March / April 2020 Saint James Catholic Church Charles Town WV Session 1‐ page 2 Session 2‐ page 7 Session 3‐ page 9 Session 4‐ page 12 SESSION 3 Our Road Map: The Liturgical Year The Liturgical Year I. Jewish roots A. Precedent for structured prayer B. Morning & evening prayer to link with Temple sacrifices C. Holy Days [Leviticus 23] 1. Every Sabbath 2. Passover (7 days long) 3. Pentecost (50th day; Feast of Seven Weeks, or Feast of Weeks) 4. New Year’s Day [Rosh Hoshannah] 5. Day of Atonement [Yom Kippur] 6. Feast of Booths (8 days long) The liturgical cycle is an incomparable source of supernatural light. Moreover — and this is an essential truth for our sanctification — we may derive from it the special fruit which Our Lord willed to attach to each of His mysteries when, as our head, He lived with them here below. [Bl. Columba Marmion, Christ in His Mysteries] II. Christian calendar A. TEMPORAL CYCLE 1. Christmas Cycle [based on the day of the week of Christmas] a. Advent Season i. always contains 4 Sundays (not always 4 weeks) ii. begins on Sunday closest to November 30 (Feast of St Andrew) iii. two parts: preparation for Christ’s Second Coming preparation for the Nativity of Christ (Christmas) b. Christmas Season i. begins on December 24 with the Vigil Mass of Christmas ii. includes 4 different Masses of Christmas, and octave and other feasts iii. Solemnity of the Epiphany of the Lord (Sunday between Jan 2-8) iv. closes with the Feast of the Baptism of the Lord 2. Easter Cycle [based on the date of Easter] a. Lenten Season i. begins on Ash Wednesday ii. lasts 40 days (+ or -) iii. penitential season: prayer, fasting, almsgiving iv. baptismal remembrance v. ends with Palm Sunday and Holy Week (through Thursday morning) b. Paschal Triduum i. Holy Thursday: Mass of the Lord’s Supper ii. Good Friday: Celebration of the Lord’s Passion iii. Easter Vigil -- the highpoint of the entire Liturgical Year iv. Easter Sunday (the Triduum closes with Evening Prayer tonight) 2 c. Easter Season i. begins with the Solemnity of Easter ii. each day of the octave is celebrated like Easter iii. seven weeks long (i.e. 7 days x 7 weeks) iv. includes Ascension, 40 days after Easter v. ends on Pentecost (50th day) 3. Ordinary Time a. “Winter” Ordinary Time (between Christmas Season and Lent) b. “Summer/Fall” Ordinary Time (between Easter Season and Advent) c. Sundays are numbered: e.g. 2nd Sunday in Ordinary Time through 33rd Sunday in Ordinary Time i. called “Ordinary Time” because ordinal numbers (2nd, 3rd, 4th, etc) are used for titles B. SANCTORAL CYCLE 1. feast days of Our Lord, the Blessed Virgin, the angels and the saints 2. less significant than the Temporal Cycle 3. based on calendar dates a. examples Feast of Saint James: July 25 Feast of the Transfiguration of the Lord: August 6 Memorial of Saint Jerome: September 30 Optional Memorial of Saint Callistus I: October 14 Memorial of Saint Leo the Great: November 10 Solemnity of the Immaculate Conception of the BVM: December 8 III. Liturgical colors A. White denotes joy; used for Masses of the Christmas and Easter seasons, feasts of the Lord (other than of his Passion), feasts of the Blessed Virgin Mary, feasts of saints who were not martyrs; may be worn for funerals B. Red denotes blood or fire; used on Palm Sunday of the Lord’s Passion, Good Friday, Pentecost, feasts of the Lord’s Passion (like Exaltation of the Holy Cross), feasts of martyrs, apostles and evangelists (except St. John) C. Violet denotes penance; used for Advent and Lent; may be worn for funerals D. Green denotes life, growth and hope; used during Ordinary Time E. Black denotes death; may be worn for funerals and on All Souls Day F. Rose denotes subdued joy; may be worn on the Third Sunday of Advent and the Fourth Sunday of Lent On solemn occasions, gold-colored, silver-colored, or other precious vestments may replace the color of the day (usually white). IV. Ranks of celebrations A. Solemnity B. Feast C. Obligatory Memorial D. Optional Memorial E. Weekday 3 TABLE OF LITURGICAL DAYS according to their order of precedence I 1. • Easter Triduum of the Lord's Passion and Resurrection 2. • Christmas, Epiphany, Ascension, and Pentecost, Sundays of Advent, Lent, and the season of Easter • Ash Wednesday • Weekdays of the Holy Week, Monday to Thursday inclusive • Days within the Octave of Easter 3. • Solemnities of the Lord, the Blessed Virgin Mary, and saints listed in the general calendar • All Souls' Day 4. • Proper solemnities, namely: a) Solemnity of the principal patron of the place, city, or state b) Solemnity of the dedication and anniversary of the dedication of a particular church [July 25, 2006] c) Solemnity of the titular saint of a particular church [Saint James: July 25] d) Solemnity of the titular saint, founder, or principal patron of an order or congregation II 5. • Feasts of the Lord in the general calendar 6. • Sundays of the Christmas season and Sundays in Ordinary Time 7. • Feasts of the Blessed Virgin Mary and of the saints in the general calendar 8. • Proper feasts, namely: a) Feast of the principal patron of the diocese b) Feast of the anniversary of the dedication of the cathedral [April 21] c) Feast of the principal patron of the territory, province, country, or more extensive territory d) Feast of the titular saint, founder, or principal patron of an order or congregation and religious province, observing the directives in no. 4 e) Other feasts proper to an individual church f) Other feasts listed in the calendar of the diocese, order, or congregation 9. • Weekdays of Advent from December 17 to December 24 inclusive • Days within the Octave of Christmas • Weekdays of Lent III 10. • Obligatory memorials in the general calendar 11. • Proper obligatory memorials, namely: a) Memorial of a secondary patron of the place, diocese, region or province, country, or more extensive territory; or of an order, congregation, or religious province b) Obligatory memorials proper to an individual church c) Obligatory memorials listed in the calendar of a diocese, order, or congregation 12. • Optional memorials, as described in the instructions for the Mass and office, may be observed even on the days in no. 9. In the same manner obligatory memorials may be celebrated as optional memorials if they happen to fall on the Lenten weekdays. 13. • Weekdays of Advent up to December 16 inclusive • Weekdays of the Christmas season from January 2 until the Saturday after Epiphany [Baptism of the Lord] • Weekdays of the Easter season from Monday after the Octave of Easter until the Saturday before Pentecost inclusive • Weekdays in Ordinary Time [Ferias] Concurrent Celebrations 60. If several celebrations fall on the same day, the one that holds the higher rank according to the above table is observed. A solemnity, however, which is impeded by a liturgical day that takes precedence over it should be transferred to the closest day which is not a day listed in nos. 1-8 in the table of precedence, the rule of no. 5 remaining in effect. Other celebrations are omitted that year. 61. If on the same day Vespers of the current office and First Vespers of the following day are to be celebrated, the Vespers of the day holding the higher rank in the table of liturgical days takes precedence; if both days are of the same rank, Vespers of the current day takes precedence. 4 .