The Lillian United Methodist Church
12770 S. Perdido Street   Lillian, Alabama 36549
(251) 962-4336
Rev. Dr. James A. Belcher, Pastor
 
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Liturgical Calendar 

   

The word liturgy comes from a Greek word meaning "work of the people." The term refers to the entire order of worship and is generally used in churches where the congregation performs parts of the worship service by speaking or praying in unison.  Life is a process through which we are continually evolving through cycles within ever increasing cycles. The Liturgical Calendar is a path, a journey, a series of services, ceremonies, rituals and public worship that follows a yearly cycle of birth, life, death and resurrection  through Jesus the Christ.

 The calendar is divided in four parts:

Advent to Christmas through Epiphany
Time after Epiphany
Lent to Easter through Pentecost
Kingdomtide (Time after Pentecost)
Advent to Christmas through Epiphany
Advent means “coming”, anticipating the Coming of the Lord. The four Sundays before Christmas are called Advent Sundays and are a time to prepare for Christ coming into our lives and into our world. In the Catholic Church they celebrate first ardent Love, then the virtue of Hope, spiritual Joy and intense Desire. In the Protestant Churches the sequence varies but generally following the sequence of Hope, Joy, Peace and Love.
            At Christmas we remember and celebrate the birth of Jesus. For Christians the principal purpose of the Christmas cycle is to remind us of the radical transformation effected in our human life. By coming into this world to take upon Himself our human nature, Gods own Son did not merely become one of us; He gave us the power of becoming real children of God. A new race, a holy people, whom He, with his Divine Life, leads to the heavenly throne.
            Christmas began in Rome as a response to pagan festivals centering around the Winter Solstice, which at that time was December 25th. The pagan celebration established by the Roman Emperor Aurelian in 274 AD was called “The Birth of the Invincible Sun” or “The Mystic Midnight Sun.” In 335 AD, Roman Christians began to celebrate the Nativity of Jesus Christ on December 25th to assert their Christian faith during the pagan feast, with January 1st as the day of Holy Name which commemorates Jesus’ circumcision, when he was give his name.
            Generally misunderstood as being the days before Christmas, the Twelve Days of Christmas start after Christmas Day and end at Epiphany. The eighth day, January 1st, is the day Jesus would have been circumcised and given his name according to Jewish tradition. Luke 2:21 
            Epiphany is a festival held on January 6th or the first Sunday of the new year, which commemorates the manifestation of Christ to the Gentiles as represented by the Magi; also called the Twelfth Night. The word epiphany means an appearance or manifestation, as of a deity or a moment of sudden intuitive understanding; flash of insight.
       Time After Epiphany    
Sometimes called Ordinary Time, the word ordinary refers to ordinal, meaning counted time. It is not meant to imply common or mundane time. It is a time of transition from the joy of Christmas to the sorrow of Lent. The time after Epiphany is when we reflect on the events of the life of Jesus and how these events have significance today, both as a church and within our individual lives. The length of this season varies each year from four to nine Sundays, depending on how early or late Easter falls in a given year. The first Sunday after the Epiphany is the Baptism of the Lord and the last Sunday before the beginning of Lent is the Transfiguration of the Lord.    

Lent to Easter through Pentecost

Lent is the period of forty days, excluding Sundays, from Ash Wednesday to Easter, observed annually as a season of fasting, penitence and self-denial. Lent was fixed at forty days in the 8th century, the number forty having religious significance in the Bible. It is the period of prayer and self-denial in preparation of Easter. The term “Lent” comes from the old Anglo Saxon word “lenctern”, which meant spring.

Ash Wednesday is the beginning of Lent, where the ashes of the palm fronds from Palm Sunday of the previous year are smeared on the foreheads of penitents symbolizing contrition and repentance.

Palm Sunday is also known as Passion Sunday, meaning sorrows. Originally in the Catholic Church the fifth Sunday of Lent was Passion Sunday. In 1970 Passion Sunday was changed to the sixth Sunday of Lent, the same as Palm Sunday, and caused considerable confusion. The entire week before Easter was re-designated and Holy Week became the Week of Passion.

Beginning Holy Week on Palm Sunday palm fronds are blessed outside the church building and a procession enters, singing, re-enacting the entry into Jerusalem. These palms are saved in many churches to be burned later as the source of ashes used in Ash Wednesday services.

During Holy Week, the last week of Lent, we are filled with sorrow with each day having significance.

Holy Monday commemorates Jesus’ cleansing of the temple, when he assaulted money changers and overturned their tables; Matthew 21:12-13, Mark 11:12, Luke 19:45.

Holy Tuesday recalls Jesus’ description to his disciples on the Mount of Olives of the destruction of Jerusalem. Signs of the End of the Age; Matthew 24;  Mark 13; Luke 21.

Holy Wednesday once called Spy Wednesday, recalls Judas’ decision to betray Jesus in exchange for 30 pieces of silver. Matthew 26:14; Luke 22:1-6.

Maundy Thursday commemorates the last Passover Feast of Jesus known as the Last Supper. Matthew 26: 17-30, Mark 14: 12-20,  Luke 22: 17-38, John: 13: 1-17 “Maundy” is derived from the Latin “mandatum” a commandment of God. In addition to the commandment “Do this in remembrance of me” there are two others within this time period; John 13:3-7 where Jesus washes the feet of the disciples and commands them to do the same. And in John 13:34-35 a new commandment of Love is given.

Good Friday recalls Jesus’ death on the cross with the crucifixion representing the giving up of the individual personality and learning to live daily by the spiritual laws.

Holy Saturday or Easter Eve is the final day of Holy Week and of Lent. It is the dark night of the soul, a time of soul searching, of accepting and assimilating all we have learned since Ash Wednesday.

Easter Sunday, the day of Resurrection.

Easter Sunday falls on the first Sunday after the first full moon after March 20th the nominal date of the Spring Equinox and can fall on any date from March 22nd to April 25th a year-to-year sequence that is so complicated it takes 5.7 million years to repeat.

            Early Christians observed Pascha, Christian Passover, in the Spring of the year. Adapted from Jewish Passover, Pascha was a festival of redemption and commemorated both the crucifixion and resurrection of Jesus as the vehicle for God’s grace. While historical records are not clear, it is likely that early Jewish Christians observed both Passover (Pesach) and Pascha. However, many Gentile converts were hesitant to adopt the Jewish festival, especially since the Jerusalem Council had decided that Gentile converts to Christianity did not have to observe Jewish religious practices, Acts 15. By the fourth century Easter moved into a distinctively Christian celebration of the Resurrection, with Good Friday commemorating Jesus’ crucifixion and death. In the early church, converts were baptized into church membership on this day after a lengthy period of instruction. This tradition continues today in some churches.

            The name “Easter” possibly originated with the name of an ancient Goddess Eostre. She was the Great Mother Goddess of the Saxon people in Northern Europe. Her name was derived from the ancient word for spring, “eastre.” Similar Goddesses were known by other names in ancient cultures around the Mediterranean and were celebrated in the springtime, notably the German Ostara who was believed to have had hare’s ears or a hare’s head. From this association comes the Ostern Hare or the Easter Bunny.

            A possible alternative explanation is the name given by the Frankish church to Jesus’ resurrection festival. It included the Latin word “alba” which means “white” and also has a second meaning “sunrise.” When the name of the festival was translated into German, the “sunrise” meaning was selected in error. This became “ostern” in German and has been proposed as the origin of the word “Easter”.

            Following Easter Sunday until Pentecost, Jesus visits the disciples many times. Three are mentioned specifically and celebrated in many churches.

First Visitation to the Apostles: John 20:19-25 The day following Easter, known as Easter Monday, commemorates the first visitation of Jesus to the apostles which was unexpected and after which, Thomas not being present, avowed his skepticism.

Second Visitation to the Apostles: John 20:26-31 The first Sunday after Easter is called Low Sunday because of the final removal of the white robes that are used by the persons being prepared for Baptism at Easter. This is the second visitation and the first planned visit to the disciples by Jesus, where Thomas was present and believed.

Third Visitation to the Apostles: John 21:1-19 The third visitation at the Sea of Tiberias Jesus charges the Apostles with their ministry.

Ascension Day marks the bodily ascent of Christ into heaven and is commemorated the fortieth day after Easter, also called Holy Thursday. The church has accepted the account in Acts 1:1-11 and Luke 24:50-53 and although tradition states that it was first celebrated in the year 68 AD it did not become formally recognized by the church until the late 3rd century.

The Easter Season ends at Pentecost, a celebration occurring seven weeks or 49 days after Easter Sunday. It recalls the visitation of the Holy Spirit to the Apostles and the disciples in Acts 2:1-41.  The day was originally a Jewish festival which was called “Pentecost” because it was observed 50 days after Passover. The Greek word for the 50th day is pentecoste. This is usually regarded as the date of the birth of the Christian church and the time of the Great Baptism. The celebration was mentioned in a 2nd century book and was formally recognized in the 3rd century. Also called Whitsunday or White Sunday, so called from the white robes worn by recently baptized persons on that day.

Time after Pentecost

Also known as Kingdomtide, this time between Pentecost and Advent is less structured by tradition and can be a time when churches and individuals can be creative; a time for a greater understanding of the message of Jesus. The first Sunday after Pentecost is Trinity Sunday and the last Sunday before Advent is Christ the King Sunday.