Thru the Bible-6

Thru the Bible-6 2022. 4. 3.

 

The Church Year (1)

 

The Church year, also known as the liturgical year or the Calendar is the seasons of commemoration observed throughout the Christian year.

 

The Calendars are based on the cycle of the life of Jesus Christ. Hoyt L. Hickman states that “All these calendars agree that the Lord’s Day is of primary importance among the observances of the year and that the Christian year contains two central cycles - the Easter cycle and the Christmas cycle. Each cycle includes a festival season (Easter and Christmas), preceded by a season of preparation and anticipation (Lent and Advent).”

 

The liturgical seasons, generally, are Advent, Christmas, Ordinary Time after Epiphany, Lent, Easter, and Ordinary Time after Pentecost.

 

Advent is the first season of the liturgical year. It begins four Sundays before Christmas. Advent has come to mark preparation for the coming of Christ in a double manner, first in his incarnation as the child of Bethelehem and in his second coming at the end of time. This season is often marked by the Advent Wreath with four candles. Each candle means ‘hope,’ ‘faith,’ ‘joy,’ and ‘love.’

 

Lent is the six weeks of period of penitential and discipline season of preparation for Easter. It begins on Ash Wednesday and lasts for forty days. The six Sundays within the season are not counted.

 

Each Lent Sunday’s themes are as follows:

Ash Wednesday: The first day of Lent

Lent 1: Temptation

Lent 2: Conflict

Lent 3: Suffering

Lent 4: Transfiguration

Lent 5: Victory of the Cross

Palm Sunday: The Way of the Cross

Maundy Thursday: Washing of the Feet

Good Friday: The Crucifixion of Jesus

Easter Day: The Resurrection of Jesus

 

[References]

“Liturgical year” in en.wikipedia.org

Laurence Hull Stookey, Calendar: Christ time for the Church, Abingdon Press, 1996.

J. G. Davies, ed., A New Dictionary of Liturgy and Worship, SCM Press, 1986.

James F. White, Introduction to Christian Worship, Abingdon Press, 1980.