The Christmas cycle
In a previous post I offered a general outline of the church calendar, as two cycles of seasons standing out from the ordinary passage of the year. Today I focus on the first of those, the Christmas cycle. At present the ways the Christmas cycle is organised differs slightly between the Roman Catholic lectionary and the Revised Common Lectionary, on the one hand, and the Church of England’s lectionary on the other, by extending the post-Christmas celebration. This means there are two ways of constructing the Christmas cycle. The illustration is of the Church of England’s. Advent, Christmas, Epiphany In both lectionaries, the season of preparation begins four Sundays before Christmas Day, with the First Sunday of Advent. Depending on how early in the week Christmas comes, Advent lasts between three and four weeks. When Christmas falls on a Monday it is three weeks and a day; when Christmas falls on a Sunday it is a full four weeks. Over the course of time, Adv...