Liturgical Seasons

Advent..

The Church begins a new Liturgical Year on the First Sunday of Advent (this year on November 27th). During the subsequent four weeks, she prepares with mounting expectation for the coming of Christ in a spirit of waiting, conversion and hope.

The theme for St. Michael parish this Advent 2011 was Living in Christ: On the Path to the Kingdom.  While we await the birth of Christ, we are already living in Him.  We prepare our hearts and our homes for Christ by becoming Kingdom people who live in accord with his ways.  Has the road upon which you travel in faith become crooked or taken you off course?  Use this Advent season to straighten out your life so that you may welcome Christ more fully on Christmas.

Christmas..

The season to celebrate the Lord's birth, his manifestation to the world, and His baptism that began his ministry. The season begins on Christmas Eve and ends as we celebrate the Feast of the Baptism of the Lord. During Christmas Season we also celebrate the Solemnity of Mary, Mother of God, and the Feast of the Epiphany.

Lent ..

Lent is a 40-day liturgical season that begins on Ash Wednesday, and concludes at the Great Vigil of Easter.  Sundays are not included in the 40-day count because every Sunday is a joyful celebration of Jesus' resurrection.  Though not biblical, Lent has long been a tradition in the Christian Church, and it is thought that the tradition of the 40 days recalls the 40 days Jesus spent in the wilderness, fasting and being tempted by Satan (Matthew 4:1-11).  Lent is considered a time of penance and discipline.

Because of Lent's penitential nature, worship tends to be more solemn, and purple is the liturgical color of the season. Some congregations remove flowers from the worship space, and for many, songs of praise like the Gloria in Excelsis ("Glory in the highest") and expressions of joy like the exclamation "Alleluia" ("Praise the Lord") are removed from the liturgy until Easter.  Many congregations hold special mid-week worship services and promote other devotional activities to help their members concentrate on the Lenten disciplines of fasting, almsgiving (charity) and prayer.

The Paschal Triduum..

The "Three Days"--Holy Thursday, Good Friday and Easter Vigil--are the three holiest days of the Catholic Church Year. We recall and celebrate the life, death and resurrection of our Savior, Jesus Christ. 

Easter ..

The celebration of the Easter Vigil is the beginning of the season of Easter. The Vigil is the Christian feast--of new birth, new beginnings, salvation renewed, and humanity restored to the Lord. While it marks the end of the paschal fast, the end of the celebration of Holy Week, and the end of repentance and conversion for which Lent prepared the community, it is much more a beginning. It is the beginning of a new season of grace and a time of joy and thanksgiving, for Easter is not one day or one solemnity-it is a fifty day celebration, and the fifty days from Easter Sunday to Pentecost Sunday together comprise what the General Instruction terms "the great Sunday".

Ordinary Time ..

Ordinary Time (counted time) is the liturgical period outside of the distinctive liturgical seasons, and runs 33 or 34 weeks. In Latin, Ordinary Time is called Tempus Per Annum ("time throughout the year"). Ordinary Time falls between Christmas and Lent, and between Easter and Advent.  It is far from ordinary!