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Seasons of the Church YearIn common with widespread
Christian practice, the Anglican Church observes the seasonal telling of
our foundational narrative of God working through Jesus Christ and His
Holy Spirit. These seasons and their meanings are an important rhythm of
our spiritual life and are one of the many reasons that a complete
representation of the Faith requires regular attendance all year around. The thousands of years old
observance of the church seasons celebrates God's participation with us in
time and immerses us again and again in our stories of faith, that we
might move faithfully with God into the future. The church year is
anchored in time on the days of Christmas and of Easter each year, and
begins with Advent. Advent
The liturgies of Advent are characterized by a sense of the majesty of the God for whom we wait. We often use an Advent Wreath of four or five candles, lighting one more each week, to mark the time of waiting. Many families observe this custom at home.
Epiphany The third season of the
church year is Epiphany.
The word means making God manifest.
It is the church's response to God's Christmas. The primary theme is
Baptism, beginning with the Feast of the Baptism of our Lord. A similar
idea is reflected with the response of the magi who journeyed far to
worship Jesus at Bethlehem.
Lent
Lent
is 40 days long (not counting Sundays, which are always feast days)
reflecting the 40 days of rain for Noah, the 40 years of schooling of the
people, Israel, in the Exodus, and the 40 days of testing of Jesus in the
wilderness after his baptism in the Jordan River. Liturgies during Lent
are subdued, introspective, and penitential in nature, often beginning in
silence and with the general confession of the people. The colour used is
deep purple, signifying penitence and the mood of Lent. At the end of Lent is the one
week called Passion tide,
or Holy Week. It begins on Passion
Sunday, also called Palm Sunday, and ends at the first Alleluia of Easter in
the midst of the Great Vigil on Saturday night. Passion Sunday begins with
the triumphal procession commemorating Jesus entering the Holy City on a
donkey. Participants experience in the liturgy a stark change in the
middle of things. What had been falsely understood as Jesus joining the
crowd becomes the confrontation of Jesus with the failures of society and
the crowd as well. The day turns decidedly dark and we read dramatically
of Jesus being sought for arrest by the threatened authorities. The colour
for this Sunday is the red of martyrs, the colour of blood. The next major liturgy is Maundy
Thursday (the name comes from the Latin for mandate
in the liturgy for foot washing - a
new mandate I give to you, that you might love one another.)
This liturgy commemorates the Last Supper of Jesus with his disciples. At
the close of this liturgy all kneel as we sing, Go
to dark Gethsemane, as we remember that Jesus departed from
the upper room for the Garden by that name. At this time, people strip the
altar area of all ornamentation and all symbols of God's presence. No
Eucharists may be celebrated from this time until Easter anywhere in the
world. On Good Friday our Lord was killed for the folly of
humankind and the love and willingness of god to let the consequences play
themselves out. We gather, often in the darkness and wearing black, for
one of the most touching liturgies of the year. Here we share our pain
with God, who knows all about pain, and tears, and death, and we begin the
observance of the three days of death, when our Lord was in the tomb. The
lights go dim and we leave in silence to await, finally, upon God's
resolution.
Easter tide begins with that first
Alleluia at the Great Vigil, continues through the festive Eucharists of
the Day of Resurrection, and ends 50 days later on the Day of Pentecost.
During this season, the liturgical colour is white and liturgies are
uplifting and joyful. The General Confession is not used during the first
weeks. God has turned us full circle: from the ash heap of our lives of
Ash Wednesday He has brought us into fullness of life and joy. God does,
indeed, have the final word. The Paschal
Candle burns in the church near the font throughout this
season and at all baptisms and funerals. We also us it for weddings to
symbolize the presence of Christ and the possibility of resurrected living
in a marriage relationship. Pentecost
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Advent is a season of hopeful
anticipation of God's breaking into our world and our time. It is composed
of four Sundays prior to Christmas Day, beginning around the first of
December. Liturgical colours are used for vestments and altar decoration
(frontals) to mark the seasons and to symbolize the themes. The colour
used for Advent is either purple or blue.
Christmas is the Season when
we proclaim the unique nature of our God - that He does not stand aloof
from us, but fully enters into our lives. The first liturgy of Christmas
is the Eve of that day. The late night liturgy, called the
Christ Mass is a high-light of our year. Other liturgies are offered
earlier that afternoon and on Christmas morning. The season of Christmas
lasts for 12 days, beginning on the 25th and ending on the 12th night, or
January 5th. The colour used in Christmas liturgies is white, symbolizing
purity, joy, and hope. 
This season begins on the 
Things did not go well for
Jesus as he began to teach. People began to feel threatened. He challenged
their way of thinking and doing and they killed him on a cross. This is a
reality in our world. We, too, suffer and die. The marvel of the Faith is
that God makes that journey with us as well. Our seasonal observance of
this reality is called Lent. It begins with the ashes of 
God's Word does not fall to
the ground without bearing fruit. How does the church, how do we, react to
the saving grace of God we have observed in the drama of the seasons from
Advent through Easter? The disciples wondered about this as well. They
huddled together, wondering, in the upper room until the