Liturgical Calendar
Unit Note
Parts of this unit will not be presented sequentially. Since events of the liturgical season happen throughout the school year, lessons may be presented at a time that coincides with upcoming liturgical celebrations. For example, lessons on the liturgical season of Advent will be conducted before and during the season of Lent so students can better experience the glory of that liturgical season.
Unit Highlights
The liturgical calendar, consists of an annual cycle of liturgical seasons and determines when feast day and celebrations of saints, are to be observed.
The liturgical seasons are:
Advent
Christmas
Lent
Holy Week/Triduum
Easter
Ordinary Times
Distinct liturgical colors may appear in connection with different seasons of the liturgical year.
Holy days of obligation are days Catholics are obliged to participate in Mass. Every Sunday is a holy day of obligation, as are six other days throughout the year. In the United States, these holy days of obligation are:
The solemnity of Mary, Mother of God (January 1st)
The solemnity of the Ascension (Thursday of the Sixth Week of Easter)
The solemnity of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary (August 15th)
The solemnity of All Saints (November 1st)
The solemnity of the Immaculate Conception (December 8th)
The solemnity of the Nativity of Our Lord Jesus Christ (December 25)
Unit Introduction
Seasons, saints, and celebrations during the liturgical year are laid out in a yearly liturgical calendar. The liturgical year is made up of six seasons:
Advent - four weeks of preparation before the celebration of Jesus' birth
Christmas - recalling the Nativity of Jesus Christ and his manifestation to the peoples of the world
Lent - a six-week period of penance before Easter
Sacred Paschal Triduum - the holiest "Three Days" of the Church's year, where the Christian people recall the suffering, death, and resurrection of Jesus
Easter - 50 days of joyful celebration of the Lord's resurrection from the dead and his sending forth of the Holy Spirit
Ordinary Time - divided into two sections (one span of 4-8 weeks after Christmas Time and another lasting about six months after Easter Time), wherein the faithful consider the fullness of Jesus' teachings and works among his people
The mystery of Christ, unfolded through the cycle of the year, calls us to live his mystery in our own lives. This call is best illustrated in the lives of Mary and the saints, celebrated by the Church throughout the year. There is no tension between the mystery of Christ and the celebration of the saints, but rather a marvelous harmony. The Blessed Virgin Mary is joined by an inseparable bond to the saving work of her Son, and the feasts of all the saints proclaim the wonderful works of Christ in his servants and offer the faithful fitting examples for their imitation. In the feasts of Mary and of the saints, the Paschal Mystery of Christ is proclaimed and renewed.
Vocabulary
Advent
All Soul's Day
Ash Wednesday
Christmas
Easter
Holy Thursday
Lent
Liturgical Calendar
Ordinary Times
Palm Sunday
Pentecost
Sanctoral Cycle
The solemnity of All Saints (All Saint's Day)
The solemnity of Mary, Mother of God
The solemnity of the Ascension
The solemnity of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary
The solemnity of the Immaculate Conception
The solemnity of the Nativity of Our Lord Jesus Christ
Triduum (Holy Week)
Sources
Connection to the Catechism of the Catholic Church
Paragraphs 512, 524-526, 540, 560, 1168-1173, 2177, 2180, 2185, 2187-2188, 2192-2193
Scripture Studied in This Unit
Gen. 1:1-31; 2:1-4, 7-9, 18-24; 3:1-7, 23-24; 6:5-8, 13-22; 7:17, 23, 24; 8:1, 6-22; 12:1-3; 22:1-14; 25:1-34; 28:10-15; 37:23-28; 45:3-15;
Exodus 2:1-10; 3:2; 20:1;
Psalm 2:7-8; 19:6-7;
1 Samuel 3:1-18; 16:1-13; 17:12-51;
1 Kings 3:5-14, 16-28;
Isaiah 7:14; 11:1-3; 22:22; 33:22;
Sirach 24:2;
Wisdom 8:1
Matthew 1:18-25; 26-27; 28:16-20;
Mark 1:1-8; 14-15;
Luke 1:26-38-2: 14; 22:14-23:56; 24:13-43, 50-51;
John 1:1-14; 18-19; 20:11-18; 21:1-25
Acts 2:1-31;
Ephesians 2:14-20;
1 Cor 15:14;
Activity 1: Make a Circle Map on the Liturgical Calendar.
Brainstorm, list, and/or draw:
Information you know, or kind of know, about the Liturgical Calendar.
Guesses about the Liturgical Calendar.
Questions you have about the Liturgical Calendar.
Information you would like to know about the Liturgical Calendar.
What comes to mind when you think of the Liturgical Calendar.
Activity 2: Scripture to Memory
Pope St. John Paul II strongly encouraged that the faithful memorize important passages of Scripture. In the Apostolic Exhortation Catechesi Tradendae, he wrote: “The blossoms ... of faith and piety do not grow in the desert places of memoryless catechesis.” When you have memorized important Scripture passages, the Word of God resides in your minds and hearts and is at the ready when you need it.
To respond to Pope St. John Paull II’s wish, you should write out and commit to memory some or all of the following Bible verses, which complement all the lessons in this unit. Take a few minutes each day to study them and practice recitation and writing. Before completing this unit, you will write out two or more of these verses, from memory.
Explore different means of memorization, such as hanging important Scripture verses on your refrigerator at home, or on your bathroom mirror, reciting and discussing Scripture with your parents, using passages in conversation, and other creative means of use and memorization.
When you fast, do not look gloomy like the hypocrites. They neglect their appearance, so that they may appear to others to be fasting. Amen, I say to you, they have received their reward. But when you fast, anoint your head and wash your face, so that you may not appear to others to be fasting, except to your Father who is hidden. And your Father who sees what is hidden will repay you.-MATTHEW 6:16-18
For God so loved the world that he gave his only Son, so that everyone who believes in him might not perish but might have eternal life.-JOHN 3:16
But a shoot shall sprout from the stump of Jesse, and from his roots a bud shall blossom. The spirit of the Lord shall rest upon him: a spirit of wisdom and of understanding, A spirit of counsel and of strength, a spirit of knowledge and of fear of the Lord.-ISAIAH 11:1-2
For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.-ROMANS 6:23
For I handed on to you as of first importance what I also received: that Christ died for our sins in accordance with the scriptures; that he was buried; that he was raised on the third day in accordance with the scriptures;-1 CORINTHIANS 15:3-4
For by grace you have been saved through faith, and this is not from you; it is the gift of God; it is not from works, so no one may boast. For we are his handiwork, created in Christ Jesus for the good works that God has prepared in advance, that we should live in them.-EPHESIANS 2:8-10
Have no anxiety at all, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, make your requests known to God. Then the peace of God that surpasses all understanding will guard your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus.-PHILIPPIANS 4:6-7