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Introduction

Today we will examine the calendar of the Christian Church year, how it is organized, and its principle feasts.

Terms for Time

Theologically, there are two Greek terms that refer to time: Chronos and Kairos. Chronos is the root of our word "chronology" and it refers to the sequential ordering of events, thus creating a temporal sense of past, present, and future. Kairos refers to God's own time, and it is often used in the New Testament to times when God interjected Godself into our temporal (Chronos) time. The feast days and the ordering of the church calendar contain both elements of fixed (chronos) events and celebrations as well as remembrances of times when God was especially immanent in the person of Jesus or the Holy Spirit (kairos).

The Calendar

The Basic Components

The calendar is made up of four basic components:

• The seven principle feasts of the church year
• Sundays
• Lesser Feasts or Holy Days
• Commemorations and Other Special Days

The Solar and Lunar Cycles

The Church calendar is built from two different - and competing - cycles of time: the lunar cycle and the solar cycle. The date of the birthday of Christ (Christmas), Epiphany (January 6), and All Saint's Day (November 1) are set by the solar cycle, so they occur on the same days each year. Easter, the day of Christ's resurrection, is set by the lunar cycle and the Spring Equinox (March 21). Easter Sunday is the first Sunday after the first full moon on or after the Spring Equinox (BCP page 15). Since the solar and the lunar cycles do not start or end on the same calendar days of the year, how does the church calendar work?

The Principle Feasts (BCP, page 15)

The calendar is based around seven principle feasts: Easter, Ascension, Pentecost, Holy Trinity (Trinity Sunday), All Saints, Christmas, and Epiphany (see BCP pages 15-18). All Saint's Day, Christmas, and Epiphany always occur on the same calendar dates each year. Ascension, Pentecost, and Trinity Sunday each occur a fixed number of days after Easter. Easter is a movable date. In order to knit together two calendars, one with fixed celebrations based on the solar cycle and the other with celebrations that fall on different calendar dates due to the lunar cycle, two seasons with variable numbers of days are inserted into the calendar, one after Epiphany, and the other after Pentecost (see the diagram below, but better yet, go to slide 5 in the slide show ). The ordering of the principle feasts throughout the 365 calendar year is thus made possible.

Sundays (BCP, Page 16)

The BCP says that all Sundays of the year are feasts of our Lord Jesus Christ. In addition to celebrating the principle feasts noted above on the days indicated, the prayer book states that the feasts of The Holy Name, The Presentation, The Transfiguration, The feast of the Dedication of a Church, and the feast of its patron or title, may be observed on, or be transferred to, a Sunday, except in the seasons of Advent, Lent, and Easter. All other Feasts of our Lord, and all other Major Feasts appointed on fixed days in the Calendar, when they occur on a Sunday, are normally transferred to the first convenient open day within the week.

Each regular Sunday is a day set aside for special devotion. And as special days, there are seasons of the church year during which Sundays are not counted as part of that particular season. For example, the 40 days of Lent do not include the Sundays.

The Lesser Feasts or Holy Days (BCP, pages 16-17)

The following special holy days have precedence over all other days of commemoration or of special observance, unless otherwise contradicted by the rules concerning Sunday worship:

• The Holy Name Saint John the Baptist
• The Presentation
• The Transfiguration
• The Annunciation
• Holy Cross Day
• The Visitation

Other Major Feasts that occur throughout the calendar year include the following:

• All feasts of Apostles
• All feasts of Evangelists
• Saint Stephen
• The Holy Innocents
• Saint Joseph
• Saint Mary Magdalene
• Saint Mary the Virgin
• Saint Michael and All Angels
• Saint James of Jerusalem
• Independence Day
• Thanksgiving Day

Commemorations and Other Special Days (BCP, pages 17-18)

There are several days or periods in the church calendar that are observed by special acts of discipline and self-denial. The most familiar ones to most are probably Ash Wednesday and the other weekdays of Lent and of Holy Week, and Good Friday.

Finally there are days of optional observance that may be observed during the church year by the saying of special Collects, Psalms, and Lessons duly authorized by the Church. These are often printed in the Lesser Feasts and Fasts and Lectionary Texts: Various Occasions and Occasional Services. Among these are days commemorating specific saints; Ember Days, traditionally observed on the Wednesdays, Fridays, and Saturdays after the First Sunday in Lent; the Day of Pentecost; Holy Cross Day; The Rogation Days; traditionally observed on Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday before Ascension Day; and other various occasions.

The Seasons and Colors of the Church

The church year begins with the season of Advent. This begins four Sundays before Christmas Day (around the end of November). The Christmas season is 12 days long, ending on January 6, the Feast of the Epiphany. Lent begins with Ash Wednesday, 40 days (excluding the Sundays) before Easter. The Easter season is 50 days long, with the Ascension occurring 40 days after Easter, and the Feast of Pentecost occurring on the Sunday 50 days after Easter. Trinity Sunday is the first Sunday after Pentecost. The season after Trinity Sunday is called "ordinary time" by some people, and it lasts until the first Sunday of Advent. All Saint's Day is a Principle feast occurring during ordinary time on November 1 (there are provisions for celebrating Pentecost on the first Sunday after the actual date of November 1 when November 1 does not fall on a Sunday). These seasons are shown in the diagram below (but for a better picture of this, see Slides 11- 15 in the Slide Show ).

We mark the seasons of the church year, as well as the Principle and Minor feasts by the use of colors on the altar, and by the vestments worn by the priest. A brief description of the seasons and the colors is as follows. Explanations are derived from An Episcopal Dictionary of the Church (see the Bibliography).

Liturgical Clothing

Clergy in the Episcopal Church wear a vast array of clothing for different liturgical settings. And over the years, the clothing worn for specific kinds of services has changed. Below are pictures of some of the clothing worn by clergy for different kinds of services throughout the liturgical year.

Bibliography

Don S. Armentrout and Robert Boak Slocum, Eds. An Episcopal Dictionary of the Church. New York, NY: Church Publishing Inc. 1999.

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