13. The Liturgical Year

The Missal promulgated under Pope Paul VI sought a better balance than that of Pope Pius V between the temporal and sanctoral Masses. Throughout the centuries, Masses honoring saints tended to fill the liturgical calendar. This made it increasingly difficult to experience the liturgical seasons as a reliving of our salvation history. Having reduced the calendar, the truly great heroes of our faith now stand out more importantly. Certain saints are given obligatory services while lesser and often regional saints are give optional memorials. The new liturgical calendar also permits votive celebrations. Because of the changed liturgical calendar and liturgical reform in general, new prayers were formulated. There are specific prayers for each day in Advent, Christmastide, Lent, and Eastertide.

"Holy Mother Church is conscious that she must celebrate the saving work of her divine Spouse by devoutly recalling it on certain days throughout the course of the year. Every week, on the day which she has called the Lord's day, she keeps memory of the Lord's Resurrection, which she also celebrates once in the year, together with his blessed passion, in the most solemn festival of Easter. / Within the cycle of a year, moreover, she unfolds the whole mystery of Christ, from the Incarnation and the birth until the Ascension, the day of Pentecost, and expectation of blessed hope of the coming of the Lord. / Recalling thus the mysteries of redemption, the Church opens to the faithful the riches of her Lord's powers and merits, so that these are in some way made present for all time, and the faithful are enabled to lay hold upon them and become filled with saving grace" (Constitution on the Sacred Liturgy, V, 102).

The Church year consists of five seasons:

1. ADVENT (Purple) - The People of God anticipate the coming of the Lord, historically recalling the prophetic promise of the Messiah and prophetically looking ahead to the time when we shall meet him face to face.

2. CHRISTMASTIDE (White) - The birth of the Messiah into the human family is recalled.

3. LENT (Purple) - The Church looks upon the passion and death of Christ, while recalling Christ's call for us to join our crosses to his and to walk with him.

4. EASTER (White) - The hope of the Church is celebrated in the resurrection and ascension of Christ. It concludes with Pentecost, the birthday of the Church so to speak, when the Holy Spirit was first sent to the infant Church. Red vestments are worn on Pentecost to symbolize the tongues of flame. (Red is also used for the memorials of martyrs). During this season, we also find special celebration of the sacraments of personal Pentecost, baptism and confirmation, along with the Eucharist. All this is to remind the faithful that we are witnesses to the continuing presence of Christ in the world.

5. ORDINARY TIME (Green) - These long series of weeks, particularly from Pentecost to Advent, continue to explore the events leading up to our salvation. Linked to the readings, we see the providential hand of God first calling a people to himself in Abraham and then intervening in their history all the way up to Christ. Most importantly, it emphasizes the covenant between God and his people. While many fell astray, there was always a faithful remnant who answered his call with self-sacrificing faithfulness. Jesus would be the ultimate model of this response, indeed, his sacrifice will atone for all the sins in the world and restore a new People to God. The title for these days is misleading. There is nothing ordinary or mundane about the call to day-to-day discipleship.

Returning to the saints in the calendar, they are offered as fitting examples for imitation. On these days white vestments may be worn or red in the case of martyrs. They are constant reminders to the Pilgrim Church that the Church of Glory is where we are headed and that some in our number have already arrived to that blessed shore.

We usually wear white at baptisms and marriages and red at confirmations. Funerals can be celebrated in any of three colors, although white is preferred today. The other colors are purple (sign of penance) and black (sign or mourning and the mystery of death). The situation is similar on All Souls Day and Masses for the Dead.

The Holy Days of Obligation in the liturgical calendar are as follows: (Please note that I am not a fan of the dismissal of Holy Days when they fall on or near weekends!)

• All Sundays
• Christmas
• Epiphany
• Ascension
• Corpus Christi
• Mary, Mother of God
• Immaculate Conception
• Assumption
• St. Joseph
  Saints Peter and Paul
• All Saints

Please note that in the United States, the celebrations for St. Joseph and Saints Peter and Paul are not obligatory. The Epiphany and Corpus Christi are moved to the nearest Sunday.