Liturgical Calendar
The liturgical calendar is the yearly cycle of seasons, feast days, fasts, and commemorations used by Christians to order worship around the life of Jesus Christ and the life of the Church. In Anglicanism, the liturgical calendar shapes the Book of Common Prayer, Sunday readings, saints' days, colors, collects, and the rhythm of seasons such as Advent, Christmas, Epiphany, Lent, Easter, Ascensiontide, Whitsuntide, and Trinitytide.
Liturgical Cycle
Liturgical Colors
Distinct liturgical colors are often used during different seasons of the liturgical year, dictating the color of vestments and other church decorations and ornaments.
Ordinary Time
The corresponding liturgical color of Ordinary Time is green. As the name suggests, Ordinary Time is any time when no other season is being celebrated and occurs twice; after Pentecost/Whitsunday and before Advent, and after Epiphany, and before Lent.
The Book of Common Prayer
The various Books of Common Prayer have slight variety in their liturgical calendar, but generally follow the format of:
Advent -> Christmastide -> Epiphany -> Ordinary Time -> Lent -> Eastertide -> Whitsunday -> Ordinary Time
During the Liturgical Movement in the 20th Century, there was an ecumenical effort to unify the liturgical calendars of various communions, and in order to better align the Anglican Calendar with the Lutheran, Methodist, Roman Catholic, and other Western communions. For this reason the 1979 Prayerbook and the 2019 Prayerbook are more closely aligned with the Post-Vatican II Roman Rite, and use more ecumenical terms like "Pentecost" for Whitsunday.
See also
- All Saints' Day in Anglican Worship
- Benedict of Nursia in Anglican Commemoration
- Candlemas in Anglican Worship
- Lancelot Andrewes in Anglican Commemoration
- Liturgical Colours in Anglican Worship
- Rogation Days in Anglican Worship
- Saint Ambrose in Anglican Commemoration
- Saint Basil the Great in Anglican Commemoration
- Saint Cyril of Jerusalem in Anglican Commemoration
- Saint James of Jerusalem in Anglican Commemoration
- Saint Jerome in Anglican Commemoration
- Saint Joseph in Anglican Commemoration
- Saint Mary Magdalene in Anglican Commemoration
- Saint Monica in Anglican Commemoration
- Saint George's Day in Anglican Worship