Guys and gals,
I was assigned a topic of “The Liturgical Calendar” for our RCIA class. I have some ideas how to approach it, but any thoughts / ideas / recommendations would be greatly appreciated. Also, I am looking for any information when the Church started to celebrate various feast - Easter, Christmas, Corpus Christi, etc.
God Bless
WGT
Here is the outline I used the last few years.
Liturgical Calandar and cycle outline
a) Why a Calandar?
b) The Purpose of the Liturgical Cycle?
c) The “Propers”
d) Seasons and Sundays
e) Saints and the BVM
f) Liturgical Colors
g) Roman Calandar and Ecumenism
h) Deeper meaning and purpose of Seasons
i) Universal Feast days and Holy Days of Obligation
j) Fasting and Abstenance
k) Christmas Octive and Christmas-Epiphany cycle (12 days of Christmas)
l) Triduum and Easter Vigil
m) Easter Octive and Easter-Pentecost cycle (Ascension)
n) First Fridays and Saturdays
o) Solemnities, Feasts and Memorials
Here are some speaker notes:
Liturgical Cycle and Calandar
When we celebrate the feasts and seasons of the Liturguical year we recall the past, summon the future and experience the present.
Apostolic Letter - Mysterii paschalis by pope Paul VI and Mediator Dei by pope Pius XII and Dies Domini by pope JPII
The Liturgical seasons are not just a commoration of the historical events by which Jesus won our salvation. They are in fact an instruction and invitation to us to participate or enter into the life of Christ more fully. The “Whole mystery of Christ is unfolded throughout the Liturgical year.” Sacrosanctum Concillium, Vatican II #102
The Catholic Church has always included the feasts of the Blessed Virgin Mary and the Saints in the Liturgical calandar because they too reflect on the Paschal Mystery.
The calandar is made up of the Proper of the Seasons and the Proper of the Saints which run parallel to each other. A Liturgical day runs from midnight to midnight. There are only nine universal feasts that can take the place of Sunday (Presentation, Birth of John the Baptist, Peter and Paul, Transfiguration, Assumption, The Cross, All Saints and All Souls, Dedication of St. John Lateran.) Sunday however begins at sundown.
The first and foremost primary feast day is the Lord’s Day, Sunday of each week which commorates the resurection of our Lord. This is the foundation and core of the whole year. Beginning as “Obligation” in the third century Didascalia Apostolorum. A term used by the Early Church writers and restored to usage by the Second Vatican Council is “The Eighth Day”.
Matt 28:1, Mark 16:9, Lk 24:1& 35& 41-43, John 20:1& 21-23& 26-27, 1 Cor 16:2, Acts 20:7-12, Rev 1:10
All Christians follow a general Liturgical year pattern of Advent, Christmas, Lent, Easter, Two Major seasons and two preparatory seasons. After the reform of the Calandar in 1969 the number of Catholic Feast days dedicated to saints was reduced to less than 200 from 300, the Lutheran church increased theirs to 125 and the Episcopalians increased theirs to 150 because of ecumenical dialogue and soon the date of Easter will be the same for all Christians.
Liturgical colors began to be used much later around 1200.
Roman Calandar sets universal feasts for each day of the year. Based on this Roman Calandar is the Common Lectionary used in the Lutheran, Episcopal, Methodist and a few other liturgical churches. Lectionary - 3 year cycles of Sunday readings and 2 year cycke of weekday readings.
The unfolding of the events in the life of Jesus are not just simply in the past. They are realities that that are joined together, not independent of each other and should draw us into them in the present.
Advent begins with Evening Prayer I on the Sunday falling closest to Nov. 30.
Sundays in Lent are not part of Lent.
There are actually three different Christmas masses and a vigil Mass and an “Octive of Christimas”. Latin “Natale” Anniversary of birth" 330 in Rome.
Stational of St. Mary Major.
Lent is a penetential season of prayer and fasting Ends with the Triduum.
Ordinary time is set by the Gospel passages each of the three in a three year cycle. 34 Sundays
Ember days were days of special prayer, Wed, Fri and Sat prior to the seasons.
Rogation days were days of litanies.
Saturdays in OT are feasts of the BVM.
Holy Days of Obligation
