The 52 weeks of the year are broken into different season of the church year, based on lunar and calendar cycles.
The church year begins with the season of Advent, four Sundays before Christmas. Advent is a time of preparation in the church year, preparing for not just the birth of Jesus, but preparing for the New Creation fortold in the Bible. The colors of advent are blue or purple, and often one of the dominant symbols in the church is the Advent Wreath, where a candle is lit every week.
The season of Christmas begins on December 25, and lasts for twelve days to January 6, which is Epiphany. White and gold are the colors for Christmas, to suggest purity. In this time, we celebrate the birth of Jesus.
The church celebrates Epiphany on the first Sunday of January, even if this is before January 6. Epiphany marks when the wise men arrive to worship Jesus. In some cultures, it is the day gifts are exchanged, not Christmas. The color for the season of Epiphany is green, however the first and last days of the season are white to mark Epiphany and Transfiguration Sundays. White can also used for on the second Sunday of Epiphany to mark the baptism of Jesus. Green is meant to suggest growth. White is meant to suggest purity. The season of Epiphany can vary in length depending on the lunar cycle, which set the date of Easter, and thus Lent, which preceeds it.
Lent is a season 40 days before Easter and is six weeks long. It begins on Ash Wednesday and does not include the six
Sundays in the season. Lent is a time of preparation for Easter, and some traditions encourage their faithful to adopt new habits or give something up for Lent as a way to be more mindful of the distractions and barriers in our lives. Purple is the color of Lent, and suggests penitence and royalty. The last week of Lent is also Holy Week, beginning with Palm Sunday, and includes Maundy Thursday, Good Friday and Holy Saturday. Black is often used to suggest death on Good Friday.
The season of Easter is 50 days long, including the day of Easter and seven additional Sundays. During the season of Easter, we experience the ressurected Jesus and his ascenssion to heaven. The color of Easter is white and gold, to suggest purity and royalty.
The season of Pentecost begins with Pentecost Sunday. The color for Pentecost is red, but season that follows Pentecost is green. This season marks the birth of the church and growing in the spirit. In this season, we focus on the stories of Jesus and the Apostles and building the church. This season is also called Ordinary Time, meaning “ordinal” or “counted” time. Pentecost continues through half of the year, ending before Advent.
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