Confused About the Liturgical Cycles

[Jersey_Jeepster]

I am confused about how the liturgical cycles run. My Roman Missal has 2009 as Cycle C, and it goes from the 1st Sunday in Advent to Palm Sunday that way. Then, in the next chart, it starts at the Easter Triduum and has 2010 in Cycle C.

I saw Cycle C for 2009 and wound up reading the wrong scripture for Ash Wednesday yesterday, thinking that we progressed to Cycle A!

(I am using a book to follow Lent and it has a daily explanation of each day of Lent and prayers and some scripture passages to read each day, as well.)

How do the cycles run? I guess they do not run by our January to December year.

 

[SMHW]

The Liturgical cycle begins with the first liturgical day of the year: the First Sunday of Advent. It runs through until the last day of the year which would be the Saturday after the Feast of Christ the King.

So for the most part, Cycle C is calendar year 2010. (And many books will say this.) But the Advent that goes with that year actually started in 2009 and Christmas and the first few days of the Christmas Season fell in 2009 as well.

I’ve posted previously that people need to be very careful when they read or write something like Advent of 2011 because some people interpret that as the advent that falls in calendar year 2011 and others as the advent that falls in 2010 but precedes the liturgical year that mainly falls in 2011. There doesn’t seem to be any standard other than what the individual (or publisher) thinks it should be.

 

[Revs96]

The Liturgical Year begins on the First Sunday of Advent. So the 2010 Liturgical Year began on Sunday, November 29, 2009 (actually with 1st Vespers and the Vigil Masses the night before) and will end on Saturday, November 27, 2010 (in the evening when the Vigil for Sunday begins). The 2011 Liturgical Year begins at that point. The entire 2010 Liturgical Year is Year C in the Sunday Lectionary and Year II (since it is an even-numbered year) for the Weekday Lectionary, although Years I & II only come into play for the first reading and psalm for weekdays of Ordinary Time. All other readings are the same every year on weekdays.

 

[japhy]

I am confused about how the liturgical cycles run.

There are two cycles: one for Sundaya and feast days, and the other for weekdays. The Sunday cycle is a three-year cycle: A, B, C. The weekday cycle is a two-year cycle: I, II. The cycle begins in Advent, not on January 1.

We are in Year C-II (C on Sundays and feasts, II on weekdays).

Sometime, however, the Sunday-feastday cycle has the same readings every year. The readings on Ash Wednesday are the same every year.

 

[benedictgal]

The Liturgical Year runs from the First Sunday of Advent to the Solemnity of Christ the King. Sometimes, it can run from the last Sunday in November or the first Sunday in December to either the third or fourth Sunday in November. In other words, the First Sunday of Advent can come (and it usually does) Thanksgiving weekend or the following week. However, the Liturgical Year almost always ends in November.

Right now, we are in Cycle C, which means that the Gospel will come from St. Luke’s account (most of the time). The readings for Ash Wednesday do not change, just like the readings for the other Solemnities (Immaculate Conception, Assumption, Ascension, Easter, Christmas, etc). These have nothing to do with the particular Liturgical Cycle.

Daily Mass readings have their own cycle. We are in Year II right now.

I hope this helps.

 

[mswood]

Sometime, however, the Sunday-feastday cycle has the same readings every year. The readings on Ash Wednesday are the same every year.

In the missals at my parish there are readings for Year A, B & C for Ash Wednesday. Most of the feast days also have A, B, & C readings, with Option readings that can be read any year.

 

[benedictgal]

In the missals at my parish there are readings for Year A, B & C for Ash Wednesday. Most of the feast days also have A, B, & C readings, with Option readings that can be read any year.

As far as Ash Wednesday is concerned, that only means that the readings for Ash Wednesday are applicable for all three cycles.

Regarding your second sentence, that is not always the case. These are only for, as far as I can remember, the Feast of the Holy Family, the Solemntiy of the Baptism of the Lord and the Gospel Accounts for Palm Sunday (inclusive of the entry into Jerusalem) and the Easter Vigil.

 

[Jersey_Jeepster]

Thank you, and bless all of you knowledgeable people.

I should have clarified that I understand that the cycles apply to Sunday readings, and I didn’t read thre wrong passages yesterday. My mistake on that.

I know that the weekly readings are the same each year. (I am speaking about the book I am using.) I was confused about which Sunday readings to use because they have all three cycles listed.

Now I know, thanks to all of you.

 

[mswood]

As far as Ash Wednesday is concerned, that only means that the readings for Ash Wednesday are applicable for all three cycles.

Regarding your second sentence, that is not always the case. These are only for, as far as I can remember, the Feast of the Holy Family, the Solemntiy of the Baptism of the Lord and the Gospel Accounts for Palm Sunday (inclusive of the entry into Jerusalem) and the Easter Vigil.

Actually based on the missal in my parish both of my statements are correct, I don’t have one here so I can’t tell you which one we use but it is a hardcover book that covers all 3 years and not the paperback ones that are put out every 3 months like I have seen in other parishes.

While all 3 readings for Ash Wednesday may be the same reading (I did not read all 3 years), in our missal they are listed as seperate entries one for each year. I also did not say that ALL feast days are that way (and maybe I should not have said most), however some have an A, a B and C reading as well as optional readings that can be used in any year.

 

[Lazarette]

with Option readings that can be read any year.

Perhaps you were looking at the 3rd, 4th, and 5th Sundays in Lent of Years B and C. On those Sundays, it’s optional to use the Year A readings, which are especially apt regarding Christian initiation.

 

[Phemie]

with Option readings that can be read any year.

Perhaps you were looking at the 3rd, 4th, and 5th Sundays in Lent of Years B and C. On those Sundays, it’s optional to use the Year A readings, which are especially apt regarding Christian initiation.

No, there are a few other situations. Baptism of the Lord is one. Our sacristan had set up for the Gospel for Year C but the pastor changed things to read the reading common to all 3 cycles. She came to me to find out what she’d done wrong. I had to reassure her that she’d done nothing wrong, she’d followed the ORDO and cross-referenced with our Missalettes which, unfortunately, didn’t include the common reading.

 

[Lazarette]

Phemie, since I was simply suggesting another possibility, on what basis did you start your response with “No” as if what I said was incorrect?

The question mentioned Ash Wednesday. From that, the Lenten Sundays are not a stretch. And it was simply a suggestion of another possibility. So how can you start off by saying, “No, there’s the Baptism of the Lord”??

The fact that the Baptism of the Lord has an optional reason doesn’t make what I said untrue, so why did you begin your response with “No, —”?