What's In A Year?

Despite what some Catholics may think, the primary measure of time for the Church is not the minutes it takes for the priest to wrap up his homily. Rather, the Church measures time utilizing the Liturgical Calendar which helps us navigate the Liturgical Year. The Liturgical Year is comprised of specific seasons: Advent, Christmas, Ordinary Time, Lent, Triduum, and Easter. The Liturgical New Year starts on the first Sunday of Advent and reaches its high point on the Solemnity of the Resurrection of the Lord - Easter Sunday. How is the Liturgical Calendar determined? First and foremost, Christmas always falls on December 25 (there can and probably will be an entire article dedicated to why this is). From there, we can determine when Advent will start - four Sundays prior. We can also determine when the Feast of the Annunciation will be - March 25 - nine months prior to Christmas. Determining Easter’s date gets a little bit more tricky. The first Sunday after the full moon following the spring/March equinox is the date of Easter, which changes each year. “Why so complicated?” you may ask. It is a nod to our Jewish brothers and sisters and how they calculate when Passover occurs. This helps illustrate Jesus’ fulfillment of the Jewish Passover and helps connect the two celebrations. From there we can determine the Placement of all of Lent, the entirety of the Easter Season (through Pentecost, 50 days after Easter) and a handful of other Solemnities and Feasts in the Church year.