Liturgical Year
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- The birth of the Messiah
- 6-7 weeks.
- Advent: Four Sundays prior to Christmas day. The first Sunday of Advent is the beginning of the Church's new year.
- Christmas: December 25 to Baptism of the Lord.
- Following Jesus as a disciple
- 30-34 weeks.
- Ordinary Time: varies.
- The death and resurrection of Jesus
- 14 weeks.
The Liturgical Year also contains Holy Days of Obligation; the number varies by rite and region.
Dynamic Seasons
- The Advent season leads to Christmas day.
- The Christmas season ends with the Baptism of the Lord, the beginning of Jesus' public ministry (i.e., the time that He spent in the company of His disciples).
- Lent leads to Easter Sunday.
- The Easter season culminates on the day of Pentecost.
- Ordinary Time ends with the Feast of Christ, the King. Unlike all of the other feasts of the Church year, the Feast of Christ, the King is concerned with a future event: the end of everything. I am proposing a seven-week meditation for the end of Ordinary Time, which points toward the end of the universe and the triumph of eternity — Pleroma: Contemplating the Glory of Christ the King.
Before the development of the Liturgical Year, there were four times of fasting and prayer (Ember Days) to break the year into four quarters.
Key dates for 2024
Sundays: B — Gospel of Mark
Weekdays: II (2024 is an "even year")
| 7 Jan | Epiphany |
| 8 Jan | Baptism of the Lord |
| 14 Feb | Ash Wednesday |
| 31 Mar | Easter |
| 9 May | Ascension Thursday |
| 19 May | Pentecost |
| 19 Jun | Corpus Christi |
| 2 Jun | Christ the King |
| 1 Dec | First Sunday of Advent |
Other commemorations
- National Vocation Awareness Week in January
- World Day of Prayer for Consecrated Life
- World Marriage Day
- National Marriage Week USA