles of feasts and holy days-one dependent
upon the movable date of Easter Day and the other dependent upon the
fixed date of Christmas, Dec. 25. Easter Day is the first Sunday after
the full moon that falls on or after Mar. 21. The sequence of all
Sundays in the church year is based on the date of Easter. Tables and
rules for finding the date of Easter Day, and other movable feasts and
holy days are provided by the BCP, pp. 880-885. The date of Easter
determines the beginning of the season of Lent on Ash Wednesday and the
date of Pentecost on the fiftieth day of the Easter season. The Sundays
of Advent are always the four Sundays before Christmas Day. The church
year begins on the first Sunday of Advent. The calendar also identifies
and provides directions concerning the precedence and observance of
principal feasts, Sundays, holy days (including Feasts of our Lord,
other major feasts, and fasts), Days of Special Devotion, and Days of
Optional Observance. The calendar lists dates for celebration of major
feasts and lesser feasts by month and date. Appropriate Sunday Letters
and Golden Numbers are also provided. (see BCP, pp. 880-881). The
calendar also lists the titles of the seasons, Sundays, and major holy
days observed in the Episcopal Church throughout the church year,
including Advent season, Christmas season, Epiphany season, Lenten
season, Holy Week, Easter season, the season after Pentecost, holy days,
and National Days.
Advent
The first season of the church year, beginning with the fourth Sunday
before Christmas and continuing through the day before Christmas. The
name is derived from a Latin word for "coming." The season is a time of
preparation and expectation for the coming celebration of our Lord's
nativity, and for the final coming of Christ "in power and glory."
Christmas
In the BCP, Christmas Day is one of the seven principal feasts. The
Christmas season lasts twelve days, from Christmas Day until Jan. 5, the
day before the Epiphany. The season includes Christmas Day, the First
Sunday after Christmas Day, the Holy Name of Our Lord Jesus Christ, and
may include the Second Sunday after Christmas Day. In many parishes, the
main liturgical celebrations of Christmas take place on Christmas Eve.
The BOS includes a variety of resources for use during Christmas,
including a form for a Station at a Christmas Crèche, a form for a
Christmas Festival of Lessons and Music, and seasonal blessings for use
during the Christmas season.
Epiphany
The manifestation of Christ to the peoples of the earth. The winter
solstice was kept on Jan. 6 at some places during the first centuries of
the Christian Era. In opposition to pagan festivals, Christians chose
this day to celebrate the various manifestations, or "epiphanies," of
Jesus' divinity. These showings of his divinity included his birth, the
coming of the Magi, his baptism, and the Wedding at Cana where he
miraculously changed water into wine. The day was called "The Feast of
Lights." Celebration of the Son of God replaced celebration of the sun.
Baptisms were done, and a season of preparation was instituted. It was
later called Advent. The solstice was kept on Dec. 25 by the fourth
century. Jesus' birth was celebrated on this day in both eastern and
western churches. The western church commemorated the coming of the Magi
on Jan. 6. The eastern church continued to celebrate the Baptism of our
Lord and the Wedding at Cana on Jan. 6. In the east the day was called
"Theophany" (manifestation of God). The coming of the Magi is celebrated
on the Feast of the Epiphany, Jan. 6, in the BCP. The Baptism of our
Lord is celebrated on the First Sunday after the Epiphany.
Lent
Early Christians observed "a season of penitence and fasting" in
preparation for the Paschal feast, or Pascha (BCP, pp. 264-265). The
season now known as Lent (from an Old English word meaning "spring," the
time of lengthening days) has a long history. Originally, in places
where Pascha was celebrated on a Sunday, the Paschal feast followed a
fast of up to two days. In the third century this fast was lengthened to
six days. Eventually this fast became attached to, or overlapped,
another fast of forty days, in imitation of Christ's fasting in the
wilderness. The forty-day fast was especially important for converts to
the faith who were preparing for baptism, and for those guilty of
notorious sins who were being restored to the Christian assembly. In the
western church the forty days of Lent extend from Ash Wednesday through
Holy Saturday, omitting Sundays. The last three days of Lent are the
sacred Triduum of Maundy Thursday, Good Friday, and Holy Saturday. Today
Lent has reacquired its significance as the final preparation of adult
candidates for baptism. Joining with them, all Christians are invited
"to the observance of a holy Lent, by self-examination and repentance;
by prayer, fasting, and self-denial; and by reading and meditating on
God's holy Word" (BCP, p. 265).
Easter
The feast of Christ's resurrection. According to Bede, the word
derives from the Anglo-Saxon spring goddess Eostre. Christians in
England applied the word to the principal festival of the church year,
both day and season. 1) Easter Day is the annual feast of the
resurrection, the pascha or Christian Passover, and the eighth day of
cosmic creation. Faith in Jesus' resurrection on the Sunday or third day
following his crucifixion is at the heart of Christian belief. Easter
sets the experience of springtime next to the ancient stories of
deliverance and the proclamation of the risen Christ. In the west,
Easter occurs on the first Sunday after the full moon on or after the
vernal equinox. Easter always falls between Mar. 22 and Apr. 25
inclusive. Following Jewish custom, the feast begins at sunset on Easter
Eve with the Great Vigil of Easter. The Eastern Orthodox Church
celebrates Easter on the first Sunday after the Jewish pesach or
Passover (which follows the spring full moon). Although the two dates
sometimes coincide, the eastern date is often one or more weeks later.
2) Easter Season. See Great Fifty Days.
Pentecost
The season after Pentecost, according to the calendar of the church
year (BCP, p. 32). It begins on the Monday following Pentecost, and
continues through most of the summer and autumn. It may include as many
as twenty-eight Sundays, depending on the date of Easter. This includes
Trinity Sunday which is the First Sunday after Pentecost. The BCP
provides proper collects and readings for the other Sundays of the
season. These propers are numbered and designated for use on the Sundays
which are closest to specific days in the monthly calendar, whether
before or after. For example, Proper 3 is designated for use, if needed,
on the Sunday closest to May 25. Proper 29 is designated for use on the
Sunday closest to Nov. 23. Prior to the 1979 BCP, Sundays in this long
period of the church year were identified and counted in terms of the
number of Sundays after Trinity Sunday instead of the number of Sundays
after Pentecost. This period is also understood by some as "ordinary
time," a period of the church year not dedicated to a particular season
or observance, as in the Roman Rite adapted after Vatican II. See
Ordinary Time.
Ordinary Time
This term is used in the Roman Catholic Church to indicate the parts
of the liturgical year that are not included in the major seasons of the
church calendar. Ordinary time includes the Monday after the Feast of
the Baptism of our Lord through the Tuesday before Ash Wednesday, and
the Monday after Pentecost through the Saturday before the First Sunday
of Advent. A vigil or other service anticipating the First Sunday of
Advent on the Saturday before that Sunday would also be included in the
season of Advent. Ordinary time can be understood in terms of the living
out of Christian faith and the meaning of Christ's resurrection in
ordinary life. The term "ordinary time" is not used in the Prayer Book,
but the season after Pentecost can be considered ordinary time. It may
be referred to as the "green season," because green is the usual
liturgical color for this period of the church year. The BCP provides
numbered propers with collects and lectionary readings for the Sundays
of the Season after Pentecost. The Epiphany season includes the
Epiphany, the First Sunday after the Epiphany: the Baptism of our Lord
Jesus Christ, and the Second Sunday through the Last Sunday after the
Epiphany (BCP, p. 31). In view of the Epiphany themes that are presented
throughout the Epiphany season, it should not be considered ordinary
time. However, many parishes use green as the liturgical color for the
Second Sunday through the Sunday prior to the Last Sunday after the
Epiphany, and sometimes the Last Sunday after the Epiphany. Epiphany
season and the season after Pentecost vary in length depending on the
date of Easter (see BCP, pp. 884-885).
Liturgical Colors
"Liturgical Colors" in Episcopal worship signify our place in the Church Year:
WHITE, the color of Jesus’ burial garments, for Christmas, Easter,
and other ‘feasts’ or festival days, as well as marriages and funerals.
PURPLE/VIOLET for Advent (or ROYAL BLUE) & Lent (or UNBLEACHED LINEN).
RED is used in Holy Week, the Day of Pentecost, and at ordinations.
GREEN is used during Epiphany and the ‘Ordinary Time’ after Pentecost.