Basic order of the church year

The basic order of the church year and the new Roman general calendar ( Latin Normae universales de anno liturgico et de calendario ) is the official description and declaration of the liturgical year of the Roman Catholic Church . The document was drawn up in the course of the liturgical reform after the Second Vatican Council and by Pope Paul VI. Promulgated in 1969 .

Its main topics are:

• The liturgical day
  • In the liturgy , the day usually begins and ends at midnight. Sunday and high festivals alone begin the evening before.
  • The Sunday , the first day of the week, the "Urfeiertag" of the Church, the resurrection of the crucified him Jesus Christ celebrates. For this reason, only solemn festivals and gentlemen's celebrations may be preferred to the Sunday liturgy . The Sundays in Advent , Lent and the fifty days of Easter always have priority and do not give way to any festival.
  • Certain days have a special rank: solemn festivals , celebrations and memorial days .
  • The Ash Wednesday and the days of Holy Week until Easter Triduum go over all other celebrations. The days of Advent 17th to 24th December and all weekdays of Lent let every day of remembrance take a back seat.

• The liturgical annual cycle
  • The Easter triduum ( Triduum sacrum ) is the climax of the liturgical year. It begins with the Holy Mass of the Last Supper on Maundy Thursday and ends with Vespers on Easter Sunday . Its center is the celebration of Easter Vigil . In it the Church waits watchfully for the resurrection of Jesus Christ and celebrates it with the sacraments of Baptism , Confirmation and the Eucharist . On Good Friday and, where possible, on Holy Saturday is the Easter fasting held.
  • The fifty days of Easter are celebrated as a single great feast day. They end on Pentecost Sunday . The first eight days (up to the so-called White Sunday ) each have the rank of a solemn festival (Easter octave).
  • Forty days of Lent is a preparation for the celebration of Easter . The Holy Week begins on the 6th Sunday of Lent, Palm and Passion Sunday . On the morning of Holy Thursday (or an earlier Easter nearby day) are holy oils (catechumens, sick oil and chrism ) in the Chrism consecrated .
  • The Christmas season lasts from December 25th ( Christmas Eve ) to the Sunday after January 6th. During this period the Church celebrates the commemoration of the birth of Jesus Christ ( Christmas ) and the first occasions of its manifestation among people, e.g. B. before the shepherds in the field, as a member of a family ( holy family ), before the magicians ( apparition of the Lord ), at his baptism at the Jordan ( baptism of the Lord ). Like Easter, Christmas also has its own octave , which extends to the solemnity of the Mother of God (January 1st).
  • The Advent season prepares the memory of the first coming of Christ to the people and at the same time is supposed to awaken and strengthen the hope for his second coming at the end of time. Advent begins on Sunday, which falls on November 30th or comes closest to this date. The days from December 17th to 24th serve as special preparation for the solemn feast of the birth of the Lord.

See also

• General Roman Calendar
• Church year
• Liturgical order of precedence
• Directory (liturgy)
• Liturgy of the Hours

Web links

• “Basic order of the church year and the new Roman general calendar” University of Salzburg - Faculty of Practical Theology - Liturgical Studies & Sacraments Theology, edited by: Barbara Scheibner, January 9, 2015
• Normae universales de anno liturgico et de calendario (Latin)