The Church Year

The cycle of the year is built into how we, as humans, experience our lives. Many of us have a favourite season and the changing of them is a feature of every year. We mark birthdays and anniversaries of important events. We may have certain traditions associated with special events. The Church is just the same: our year is marked by a passage through special seasons and dates. Through these we are able to learn about and reflect upon all the different aspects of our belief. Through our set cycle of readings from the Bible and the changing colours and moods of our church buildings and the vestments the priests wear, we walk a pilgrimage of faith each year, while staying in the same building.

The Church’s year (usually called the ‘Liturgical Year’) begins with Advent, four Sundays before Christmas Day. Christmastide then lasts 40 days, all the way up to the Feast of Candlemas on 2nd February. Other major ‘seasons’ are Lent, which starts on Ash Wednesday, seven weeks before Easter Sunday. The final week before Easter is the holiest part of the calendar for Christians and is simply known as ‘Holy Week’. There are special events in church on most days that week, leading up to Good Friday, Holy Saturday, and Easter Sunday when we mark the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ. Easter then lasts for seven weeks until the celebrations of the Ascension and Pentecost, 50 days after Easter Day.

In addition to these major seasons, individual days are marked in remembrance of events in the life of Christ or the saints. Special readings and prayers are set aside for these days. In fact, the bible readings and prayers for every day of the year are set out in a book called the Lectionary. By using the Lectionary and observing the Liturgical Year not only do we ensure that we contemplate and experience the whole of the Christian story and not just certain parts of it, but we do so along with many millions of other Christians in England and throughout the whole world who are doing the same.

One of the visible features of observing the Liturgical Year is the changing of colours in the Church. The most obvious example of this is in the clothes the priest(s) wear (known as vestments). Green is the ‘standard’ colour, representing new life. In penitential seasons, when we reflect on those things we have done wrong and await the coming of the Lord, by ancient tradition the colour is purple. White and Gold are worn in Christmastide and Eastertide in celebration. Red is worn on days connected with the Holy Spirit or those who have died as martyrs to the Faith, representing fire and blood.

Because of this approach to our worship, we understand our faith journey as ‘a marathon, not a sprint’ – it is through the passing of the weeks, months, and years, that we come to learn about Christ and are slowly but surely configured more and more into his likeness.