One week to go! – The Liturgical Year
Our ‘Ora et Labora’ journal launches in only one week’s time!
Over the next seven days, I will be sharing with you some of the features included in the journal so you can see if it is something that may be of benefit to you in this season with the Lord.
Today we begin with the liturgical year.
You may be familiar with the liturgical year or it may be something that is new to you. A handful of years ago when I left my Baptist and Evangelical roots and became an Anglican it was certainly new, and yes even slightly confusing, to me.
In its simplest form the liturgical year is a way to annually remember the life ministry, death and resurrection of Christ and the ongoing ministry of the Church.
The liturgical or Church year is divided into seven seasons. It begins with Advent, a season of preparation, which lasts for four weeks and looks forward to the season of Christmas. After the twelve days of Christmas, the visit of the wise men to Jesus is remembered at Epiphany. After this there is a short period of Ordinary Time before Lent begins. The six weeks of Lent prepare us for Easter, which celebrates Jesus’ resurrection from the dead, leading forward to his Ascension and the gift of the Holy Spirit to the Church at Pentecost. Ordinary Time then resumes until the end of the year.
This edition of our journal will contain the seasons of advent, christmas, epiphany and the season of ordinary time which follows the epiphany (1st December – 4th March). Each liturgical season has an introduction to the season, some suggestions on ways you can celebrate it and some questions you may wish to take into your journaling practice.
Through the ‘Ora et Labora’ journal we want to invite you to walk through the liturgical year with the wider Church. Using each season as a chance to reflect and ponder on the mysteries and gifts of our faith as you walk with the Lord.
