The Liturgical Year: Its meaning and purpose

1. Introduction

The new Liturgical year of the Church began on the First Sunday of Advent, November 27, 2022 and will end on Saturday after the feast of Christ the king, December 2, 2023. It is interesting to note that the Liturgical year, though grafted onto the civil year, follows a peculiar calendar. While the civil year begins on January 1 and ends on December 31 each year, the liturgical year has its own system of determining the beginning and end of the year. In this article, we will attempt to explain why the liturgical year is different from the civil year and the purpose that the liturgical year serves.

2. What is the Liturgical Year?

The Catholic Church reckons time not merely as chronos, that is not simply the succession of day, night, weeks, month, and season of the year, but as kairos, that is, the privileged moment in which, through the liturgical celebration of the Paschal mystery of Christ throughout the course of the year, Christians are able to experience the presence and saving power of Christ’s mystery. The Constitution on the Sacred Liturgy says the Church has a duty to commemorates the paschal mystery of Christ: “The Holy Mother Church believes that it is for her to celebrate the saving work of her divine Spouse in a sacred commemoration on certain days throughout the course of the year.” SC 102. The liturgical year of the Church, which does not begin from January to December, is reckoned according to the unfolding of the historical saving works of Christ. Liturgically, the Church historicized the events in salvation history. The liturgical year is therefore an extension in the “time of the Church” of the “time of Christ,” which, by his incarnation, was inserted into the cosmic and historical time.

Hence, the Liturgical year also known as the church’s year is the annual cycle of seasons a n d feasts that celebrate the central mystery and the central events of salvation history namely, the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ. The liturgical year re-tells, re-enacts, and re-presents the total Christ event and together with it keeps the memory of Mary the Mother of Jesus and also the Saints. Through the liturgical year celebrations, the Christ story, and the salvific events become part of our universal history. The Constitution on the Sacred liturgy sums up the essential of the liturgical year: “Once each week, on the day which (the Church) has called the Lord’s day, she keeps the memory of the Lord’s resurrection. She also celebrates it once every year, to get her with his blessed passion, at Easter, that most solemn of all feasts. In the course of the year, moreover, she unfolds the whole mystery of Christ from the incarnation and nativity to the ascension, to Pentecost and the expectation of the blessed hope of the coming of the Lord” (102).

3. When does it start and end annually?

Each Liturgical year begins on the First Sunday of Advent, and ends on the Saturday following the solemnity of Christ the King of the Universe. The Liturgical year consists of Seasonal cycle and a Sanctoral cycle, called Proper of Time and the Proper of Saints, respectively. The Paschal mystery of The Liturgical year is made up of six seasons: (1) Advent – Four weeks of preparation before the celebration of Jesus’ birth. (2) Christmas- Recalling the Nativity of Jesus Christ and his manifestation to the peoples of the world. (3) Lent – a six-week period of penance before Easter. (4) Sacred Paschal Triduum – the holiest “Three Days” of the Church’s year, where the Christian people recall the suffering, death, and resurrection of Jesus Christ. (5) Easter – 50 days of joyful celebration of the Lord’s resurrection from the dead and his sending forth of the Holy Spirit. (6) 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.

4. The Purpose of the Liturgical year

Christ is continually proclaimed and renewed through celebrating the events of his life and in the feasts of the Blessed Virgin and the saints. The liturgical year assumes its importance and purpose from the liturgical celebration of the sacred mystery of Christ, which has as its primary purpose the glorification of God and the sanctification of Man (S.C. 10). – The celebration of the liturgical year “possesses a distinct sacramental power and efficacy to strengthen Christian life. This it does by providing for the spiritual instruction and nourishment of the faithful. – It imparts positively the life of the faithful. It exposes the faithful to the mysteries of salvation. It allows them to encounter Christ in the today of salvation. – The faithful who go through the liturgical year becomes well grounded in the knowledge of the scriptures, that the Church seeks to expound during the 3 cycles of the liturgical year. – The celebration of the liturgical days, seasons, feast and memorials of saints provide the inspiration and the graces needed for Christians to live out their baptismal calling as disciples of Christ in the world. – It offers the faithful the opportunity to relive and encounter the saving presence and power of Christ’s mystery. – Through faith, hope, and charity the faithful may share more deeply in ‘the whole mystery of Christ, unfolded through the cycle of the year’. – In the feasts of the saints the paschal mystery of Christ is proclaimed and renewed.

5. The theme for the new liturgical year?

Each liturgical year is dedicated by the Holy Father to the spiritual growth of the Church by seeking to highlight and deepen our appreciation and understanding of an aspect of the Christian faith. Two years ago, Pope Francis called for the sixteenth Ordinary General assembly of the synod of Bishops. This synod is titled “Synod on Synodality” with the theme: “For a synodal church: communion, participation and mission”. With the theme of “synodality” the Holy Father invites all baptized members of the church to walk together and reflect together on the life of the Church and her mission in the world with the view to promoting communion among baptized Christians and participation of all in the mission of Christ. Since the synod is still ongoing until 2024, the theme of the synod is also the universal theme for the 2023 liturgical year. 6.What shape would the new Liturgical Year take? The 2023 liturgical year, in view of the liturgical readings, will be observed as Year A for Sunday cycle, while for weekday cycle, it is to be observed as Year One. The gospel reading for the Sundays of Ordinary time will be from the gospel of Matthew. The synod of synodality program which started in 2021 will continue during this liturgical year with the gathering of the Bishops in Rome. We are all expected to pray towards the success of the synod.