Seasons of the Church

Growing up Protestant, I knew all about Christmas and Easter, though, if you'd asked me which was more important, I might have said Christmas.

I also encountered a few signs of Advent including some candy calendars counting down the days to Christmas.

I even recall marking Shrove Tuesday, Ash Wednesday, Palm Sunday and Good Friday, though more as an interested observer than an active participant.

Joining the Catholic Church, suddenly there were numerous special days that were marked with observances (especially including masses) that I was expected to partake in.

The one that got my attention first was Lent. Beginning with Ash Wednesday and enduring 40 days (not counting Sundays, which are always "feast days" - i.e. days of celebration - overeating not required) until Easter weekend (known as Triduum for the three days that Christ was in the ground and among the dead), the first thing I knew about Lent was that it was a big, long pain.

I knew this because, before I even started attending the Catholic Church, I had a Catholic friend who happened to be in a habit of drinking a large amoung of Coca Cola every day, and decided to give it up for Lent. I have rarely seen someone suffer so much.

Suddenly, Easter arrived, and she was released from her sacrifice to consume her favourite soft drink to her heart's content. Meanwhile, I got a chocolate Easter bunny from my parents.

Later, I became more aware that Advent began four Sundays before Christmas, and there was a tradition of lighting a new candle each Sunday to remember a part of the story leading up to Jesus' birth.

But it wasn't until I'd been a Catholic for a number of years that I started to really abosorb the beauty of the annual rhythm of the Catholic Church's calendar. It's like a fine, complex sculpture in which every piece fits together in a working, moving whole, reflecting and interacting with the seasons of the calendar year without being limited by them.

Add to this the lectionary, which ensures that we read through all parts of the Bible at Sunday church every three years (regardless of any favourite verses a given priest may have), and the seasons of the Church become a life-sustaining grace that helps keep our faith grounded in our whole experience of life - and vice versa.

Of course, unless you grew up in a denomination that carefully observed these seasons, you might be at least as unfamiliar with them as I was, so a summary of how they flow follows:

The church year begins on the first Sunday of Advent, which is four Sundays before Christmas, and is either in late November or early December. The Sunday readings are chosen to anticipate the joy of Christmas, and the mass is altered slightly: no "Gloria" is sung during Advent (normally it would be before the first reading) in anticipation of Christmas when we repeat it in memory of Luke 2:14, when the angels sang Glory to God to mark the birth of Jesus.

Now, a common practice in the Catholic Church is to offer the alternative of a vigil mass the evening before, as well as on the day of a "feast" such as Christmas, Easter and even normal Sundays. This brings to mind the Jewish practice of marking the beginning of a day at sundown, rather than at midnight or sunrise. So, many Catholics will attend a vigil mass, such as midnight mass, to mark Christmas, instead of the next morning which others prefer to attend.

Noteworthy here is that practicing Catholics are expected to attend church every Sunday (or Saturday vigil) and every holy day of obligation (or the accompanying vigil mass if there is one). Christmas Day is a holy day of obligation, whether or not it occurs on a Sunday, so in those six out of seven years when Christmas is not on a Sunday, a good Catholic can expect to attend church on Christmas and the following Sunday. That's also true of New Year's Day, seven days after Christmas, which is a Catholic feast day dedicated to celebrating the special role that God gave the Virgin Mary in salvation history.

Once the Christmas season has passed (with many other special observances and specially-chosen Bible readings), the first stretch of "ordinary time" begins, and continues until Lent commences on Ash Wednesday, which can be any time from just before Valentine's Day to just before Saint Patrick's Day.

It is a popular thing to celebrate one last hurrah before Ash Wednesday, in what some Protestants call Shrove Tuesday, and many Catholics call Mardi Gras (which is French for "Fat Tuesday"), one last opportunity to eat very well and celebrate vigourously. Generally, this celebration is allowed to continue past sundown, but is expected to end by midnight sharp, on time for the season of Lent to begin.

On Ash Wednesday, good Catholics are expected to attend a special mass, at which they have ashes placed upon their foreheads, often in a sign of a cross, as a humbling reminder of our bodies' origins and destinations as dust. Go downtown to any place with many Catholics, such as Manhattan, NY, on Ash Wednesday and you're likely to see quite a number of people with ashes that may appear to be in the form of a cross on their foreheads.

It is a common practice to give something up for Lent, and many Catholics forego sweetened treats such as candy. However, the Catholic Church has lately made it clear that the intention is to deepen our walk with Christ, not to focus on the sacrifice, so it can be as appropriate to take on a new spiritual discipline such as spending additional time reading scripture every day.

It is also common to fast on Fridays. In the past, Catholics would do this every Friday througout the year, but these days it is more common to just do so on Fridays in Lent - though even that is optional. It is expected that Catholics will be restrained in their enjoyment of food and beverage particularly on Ash Wednesday and Good Friday, and such fasting is encouraged but optional at other times - particularly Fridays - during Lent.

Then comes Palm, or Passion, Sunday, when fresh palm fronds are brought into the churches for a celebration in the memory of Jesus' riding into Jerusalem at the beginning of Holy Week, the week when he would be crucified, die, be buried, and rise again on Easter Sunday. Some of these palm fronds are burned later in the year to make the ashes for Ash Wednesday.

Holy Week has many special activities that may take place, but the required activites begin on Holy Thursday when we have a special mass that reminds us of the Last Supper, complete with the priest washing the feet of 12 members of the parish (i.e. church) in commemoration of Jesus' washing the feet of his 12 disciples.

Some of the bread from Holy Thursday is reserved for Good Friday, and is the only form of communion available for the afternoon service on that day, which is often held at 3pm, the time when Jesus gave up his spirit. The Good Friday service is unique throughout the church year, and is also the most sombre service. At the end of it, people leave quietly and meditiatively to ponder the mystery of Christ's death and resurrection.

Easter begins with the vigil Saturday evening, which is the most common time for new Catholics to join the church. In 1986, this was the mass when I became a member of the Catholic Church. It is rich with celebration, a candlelight portion, numerous Bible readings beginning with Genesis 1, adult baptisms, and sprinkling the congregation with the holy water used in baptism.

For those who prefer, there is also a less intense Easter Sunday mass, which is quite popular with "C&E's" or those cultural Catholics who only show up for Christmas and Easter masses, rather than every Sunday plus holy days of obligation as required of practicing Catholics.

Now begins the Easter Season until Pentecost, rich with readings about the early church and celebration of the risen Christ.

Seven weeks (50 days if you count both Sundays) after Easter is Pentecost, an ancient Jewish feast day when the early church originally received the Holy Sprit and began proclaiming the good news in every language their listeners spoke. This "birthday of the Church" marks the conclusion of the Easter season and the resumption of ordinary time, which, with a few "feasts" in between, mostly lasts until the feast of Christ the King, the last Sunday before Advent and the end of the church year.

That's a pretty minimal description, and doesn't really do any of it justice, but it gives you a sense of what the church year is like. To map it to real experience, however, you'd need to attend a Catholic Mass yourself and get a feeling for how everything happens. But that may seem like a rather intimidating prospect if you've never done it before, so my next blog will be about what to expect if you go to a Catholic Mass, and how to get the most out of the experience.

(Copyright (c) 2011, Reg Harbeck, all rights reserved)