Liturgical year

The liturgical year, also known as the Christian year, consists of the cycle of liturgical seasons in some Christian churches which determines when Feasts, Memorials, Commemorations, and Solemnities are to be observed and which portions of Scripture are to be read. Distinct liturgical colours may appear in connection with different seasons of the liturgical year.

Related Topics:
Liturgical - Christian - Church - Feast - Memorial - Commemoration - Solemnities - Scripture - Liturgical colours

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The dates of the festivals vary somewhat between the Western (Roman Catholic, Anglican, and Protestant) church and the Eastern (Orthodox) church, though the sequence and logic is the same. In both traditions the dates of many festivals vary between years, though in almost all cases this is due to the variation in the date of Easter, and all other dates follow from that. The extent to which the fasts and festivals are celebrated also varies between churches; in general Protestant churches observe far fewer of them then Catholic and Orthodox churches, and in particular are less likely to celebrate feasts of the Virgin Mary and the saints.

Related Topics:
Roman Catholic - Anglican - Protestant - Orthodox - Easter - Virgin Mary - Saint

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The cycle of the year defines a series of seasons, which are associated with different ways of decorating churches, different vestments for clergy, and different topics for reading from the Bible and preaching. These, especially the recommended bible passages for each Sunday, are recorded in lectionaries. The Sundays are denoted as "the first Sunday in Advent", "the twenty-third Sunday after Pentecost", etc. The increased use of lectionaries in Protestant churches, especially the growing influence of the Revised Common Lectionary, led to a greater awareness of the Christian year in Protestantism in the later decades of the twentieth century, at least in mainstream denominations.

Related Topics:
Bible - Lectionaries - Revised Common Lectionary - Twentieth century

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Because of the dominance of Christianity in Europe throughout the Middle Ages, many features of the Christian year became incorporated into the secular calendar. Many of its feasts remain holidays, and are now celebrated by people of all faiths and none - in some cases worldwide. The celebrations bear varying degrees of relationship to the religious feasts from which they derived, often also including elements of ritual from pagan festivals of similar date.

Related Topics:
Middle Ages - Pagan

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