The Church Year
The Church Year, beginning on Advent Sunday, exists to facilitate our knowing God as his adopted children and covenant partners, as we focus upon Jesus Christ in dependence upon the presence and ministry of the Holy Ghost in the Church. As we exist in space and time the Christian Year brings us into constant contact with different dimensions and aspects of our Lord Jesus Christ.
Obviously the Church does not
keep the Christian Year simply in terms of remembering past events and drawing
appropriate moral and spiritual conclusions from them. The Church places itself in past time; and is there in
union with the righteous remnant of
In the Ten Commandments God’s covenant people were told to “remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy” (Ex. 20:8). Ever since Jesus Christ rose from the dead on the first day of the week, Christians have called this day “the Lord’s Day” (Rev. 1:10) and kept it as their day of worship. Further, the first day is also, on a seven day week, the eight day, and the resurrection of Jesus on this day points to a new start, a new epoch, a new age, and a new world centered on the Lord Jesus Christ, the risen and exalted Saviour. The lectionary in the BCP guides us through the substance of the Bible and the Psalms in a year.
The two major moments in the
Christian year are Easter and Christmas.
In connection with each moment there are special festivals and holy days
before and afterwards. Though there is
no certainty that Jesus was born on December 25, the Church has kept this as
the date of his birth. It is the
celebration of the Incarnation. The
eternal God becomes
The four Sundays of Advent exist to turn our thoughts and affections towards the Lord Jesus Christ in heaven who came into this world, “born of a woman and born under the law” (Gal 4:4) and who will return to this world: to judge the living and the dead.” Other events described in the Gospels and specifically related to the birth of Jesus have been given dates in relation to Christmas Day. On March 25 is The Annunciation of the blessed Virgin Mary, nine months before Christmas. On January 1 is The Circumcision of Christ, eight days after his birth and on February 2 is The Presentation of Christ in the Temple, according to Jewish law. On June 24 is The Nativity of John the Baptist, who was born several months before Jesus. Finally are the twelve days of Christmas which run from Christmas Day to Epiphany, which is celebrated as The Manifestation of Christ to the Gentiles.
The date of Easter varies from year to year because it is fixed with respect to the Jewish Passover, and this in turn, is based on the phases of the moon. Easter Day is always the Sunday after the full moon that occurs on or after the spring equinox on March 21. Thus Easter cannot be any earlier than March 22 or later than April 25.
The two all-important days are Good Friday, the day of the crucifixion, and Easter Sunday, the day of the resurrection. Before Good Friday is the period of Lent and Holy Week, and after Easter Day are the forty days to the Day of Ascension which is followed by ten days to Whit-Sunday or Pentecost.
On Ascension Day the liturgy not only celebrates another Resurrection appearance but also the actual ascending of the Lord Jesus into the Shekinah, the cloud of glory (the symbol of God’s presence in heaven). Liturgically, this ascent has been celebrated by the extinguishing of the Paschal Candle, which has been lit since Easter Day. Ten days after the Ascension and after experiencing holy and joyful expectancy, the Church arrives at the feast of Pentecost and, with the disciples in the upper room, awaits the descent of the Holy Ghost (Acts 2). With this event, the celebration of the mighty works of God in Jesus Christ and by the Holy Ghost is concluded.
But there is one more Feast to
celebrate, and this is the Feast of the Holy Trinity. In the divine events celebrated in the
Festivals from Christmas to Whitsuntide, there has been a wonderful revelation
of the nature and character of God. He
is the Father, together with his only-begotten Son and his Holy Spirit. God is a Trinity in Unity and a Unity in
Trinity, and he is to be adored and served.
Finally, we need to remember that within the yearly cycle are found holy
days on which the Virgin Mary, the Apostles, Saints, and Martyrs are remembered
(often called red letter days because they were printed in red in the old
Prayer Books). These holy ones reflected
the mystery of “Christ in you the hope of glory” (
The relation of the faithful to the Lord Jesus and thus to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ in worship and life may be usefully understood by noticing the use of three different prepositions – through, in and with – all of which are used in an “odd” way and by this oddness point to their special, unique, use in Christian teaching. In Liturgy, we often hear the words “through Jesus Christ” at the ending of collects and prayers. Here the Church is recognizing:
a) that there is one Mediator between God and Man
b) that this Man, the Lord Jesus Christ is the Way, the Truth, and the Life
c) that no one comes to the Father except through and by him.
One of the favorite expressions of the apostle Paul is “in Christ,” and this also is found in the Liturgy. By this phrase is meant that each baptized faithful believer is a member of his Body, united to him by the Holy Ghost and thus, as it were, contained within or incorporated into his human nature. The Church and its members are seeking to become in practice what they are reckoned to be by the Father as being “in Christ.” Therefore, they are able to partake of his fullness, of his graces, virtues and gifts within the movement and content of the Christian Year.
To be “with Christ” is more than being alongside him in meditative thought. It is being in step with him; united in mind, heart, will and direction with his step. In the drama of the Liturgy, the Church is with him in the Christian Year from his conception and birth, through his infancy and childhood, into manhood, and thus into his Ministry, Passion, Crucifixion, Burial, Resurrection, Ascension and ultimately his Second Coming. And outside the Liturgy the Church has the vocation of walking with him daily in the world, as members of his Body indwelt by the Holy Ghost and thereby walking in the Spirit to love and serve their Head and Lord.
The most important change in modern liturgical calendars is the expansion of Easter to include the fifty days from Easter to Pentecost. This ignores the Ascension of Our Lord on the 40th day and the Pascal Candle is kept lit until Pentecost on the 50th day. The Traditional Books of Common Prayer maintain the significance of Ascension by keeping a schedule of 40 plus 10 days for if Christ is not ascended then everything he did for us and for our salvation has a question mark by it.
Another significant change is the dropping of Trinity Sunday in the modern liturgies. It is based on a practice of the early, immature church in the 2nd century. Trinity Sunday not only serves as a reminder of the mystery of our Triune God, it marks the end of the portrayal of the mighty works of God and as the beginning of the practical application of these truths in the life of the church and each member thereof.
For more details, read “Worship without Dumbing-down” by
The Rev. Dr. Peter Toon, M.A., D.Phil.
(Preservation Press
of the Prayer Book Society of the