What are the liturgical seasons?
28th February 2010 - 2nd Sunday of Lent

What are the liturgical seasons of the year, and when does a new liturgical year begin? - Dianna

Dear Dianna,

A liturgical year is an annual cycle of communal prayer and celebration. The Roman Catholic Church divides its liturgical year into five distinct seasons: Advent, Christmas, Lent, Easter and Ordinaiy Time.

Our liturgical year starts on the first Sunday of Advent. Unlike the secular world, which likes to start the Christmas season in October, we Catholics begin our Christmas season with the evening celebrations on December 24. Christmas runs for more than twelve days, through the feast ofthe Epiphany to the Baptism of the Lord, which is celebrated on either the second or third Sunday In January.

We get our first taste of Ordinary Time after the Christmas season winds down. Ordinary Time is put on hold in the middle of the winter and into spring as we celebrate forty days of Lent and seven weeks of Easter.

Easter season ends the day before we celebrate the descent of the Holy Spirit at Pentecost. We have returned to Ordinary Time, which will end the day before the first Sunday of Advent. In 2010, Advent begins November 28.

Each liturgical season has distinct flavors and traditions, but they come together in harmony to help us reflect on the one mystery at the heart of every liturgy no matter the season: the saving mystery of Christ’s life, death, and resurrection.

Matthew Allman, C.Ss.R.