Seasons of Worship (Liturgical Seasons)

On the fourth day of creation (Gen. 1:14-19) God “made lights in the expanse of the heavens.” Part of the purpose of these lights was to “be for signs and for seasons, and for days and years.”  Likewise, the Church through the ages has chosen to mark the years by seasons focused on God’s salvation of humankind through the Light of the world, Jesus Christ. Hence, the Church Year informs much of how and why we worship the way we do as it keeps our focus on the themes of each season. A full list of The Church Year, Feasts and Festivals, and Commemorations can be found in Lutheran Service Book, pp. x-xii.

The Church Year is divided into six seasons.  The first is the season of Advent (“coming”), beginning four Sundays before Christmas.  This is a time for preparation for the coming of Christ, both in the incarnation at Christmas and His second coming at the end of the world.  In earlier years, this preparation was markedly penitential.  But since the liturgical revisions of the 1960s, the focus has become more anticipatory and hopeful in character.

The second season of the church year is Christmas.  Christmas is the season in which we hear the “tidings of great joy” that the Savior has come into the world through His incarnation.  Christmas Eve Service is traditionally a Candle Light Service focusing on that Holy night, while Christmas Day Service is a Service of Light focusing on the joy of the Good News that God is With Us (Immanuel). This season begins on Christmas Day and lasts for twelve days, hence the Twelve Days of Christmas. This is the second greatest festival of the Church Year.

The third season is that of Epiphany.  Originally the Epiphany of Our Lord overshadowed that of His nativity (and still does in Eastern Christianity).  Today in Western Christianity, Epiphany focuses on the manifestation of the Incarnate Lord to the world.  This season begins on January 6, which commemorates the visit of the Gentile Magi, and can last up to nine Sundays (depending upon the date of Easter).  It is a time of great rejoicing and gladness since the light of the world is revealed to the nations, “a light to lighten the Gentiles” (Nunc Dimittis, Luke 2:29-32).  The first Sunday after the Epiphany celebrates the Baptism of Our Lord (Matt. 3:13-17; Mark 1:9-11; Luke 3:21, 22; John 1:32-34), while the rest of the Sundays emphasize the manifestation of God in Christ. Epiphany culminates with the Transfiguration when Jesus revealed His glory to the inner circle of His Disciples (Matt 17:1-13; Mark 9:2-8; Luke 9:28-36).

The fourth season is that of Lent.  Lent is a time of preparation for Easter lasting forty days in addition to six Sundays. It begins on Ash Wednesday, so named for the custom of the Imposition of Ashes in the sign of a cross on a person’s forehead as a spiritual sign for the need of repentance: “For dust you are and to dust you shall return” (Gen. 3:19). Traditionally, these ashes are made by burning the processional palms from the previous year’s Palm Sunday.  In the early church, Lent was considered a time of repentance in preparation for the rite of reconciliation on Maundy Thursday and preparation for the Sacrament of Holy Baptism on the Vigil of Easter.  Gradually Lent became a time of general devotional preparation for Easter.

The last week of Lent is Holy Week, the most dramatic and significant week of the Church Year.  The last Sunday of Lent is Palm Sunday, when we celebrate the Triumphant Entry of Jesus into Jerusalem the Sunday before His crucifixion.  A procession with palms and hosannas to commemorate our Lord’s entry into Jerusalem begins the Service.  Palm Sunday, therefore, is a time of both joy and somberness as triumph turns to tragedy on Good Friday.

Lent culminates in the Triduum, one Service spread over three days: Maundy Thursday (focused on confession and absolution, the Last Supper, and Jesus’ command to love one another), Good Friday (celebrating the crucifixion and burial of Jesus), and, traditionally, the Easter Vigil on Holy Saturday.  Because of the nature of the Triduum, there is no Benediction on Thursday or Friday as the Service is not yet ended.  Maundy Thursday typically concludes with the Distribution of the Sacrament of the Altar, and the stripping of that Altar, which is symbolic of Christ’s humiliation at the hands of the Roman soldiers. Usually on Good Friday, the Service celebrated is Tenebrae (Latin for “darkness”). Herein, the candles are gradually extinguished and lights dimmed representing the darkness of Jesus’ crucifixion, in which we depart on this most solemn of nights. On Holy Saturday, after sunset, the people are gathered for the conclusion of the Triduum. After A.D. 313 the Easter Vigil was the ideal time for baptisms of adults who had been instructed during Lent and ushered in the Resurrection celebration. The Vigil thus focuses on the saving power of Christ’s death and resurrection (Rom 6:3-5). In lieu of Easter Vigil, our Easter Sunrise Service acts as the conclusion to the Triduum.

The high point of the Church Year, the most important festival, is that of Easter, the fifth season in the Church Year. On Easter Day, we celebrate the Resurrection of Our Lord from the dead. Having conquered sin, death and the devil, He guarantees victory for those who belong to Him. As such, it is the most celebratory time of the year, the main Service of the entire year.

Easter is observed over fifty days and includes the Festival of the Ascension and ends with the Festival of Pentecost. This is because Jesus walked on earth for forty days after His resurrection and then ascended into heaven, at which time we celebrate the Ascension. Ten days later, the Holy Spirit descended upon Jesus’ disciples during Pentecost.

The English word “Easter” has no special Christian derivation and there is no consensus as to where the word comes from.  It could have its origin in the Middle English word Ostern, meaning the direction from which the sun rises.  It also could have roots in the name of a pagan goddess, Ēastre or Ēostre or Eoaster, by which the equivalent of the month of April was named in some parts of Europe.  More typical among early Christians (from which most other modern languages derived the name of the holiday), was the word Pascha, derived from Pesach, the Hebrew word for Passover.

A note on the time of Easter needs to be mentioned.  Unlike most religious holidays, Easter is a movable feast may fall on a different date.  The day of Easter was calculated two different ways until Pope Victor, circa A.D. 190.  In some of the East, Christians celebrated Easter on the Jewish Passover, the 14^th of Nissan, no matter the day of the week.  Others used the Sunday following the Passover.  After the Council of Nicea in A.D. 325, Easter was set to be “on the Sunday that followed the first full moon after the spring equinox,” which occurs between March 22 and April 25.  Hence, the date of Easter also determines when Lent starts, the length of the seasons of Epiphany and Pentecost.  Today, the date of Easter for the Orthodox Churches in the East is calculated by the Julian calendar, differing from the Western Churches which calculate it by the Gregorian calendar.  As a result, Eastern churches celebrate Easter usually one to four weeks later than Western churches.

The sixth, and final, season of the church year is Season after Pentecost.  This period covers over half of the year.  It begins with Trinity Sunday, the first Sunday after Pentecost, which celebrates the mystery of the Triune God.  The majority of the Sundays after Pentecost focus on the life and ministry of Jesus.  This season concludes with the Sunday of the Fulfillment, which looks forward to the time when all things in heaven and earth will be together under one head, Jesus Christ.  This Sunday is sometimes also observed as Christ the King Sunday.

These six seasons of the Church year–Advent, Christmas, Epiphany, Lent, Easter, Pentecost–can also be organized into three larger periods, or times: the Time of Christmas, the Time of Easter, and the Time of the Church (sometimes called Ordinary Time in other church bodies).   The Time of Christmas is subdivided into the Advent, Christmas, and Epiphany seasons; the Time of Easter subdivided into the Lenten and Easter Seasons; and the Time of the Church is comprised of the season after Pentecost.  

Interspersed throughout the Church Year are various Feasts and Festivals, and Commemorations meant to highlight important Biblical or historical events and saints.

note: post 4/11 adapted from my brother's writings