Liturgical Review

People who do not understand the liturgical calendar often have misplaced expectations. So, so here is a little primer:

The Liturgical Year begins with the First Sunday of Advent. This falls usually at the end of November or the very beginning of December.

Advent lasts for 4 Sundays.

Advent is a time of waiting and a time of reflection.

The Color for advent is either royal blue or purple.

Advent is not Christmas Time.

There are a lot of great Advent hymns, so no we do not need to sing Christmas Carols.

Christmas begins on December 25. The color for Christmas is white.

Christmas lasts 12 days, therefore ends on January 5th.

Yes, we will sing Christmas Carols on each Sunday of Christmas even if you have taken down your tree.

The Day of the Epiphany is always January 6th.

The Sundays after Epiphany are what we call common time, meaning there is no special focus for the season.

The Sundays after the Epiphany can last anywhere from 4 weeks to 8 weeks.

Ash Wednesday is set by when Easter is falls. Easter is set by when the spring equinox happens.

Ash Wednesday for 2013 will be February 13th.

Ash Wednesday marks the beginning of Lent and we will mark you with ashes and remind you that you will die.

Lent is a time of either penance, austerity, or reflection, depending on your level of piety. Most people just give up chocolate. Not sure why.

Lent is an old word that has the same root as the world lengthen. The days are getting longer and we anticipate Spring and Resurrection, at least in the Northern Hemisphere.

Lent last 40 days not counting Sundays

The color of Lent is purple.

Sundays during Lent are sometimes called little Easters.

Holy week comes during the last 6 days of Lent.

Holy Week includes Maundy Thursday, Good Friday and The Easter Vigil (The Great Three Days)

Maundy means command in Latin. Jesus gives the great commandment on this day (be nice to each other).

You should wash feet on Maundy Thursday. Jesus did.

Good Friday is called good because we Americans and other English speakers have a weird sense of humor. Through this horrible act the greatest good came from it. Most people in the world call it mourning Friday or some such.

Good Friday is a day we remember what happened to Jesus on the night of his death. It is not fun.

Easter Vigil is a time to recall all the great things God has done for us as we wait for the Easter Dawn. Very few people stay up all night. Some take shifts. Others just do a worship service on Saturday and call it good.

Easter is stolen from from the Northmen's spring Goddess østara. øst meaning east - (the cheese is spelled ost as well but does not have the slash through the ø like the word for east.) The sun rises where?

Easter begins, well, on Easter Day (This year on March 31st).

It last 50 days and ends on, wait for it, Pentecost (Pentecost means the 50th day or something like that.)

The color of Easter is either white or gold.

Pentecost is the day we celebrate the gift of the Holy Spirit.

The color of Pentecost is fire red.

The rest of the church year is common time - the color green.

There are many Sundays during common time, sometimes 28 of them!

The Liturgical Calendar ends with Christ the King Sunday.

Christ the King Sunday is kind of apocalyptic. End time stuff.

So there you go, a Liturgical Year primer. So quit asking to sing Christmas songs during Advent. It is like asking to sing Take Me Out to the Ball Game during a soccer game, sheesh.