Roman Rite
In the ordinary form of the Roman Rite, the last day of Christmas Time is the Sunday after the Solemnity of the Epiphany, or the Sunday after January 6 in places where Epiphany is moved to always occur on a Sunday. Ordinary Time begins the following Monday, and the weekdays that follow are reckoned as belonging to the first week of Ordinary Time. The Feast of the Baptism of the Lord is usually celebrated on the last day of Christmas Time, but if it is displaced to Monday due to Epiphany being celebrated on January 7 or 8, the Feast of the Baptism falls in Ordinary Time instead. [3] [4]
Because Ordinary Time begins on a Monday, there is no day called the "First Sunday in Ordinary Time". Instead, the lowest-numbered Sunday is called the Second Sunday in Ordinary Time. This block of Ordinary Time continues through the Tuesday that immediately precedes Ash Wednesday. [5]
Ordinary Time resumes on the Monday after the Solemnity of Pentecost. The two Sundays following Pentecost are the Solemnity of the Most Holy Trinity and the Solemnity of the Most Holy Body and Blood of Christ, which despite being part of Ordinary Time, are not numbered. [5] In regional calendars where Whitmonday is a Day of Obligation, Ordinary Time and the use of the liturgical colour Green may begin on the following Tuesday.
The last day of Ordinary Time is the day before the First Sunday of Advent. The last Sunday of Ordinary Time is the Solemnity of Christ the King, with the Sunday before that being the Thirty-Third Sunday in Ordinary Time, with the ordinal numbers counting backwards from that point. [5]
Due to the configuration of the calendar year, Ordinary Time may have a total of either 33 or 34 weeks. As a mnemonic, if the First Sunday of Advent is in November, the previous liturgical year's Ordinary Time will have 33 weeks. If it falls on December 2 or 3, it will have 34 weeks. However, if it falls on December 1, the previous year's Ordinary Time will have 34 weeks only when it is a leap year. [6] In a year where Ordinary Time has 33 weeks, the omitted week is the one between the weeks immediately surrounding Lent and Easter Time, which varies with the date of Easter. This is because the weeks always count forward from the first week at the beginning of Ordinary Time, and separately backwards from the thirty-fourth week at the end of Ordinary Time.
The decision to treat the whole of Ordinary Time as a unit led to abandonment of the previous terminology, whereby the Sundays of the first period were called Sundays after Epiphany and those of the second period Sundays after Pentecost.
Solemnities, feasts and commemorations
The celebration of an Ordinary Time weekday gives way to that of any solemnity, feast, or obligatory memorial that falls on the same day, and may optionally be replaced by that of a non-obligatory memorial or of any saint mentioned in the Roman Martyrology for that day.
The solemnities, feasts, and commemorations of the General Roman Calendar which may, according to the Ranking of liturgical days in the Roman Rite, replace a Sunday of the Ordinary time are: [7]
The Universal Norms on the Liturgical Year and the General Roman Calendar also lists as proper solemnities (which outrank in the relevant church building or community Sundays in Ordinary Time):
- The Solemnity of the principal patron of the place, city, or state
- The Solemnity of the dedication and the anniversary of the dedication of one's own church
- The Solemnity of the title of one's own church
- The Solemnity either of the title or of the founder or of the principal Patron of an Order or Congregation.
Revised Common Lectionary usage
Following the lead of the liturgical reforms of the Roman Rite, many Protestant churches also adopted the concept of an Ordinary Time alongside the Revised Common Lectionary, which applies the term to the period between Pentecost and Advent. However, use of the term is not common.
Those that have adopted the Revised Common Lectionary include churches of the Anglican, Methodist, Lutheran, Old Catholic and Reformed traditions. [8]
Some Protestant denominations set off a time at the end of Ordinary Time known as Kingdomtide or Season of End Times. This period can range anywhere from only the three Sundays prior to Christ the King (as in the Wisconsin Synod Lutheran) to 13 or 14 weeks (most notably in the United Methodist Church). The Church of England observes this time between All Saints and Advent Sunday.
In some traditions, what in the Roman Rite is the first period of Ordinary Time is called Epiphanytide (beginning on Epiphany Day in the Anglican Communion and Methodist churches) [9] and from Trinity Sunday to Advent is called Trinitytide. [10] In the Church of England, Sundays during "Ordinary Time" in this narrower sense are called "Sundays after Trinity", except the final four, which are termed "Sundays before Advent". In the Episcopal Church (United States), it is normal to refer to Sundays after Epiphany and Sundays after Pentecost (not Trinity).
The total number of Sundays varies according to the date of Easter and can range anything from 18 to 23. When there are 23, the Collect and Post-Communion for the 22nd Sunday are taken from the provision for the Third Sunday before Lent.
The liturgical year, also called the church year, Christian year, ecclesiastical calendar, or kalendar, consists of the cycle of liturgical days and seasons that determines when feast days, including celebrations of saints, are to be observed, and which portions of scripture are to be read.
In the liturgical calendar of the Roman Rite, a solemnity is a feast day of the highest rank celebrating a mystery of faith such as the Trinity, an event in the life of Jesus, his mother Mary, his earthly father Joseph, or another important saint. The observance begins with the vigil on the evening before the actual date of the feast. Unlike feast days of the rank of feast or those of the rank of memorial, solemnities replace the celebration of Sundays outside Advent, Lent, and Easter.
Liturgical colours are specific colours used for vestments and hangings within the context of Christian liturgy. The symbolism of violet, blue, white, green, red, gold, black, rose, and other colours may serve to underline moods appropriate to a season of the liturgical year or may highlight a special occasion.
In the Catholic Church, holy days of obligation or precepts are days on which the faithful are expected to attend Mass, and engage in rest from work and recreation, according to the third commandment.
Septuagesima is the ninth Sunday before Easter, the third before Ash Wednesday. The term is sometimes applied to the seventy days starting on Septuagesima Sunday and ending on the Saturday after Easter. Alternatively, the term is sometimes applied also to the period sometimes called pre-Lent that begins on this day and ends on Shrove Tuesday, the day before Ash Wednesday, when Lent begins.
The Paschal Triduum or Easter Triduum, Holy Triduum, or the Three Days, is the period of three days that begins with the liturgy on the evening of Maundy Thursday, reaches its high point in the Easter Vigil, and closes with evening prayer on Easter Sunday. It is a moveable observance recalling the Passion, Crucifixion, Death, burial, and Resurrection of Jesus, as portrayed in the canonical Gospels.
A memorial in the Roman Rite of the Catholic Church is a lower-ranked feast day in honour of a saint, the dedication of a church, or a mystery of the religion.
In the liturgy of the Catholic Church, a feria is a day of the week other than Sunday.
The Feast of the Baptism of the Lord, or Theophany, is the feast day commemorating the baptism of Jesus in the Jordan River by John the Baptist. Originally the baptism of Christ was celebrated on Epiphany, which commemorates the coming of the Magi, the baptism of Christ, and the wedding at Cana. Over time in the West, however, the celebration of the baptism of the Lord came to be commemorated as a distinct feast from Epiphany. It is celebrated in the Catholic Church as well as the Anglican and Lutheran Churches on the first Sunday following The Epiphany of Our Lord. Some Lutheran churches celebrate it on the Sunday before Lent, or Quinquagesima.
The Solemnity of Our Lord Jesus Christ, King of the Universe, commonly referred to as the Feast of Christ the King, Christ the King Sunday or Reign of Christ Sunday, is a feast in the liturgical year which emphasises the true kingship of Christ. The feast is a relatively recent addition to the liturgical calendar, instituted in 1925 by Pope Pius XI for the Roman Rite of the Catholic Church. In 1970, its Roman Rite observance was moved from October to the last Sunday of Ordinary Time and thus to the end of the liturgical year. The earliest date on which the Feast of Christ the King can occur is 20 November and the latest is 26 November. It typically marks the end of Ordinary Time, which continues up until Advent Sunday, the first day of Advent. Depending on the year, Saint Andrew's Day, significant in some cultures, may fall prior to Advent Sunday. Thus, Christ the King is typically the last or second-to-last calendrical feast of the liturgical year.
A lectionary is a book or listing that contains a collection of scripture readings appointed for Christian or Jewish worship on a given day or occasion. There are sub-types such as a "gospel lectionary" or evangeliary, and an epistolary with the readings from the New Testament Epistles.
The Feast of the Transfiguration is celebrated by various Christian communities in honor of the transfiguration of Jesus. The origins of the feast are less than certain and may have derived from the dedication of three basilicas on Mount Tabor. The feast was present in various forms by the 9th century, and in the Western Church was made a universal feast celebrated on 6 August by Pope Callixtus III to commemorate the raising of the siege of Belgrade (1456).
The Epiphany season, also known as Epiphanytide or the time of Sundays after Epiphany, is a liturgical period, celebrated by many Christian Churches, which immediately follows the Christmas season. It begins on Epiphany Day, and ends at various points as defined by those denominations. The typical liturgical color for the day of Epiphany is white, and the typical color for Epiphany season is green.
The ordinary, in Catholic liturgies, refers to the part of the Mass or of the canonical hours that is reasonably constant without regard to the date on which the service is performed. It is contrasted to the proper, which is that part of these liturgies that varies according to the date, either representing an observance within the liturgical year, or of a particular saint or significant event, or to the common which contains those parts that are common to an entire category of saints such as apostles or martyrs.
"Octave" has two senses in Christian liturgical usage. In the first sense, it is the eighth day after a feast, counted inclusively, and so always falls on the same day of the week as the feast itself. The word is derived from Latin octava (eighth), with “dies” (day) implied and understood. In the second sense, the term is applied to the whole eight-day period, during which certain major feasts came to be observed.
The Ambrosian Rite is a Latin Catholic liturgical Western Rite used in the area of Milan. The Traditional Ambrosian Rite is the form of this rite as it was used before the changes that followed the Second Vatican Council.
In the liturgy of the Catholic Church, a votive Mass is a Mass offered for a votum, a special intention. Such a Mass does not correspond to the Divine Office for the day on which it is celebrated. Every day in the year has appointed to it a series of canonical hours and a Mass corresponding, containing, for instance, the same collect and the same Gospel. On most days, the Mass will correspond to the Office, but on occasion, other Masses may be celebrated. Votive Masses appear in the Roman and Gallican Rites. The Suffrage Mass is a type of votive Mass that is celebrated in favour to some dead people.
The ranking of liturgical days in the Roman Rite is a regulation for the liturgy of the Roman Catholic church. It determines for each liturgical day which observance has priority when liturgical dates and times coincide, which texts are used for the celebration of the Holy Mass and the Liturgy of the hours and which liturgical color is assigned to the day or celebration.
Mysterii Paschalis is an apostolic letter issued motu proprio by Pope Paul VI on 14 February 1969. It reorganized the liturgical year of the Roman Rite and revised the liturgical celebrations of Jesus Christ and the saints in the General Roman Calendar. It promulgated the General Roman Calendar of 1969.
Pentecost season, also known Pentecostide, as well as the time of Sundays after Pentecost or Sundays after Trinity, is a liturgical period, celebrated by some Christian churches, which immediately follows the Easter season. Although the start and end dates vary by liturgical tradition, the season typically begins on the day of Pentecost and continues throughout the rest of the liturgical year, ending just before the season of Advent. The liturgical color for this period is typically green or red.
