Liturgical Year
Current Liturgical Season
Summer/Fall Ordinary Time, Year A :
May 12 –
November 29, 2008
Ordinary Time is the time of the Church, of the daily
life of every Christian community, and of each one of us.
It is not a season but rather a time between seasons, the
opportunity for us to take our time without wasting it.
Ordinary time can be called the season of Sundays.
Interspersed by a certain number of holy days of
obligation, it allows us to fully celebrate the special
character of our original feast day, Sunday, called the Lord’s
day, the first day, the eighth day, and the day beyond our cycle
of time.
| 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 eighth day; with good reason this, then,
bears the name of the Lord's day or Sunday. For on this
day Christ's faithful are bound to come together into
one place so that; by hearing the word of God and taking
part in the eucharist, they may call to mind the
passion, the resurrection and the glorification of the
Lord Jesus, and may thank God who "has begotten them
again, through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the
dead, unto a living hope" (1 Pet. 1:3). Hence the Lord's
day is the original feast day, and it should be proposed
to the piety of 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
greatest importance, shall not have precedence over the
Sunday which is the foundation and kernel of the whole
liturgical year.
(Constitution on the Sacred Liturgy, #106) |
During Ordinary Time, tradition marks certain days to remember and celebrate some of the saints, a title of Mary or Jesus, or a mystery of faith.
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called “ordinary” from the word “ordinal” meaning “counted”
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two periods: from Epiphany to Lent, in 2008 beginning Monday January 14, through Tuesday, February 5, the day before Ash Wednesday; and from May 12, the day after Pentecost to the day before Advent begins, November 11
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time is marked by the reading of scripture in a three-year cycle: Matthew in Year A (2008), Mark in Year B; and Luke in Year C.
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33-34 weeks between Church seasons
- four “movable” solemnities of the Lord: the Trinity, the
Body and Blood of Christ, the Sacred Heart of Jesus, and
Christ the King
-
liturgical
color is normally green
-
liturgical
environment should reflect the time of year
- weeks are counted in the Lectionary and the Roman Missal
- Volume III of the Liturgy of the Hours is used until Ash Wednesday
Advent
Lord, our God,
help us to prepare
for the coming of Christ your Son.
May he find us waiting,
eager in joyful hope.
LOH Morning Prayer, 1st Monday of Advent
Advent is the first season of the new Liturgical Year, beginning on Saturday, December 1, with Evening Prayer I, and ending with Midafternoon Prayer on Christmas Eve.
- It is called Advent from Latin word adventus,
meaning coming or waiting
- Gloria is silent for now.
- “O” Antiphons begin on the 17th December;
therefore, the hymn “O come, O Come Emmanuel” is best
reserved for the second half of Advent.
- ritual Masses are prohibited on the Sundays of
Advent. Sacraments may be celebrated, but the readings and
prayers must be proper to the Sunday
- liturgical color is violet; it may be violet-blue,
but vestments may not be blue
- on the 3rd Sunday of Advent, called Gaudete,
vestments may be rose
- liturgical environment should be spare and reflect
the season
Advent celebrates the threefold coming of the Lord: his birth
in
In the Northern hemisphere, the world loses all color as
nature falls into dormancy and daylight hours fade.
While grays may seem to dominate outdoors, the official
color of the season of Advent is violet. To
distinguish between this season and the more penitential season
of Lent, the bluer hues of violet may be used during Advent,
perhaps a set of vestments and paraments different from those
used in Lent. Light blue vestments, however,
are not authorized for use in the
The "O" Antiphons are a focus during the last week of
Advent. These antiphons are familiar to us in the hymn "O Come,
O Come Emmanuel." They are seven biblical verses that are sung
with the Canticle of Mary for Evening Prayer from December 17–
24. Each begins with “O”. They also are used as the
Alleluia verses in the weekday Masses from Dec. 17-24. They date
from approximately the 7th c.
Advent Wreath
Customarily the Advent wreath is made of a circle of
real evergreen branches with three violet candles and one
rose-colored candle, although four violet or four white candles
may also be used. This is originally a home devotion, but it is
now one that is part of the liturgical environment and practice
of most parishes. The wreath should be of sufficient size to be
visible to the assembly. You may wish to suspend it or
place it on a stand. Placing it where children can get
close to it and ask questions about it provides a natural
catechetical moment. If it is placed in the sanctuary it
should not interfere with the liturgical action nor divert
attention from the altar, ambo or chair.
The blessing of the Advent Wreath takes places on the First Sunday of Advent or on the evening before. The rite is found in the Book of Blessings, nos. 1509-1540. The Advent Wreath may be blessed by a priest, deacon, or a lay minister. When done during Mass, the blessing of the wreath takes place at the conclusion of the Prayer of the Faithful. Following the blessing, the first candle is lighted. On the following Sundays, the blessing is not repeated, and the candles are lighted either before Mass begins or immediately before the opening prayer; no additional rites or prayers are used.
LENT
The glory of these forty days
We celebrate with songs of praise
For Christ, by whom all things were made,
Himself has fasted and has prayed.
This text attributed to Pope Gregory the Great
(c.540-604) continues with references to the forty-day fast of
Moses, Elijah, Daniel, and John, and ends with an invitation
that “we like them be true… Our spirits strengthen with your
grace, and give us joy to see your face.”
Lent is forty days long; since Sundays are not days of penance,
the beginning of Lent was moved back to the Wednesday preceding
the First Sunday of Lent. Thus Lent begins on Ash
Wednesday, February 6 this year, and ends before the Celebration
of the Lord’s Supper on Holy Thursday. Remember that Lent
is a joyful march toward holy Easter, and that all readings,
rituals and penitential practices are not done mournfully but
with the Risen Christ in mind and heart.
Why Ashes?
The
gesture of covering oneself with ashes to signify mourning or
contrition is often mentioned in the Bible. In the
early Church, those who had committed serious public sin
(adultery, apostasy, murder…) were excluded from the eucharistic
community. At the beginning of Lent, a penitential ceremony
took place: the guilty were dressed in penitential garb, the
bishop would impose ashes on them, which in the Old Testament
symbolized exclusion and repentance; then, with feet bare and a
candle in hand, the penitents would leave the church to fast and
perform penitence and works of charity. Then on Holy
Thursday, they would return to the church to be reconciled,
reintegrated, and readmitted to the Eucharist during the great
Easter Night.
Public penance disappeared in the 10th century, but the custom
of imposing ashes was extended to all Christians and remains one
of the most popular ritual actions to this day.
Marked with this sign of faith, how do we follow the challenge
in today’s Gospel of Matthew (6:1-6, 16-18) to pray, fast, and
give to the poor without calling attention to ourselves?
Guidelines for Lent & Easter 2008
