Cycles and Seasons
A very brief and thus wildly oversimplified outline for a Sunday morning presentation on the seasons and cycles of Christian life and worship.
Daily—The Liturgy of the Hours
Liturgy literally means a public work done for the people: public worship.
The Liturgy of the Hours is, quite simply, daily prayer for clergy and laity.
Originally: Matins, Lauds, Prime, Terce, Sext, None, Vespers, Compline.
Now: Matins and Vespers, with Midday and Compline as options.
Scriptures are designated for morning, evening, and an “Office of Readings.”
Supposedly required for all clergy and monastics, recommended for all laity.
Weekly—The Divine Liturgy
Sunday worship, the Lord’s Day, “the Mass.” Oldest pattern of Christian worship.
Early Church worshipped at the Temple, at synagogues, and in house churches.
Three great liturgical shifts: from houses, to catacombs, to basilicas. Traces of all!
The basic structure consists of Gathering, Word, Meal, and Sending.
Sunday worship exists to empower the church at home: gather in, send back out.
The gradual evolution of ordination: three major, four minor.
Monthly—The Psalter
The Psalms are the original hymn book of both Judaism and Christianity.
They come in many genres: lament, royal, thanksgiving, wisdom, miscellaneous.
These were sung in the Temple at Jerusalem. They are thousands of years old.
Psalms are incorporated into the liturgies of every worship service.
Many monastic orders sing all 150 Psalms from memory every day. The Rosary.
Liturgy of the Hours for Anglicans and Lutherans sings all Psalms each month.
Annual—The Seasons of the Church
Advent: a hopeful, simple, and preparatory season for the Nativity of Our Lord.
Christmas: the 12-day celebration of Jesus’ birth and associated events.
Epiphany: God’s “manifestation” in Jesus’ life: Magi, Baptism, Wedding at Cana.
Lent: a penitential, preparatory season for Holy Week: Palm Sunday, Triduum.
Easter: the 50-day celebration of the Resurrection of Our Lord.
Pentecost: “Ordinary Time,” the Season of the Church; the longest of the seasons.
Multiannual—Lectionaries
The Liturgy of the Hours in the BCP and LBW read all of Scripture in two years.
Sundays in Western traditions follow a three-year Revised Common Lectionary.
Initially there were only two Christian holidays: Passover and the Lord’s Day.
Every Sunday is the Resurrection. And Easter is Sunday for the entire year.
CYCLES & SEASONS
The Rhythms of Christian Faith and Life
Daily—The Liturgy of the Hours
Liturgy literally means a public work done for the people: public worship.
The Liturgy of the Hours is, quite simply, daily prayer for clergy and laity.
Originally: Matins, Lauds, Prime, Terce, Sext, None, Vespers, Compline.
Now: Matins and Vespers, with Midday and Compline as options.
Scriptures are designated for morning, evening, and an “Office of Readings.”
Supposedly required for all clergy and monastics, recommended for all laity.
Weekly—The Divine Liturgy
Sunday worship, the Lord’s Day, “the Mass.” Oldest pattern of Christian worship.
Early Church worshipped at the Temple, at synagogues, and in house churches.
Three great liturgical shifts: from houses, to catacombs, to basilicas. Traces of all!
The basic structure consists of Gathering, Word, Meal, and Sending.
Sunday worship exists to empower the church at home: gather in, send back out.
The gradual evolution of ordination: three major, four minor.
Monthly—The Psalter
The Psalms are the original hymn book of both Judaism and Christianity.
They come in many genres: lament, royal, thanksgiving, wisdom, miscellaneous.
These were sung in the Temple at Jerusalem. They are thousands of years old.
Psalms are incorporated into the liturgies of every worship service.
Many monastic orders sing all 150 Psalms from memory every day. The Rosary.
Liturgy of the Hours for Anglicans and Lutherans sings all Psalms each month.
Annual—The Seasons of the Church
Advent: a hopeful, simple, and preparatory season for the Nativity of Our Lord.
Christmas: the 12-day celebration of Jesus’ birth and associated events.
Epiphany: God’s “manifestation” in Jesus’ life: Magi, Baptism, Wedding at Cana.
Lent: a penitential, preparatory season for Holy Week: Palm Sunday, Triduum.
Easter: the 50-day celebration of the Resurrection of Our Lord.
Pentecost: “Ordinary Time,” the Season of the Church; the longest of the seasons.
Multiannual—Lectionaries
The Liturgy of the Hours in the BCP and LBW read all of Scripture in two years.
Sundays in Western traditions follow a three-year Revised Common Lectionary.
Initially there were only two Christian holidays: Passover and the Lord’s Day.
Every Sunday is the Resurrection. And Easter is Sunday for the entire year.
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