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Seasons and Colors Of the Liturgical Calendar
The Liturgy of the Episcopal Church proclaims the story of
Jesus' love in a rhythm that follows the seasons of the year.
Each year we are led through the birth, ministry,
crucification, and resurrection of Jesus. The church year
begins with Advent and is synchronized with calendar year on
Christmas and Easter. Liturgical colors are used for vestments
and altar cloth to mark the seasons and to symbolize the
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Advent
The
first season of the church year, beginning with the
fourth Sunday before Christmas and continuing through
the day before Christmas. The name is derived from a
Latin word for "coming." The season is a time of
preparation and expectation for the coming celebration
of our Lord's nativity, and for the final coming of
Christ "in power and glory.
Purple has
been the more traditional color of the season focusing
on fasting and preparation whereas blue, in the older
tradition, focuses on hope
and the coming of Christ.
ref.
http://ecusa.anglican.org/19625_13683_ENG_HTM.htm
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Christmas
Christmas is the season when we
proclaim the unique nature of our God - that God does
not stand aloof from us, but fully enters into our lives
- Emanuel, "God with us". The first liturgy of Christmas
is on Christmas Eve. The late night liturgy, called the
Christ Mass is a high point of the year. A family
liturgy is offered earlier that afternoon and an
additional service is offered on Christmas morning. The
season of Christmas lasts for 12 days, beginning on
December 25th and ending on the 12th night, or January
5th. The color used in Christmas liturgies is white,
symbolizing purity, joy, and absolution.
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Epiphany Season
A season of
four to nine weeks, from the Feast of the Epiphany (Jan.
6) through the Tuesday before Ash Wednesday. The length
of the season varies according to the date of Easter.
The gospel stories of this season describe various
events that manifest the divinity of Jesus. The coming
of the Magi is celebrated on the Epiphany. The Baptism
of our Lord is observed on the Sunday after Epiphany.
The gospels for the other Sundays of the Epiphany season
describe the wedding at Cana, the calling of the
disciples, and various miracles and teachings of Jesus.
The Last Sunday after the Epiphany is always devoted to
the Transfiguration. Jesus' identity as the Son of God
is dramatically revealed in the Transfiguration gospel,
as well as the gospel of the baptism of Christ. We are
called to respond to Christ in faith through the
showings of his divinity recorded in the gospels of the
Epiphany season. Green is used to represent Life.
ref.
http://ecusa.anglican.org/19625_14283_ENG_HTM.htm
See also
http://ecusa.anglican.org/19625_14280_ENG_HTM.htm
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Lent
Early
Christians observed "a season of penitence and fasting"
in preparation for the Paschal feast, or Pascha (BCP,
pp. 264-265). The season now known as Lent (from an Old
English word meaning "spring," the time of lengthening
days) has a long history. Originally, in places where
Pascha was celebrated on a Sunday, the Paschal feast
followed a fast of up to two days. In the third century
this fast was lengthened to six days. Eventually this
fast became attached to, or overlapped, another fast of
forty days, in imitation of Christ's fasting in the
wilderness. The forty-day fast was especially important
for converts to the faith who were preparing for
baptism, and for those guilty of notorious sins who were
being restored to the Christian assembly. In the western
church the forty days of Lent extend from Ash Wednesday
through Holy Saturday, omitting Sundays. The last three
days of Lent are the sacred Triduum of Maundy Thursday,
Good Friday, and Holy Saturday. Today Lent has
reacquired its significance as the final preparation of
adult candidates for baptism. Joining with them, all
Christians are invited "to the observance of a holy
Lent, by self-examination and repentance; by prayer,
fasting, and self-denial; and by reading and meditating
on God's holy Word" (BCP, p. 265). Purple is
used to represent solemness and searching of one's soul.
ref.
http://ecusa.anglican.org/19625_14668_ENG_HTM.htm
See also
http://ecusa.anglican.org/19625_14669_ENG_HTM.htm
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Palm Sunday
(The Sunday of the Passion)
The Sunday
before Easter at which Jesus' triumphal entry into
Jerusalem (Mt 21:1-11, Mk 11:1-11a, Lk 19:29-40) and
Jesus' Passion on the cross (Mt 26:36-27:66, Mk
14:32-15:47, Lk 22:39-23:56) are recalled. It is also
known as the Sunday of the Passion. Palm Sunday is the
first day of Holy Week. Red is the liturgical color for
the day for its passionate mood.
ref.
http://ecusa.anglican.org/19625_14952_ENG_HTM.htm
see also
http://ecusa.anglican.org/19625_14977_ENG_HTM.htm
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Easter
The feast of
Christ's resurrection. According to Bede, the word
derives from the Anglo-Saxon spring goddess Eostre.
Christians in England applied the word to the principal
festival of the church year, both day and season. 1)
Easter Day is the annual feast of the resurrection, the
pascha or Christian Passover, and the eighth day of
cosmic creation. Faith in Jesus' resurrection on the
Sunday or third day following his crucifixion is at the
heart of Christian belief. Easter sets the experience of
springtime next to the ancient stories of deliverance
and the proclamation of the risen Christ. White was
chosen as this is a time to celebrate eternal life
through the risen Christ.
ref.
http://ecusa.anglican.org/19625_14235_ENG_HTM.htm
See also
http://ecusa.anglican.org/19625_14239_ENG_HTM.htm
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Pentecost
The term means "the fiftieth
day." It is used in both the OT and the NT. In the OT it
refers to a feast of seven weeks known as the Feast of
Weeks. It was apparently an agricultural event that
focused on the harvesting of first fruits. Josephus
referred to Pentecost as the fiftieth day after the
first day of Passover. The term is used in the NT to
refer to the coming of the Spirit on the day of
Pentecost (Acts 2:1), shortly after Jesus' death,
resurrection, and ascension. Christians came to
understand the meaning of Pentecost in terms of the gift
of the Spirit. The Pentecost event was the fulfillment
of a promise which Jesus gave concerning the return of
the Holy Spirit. The speaking in tongues, which was a
major effect of having received the Spirit, is
interpreted by some to symbolize the church's worldwide
preaching. In the Christian tradition, Pentecost is now
the seventh Sunday after Easter. It emphasizes that the
church is understood as the body of Christ which is
drawn together and given life by the Holy Spirit. Some
understand Pentecost to be the origin and sending out of
the church into the world. The Day of Pentecost is one
of the seven principal feasts of the church year in the
Episcopal Church (BCP, p. 15). The Day of Pentecost is
identified by the BCP as one of the feasts that is
"especially appropriate" for baptism (p. 312). The
liturgical color for the feast is red.
ref.
http://ecusa.anglican.org/19625_15013_ENG_HTM.htm
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Pentecost
The season after Pentecost,
according to the calendar of the church year (BCP, p.
32). It begins on the Monday following Pentecost, and
continues through most of the summer and autumn. It may
include as many as twenty-eight Sundays, depending on
the date of Easter. This includes Trinity Sunday which
is the First Sunday after Pentecost. The BCP provides
proper collects and readings for the other Sundays of
the season. This period is
also understood by some as "ordinary time," a period of
the church year not dedicated to a particular season or
observance, and
is normally a time of growth. Therefore green was
adopted as green represents Spring and life.
ref.
http://ecusa.anglican.org/19625_15014_ENG_HTM.htm
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