The Church Calendar has 2 fixed points, Nativity of the Lord (Christmas) always on December 25th and Easter, the first Sunday after the first full moon occurring on or after the spring equinox.
The Calendar starts on Advent Sunday and marks the beginning of the period of waitng for the birth of Jesus.
The calendar below shows the current year and the past and future years.
| Lectionary Year | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| 2023 | 2024 | 2025 | |
| Advent Sunday | Sun 27 Nov 22 | Sun 3 Dec 23 | Sun 1 Dec 24 |
| Christmas Eve | Sat 24 Dec 22 | Sun 24 Dec 23 | Tue 24 Dec 24 |
| Christmas Day | Sun 25 Dec 22 | Mon 25 Dec 23 | Wed 25 Dec 24 |
| Epiphany | Fri 6 Jan 23 | Sat 6 Jan 24 | Mon 6 Jan 25 |
| Epiphany Sunday | Sun 8 Jan 23 | Sun 7 Jan 24 | Sun 5 Jan 25 |
| Ash Wednesday | Wed 22 Feb 23 | Wed 14 Feb 24 | Wed 5 Mar 25 |
| Palm Sunday | Sun 2 Apr 23 | Sun 24 Mar 24 | Sun 13 Apr 25 |
| Maundy Thursday | Thu 6 Apr 23 | Thu 28 Mar 24 | Thu 17 Apr 25 |
| Good Friday | Fri 7 Apr 23 | Fri 29 Mar 24 | Fri 18 Apr 25 |
| Easter Sunday | Sun 9 Apr 23 | Sun 31 Mar 24 | Sun 20 Apr 25 |
| Ascension | Thu 18 May 23 | Thu 9 May 24 | Thu 29 May 25 |
| Ascension Sunday | Sun 21 May 23 | Sun 12 May 24 | Sun 1 Jun 25 |
| Pentecost | Sun 28 May 23 | Sun 19 May 24 | Sun 8 Jun 25 |
| Trinity Sunday | Sun 4 Jun 23 | Sun 26 May 24 | Sun 15 Jun 25 |
| All Saints Sunday | Sun 5 Nov 23 | Sun 3 Nov 24 | Sun 2 Nov 25 |
| French Public Holidays | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| 2023 | 2024 | 2025 | |
| Jour de l'an | Sun 1 Jan 23 | Mon 1 Jan 24 | Wed 1 Jan 25 |
| Lundi de Pâques | Mon 10 Apr 23 | Mon 1 Apr 24 | Mon 21 Apr 25 |
| Fête du Travail | Mon 1 May 23 | Wed 1 May 24 | Thu 1 May 25 |
| 8 Mai 1945 | Mon 8 May 23 | Wed 8 May 24 | Thu 8 May 25 |
| Ascension | Thu 18 May 23 | Thu 9 May 24 | Thu 29 May 25 |
| Lundi de Pentecôte | Mon 29 May 23 | Mon 20 May 24 | Mon 9 Jun 25 |
| Fête Nationale | Fri 14 Jul 23 | Sun 14 Jul 24 | Mon 14 Jul 25 |
| Assomption | Tue 15 Aug 23 | Thu 15 Aug 24 | Fri 15 Aug 25 |
| La Toussaint | Wed 1 Nov 23 | Fri 1 Nov 24 | Sat 1 Nov 25 |
| Armistice | Sat 11 Nov 23 | Mon 11 Nov 24 | Tue 11 Nov 25 |
| Noël | Mon 25 Dec 23 | Wed 25 Dec 24 | Thu 25 Dec 25 |
How the Calendar is created
Advent :
Advent always has four Sundays, but it can be either three or four weeks long. When Advent 4 is on Dec 24th, the morning is Advent 4 and the afternoon is Christmas Eve.
Advent Sundays are calculated finding the 4 Sundays before December 25th, even if one of those Sundays is Christmas Eve. There can be up to two Sundays after Christmas, but most years there is only one.
Epiphany :
Epiphany (6 Jan) is 12 days after Christmas (25 Dec). This is the twelve days of Christmas. The Sunday nearest to January 6th can be celebrated as Epiphany Sunday, if the nearest Sunday is after Epiphany it can be either "Epiphany Sunday" or "The Baptism of the Lord" based on local preference.
Epiphany Sundays are then counted until the Sunday before Ash Wednesday. The readings labelled the "Last Sunday of Epiphany", are always last. So, if you have five weeks of Epiphany, instead of celebrating the fifth week, you celebrate the "Last Sunday of Epiphany". A good way to remember is that the Last Sunday of Epiphany has the Ash Wednesday readings.
Lent :
Lent always has 46 days, 40 not counting the Sundays (which are a feast day in Lent). Lent is always calculated back from Easter. Lent, like Advent and the Easter Season, has a fixed number of Sundays; the other seasons expand and contract to fit them.
Easter :
In 325AD the Council of Nicaea established that Easter would be held on the first Sunday after the first full moon occurring on or after the spring equinox. From that point forward, the Easter date has depended on the ecclesiastical approximation of March 21st for the equinox. Easter is delayed by one week if the full moon is on Sunday. Easter can be as early March 21st (the year 1818) or late as May 10th (the year 2268).
Easter determines these dates
- Ash Wednesday (47 days before Easter)
- Ascension Day (10 days before Whit Sunday)
- Palm Sunday (1 week before Easter Sunday)
- Pentecost (Whit Sunday) (7 weeks after Easter Sunday)
The Easter Season always has seven Sundays, plus Pentecost.
Day of Pentecost :
Pentecost Sunday ends the fiftieth day after Easter (the Greek word for "50th" is “Pentecost” ). It does not begin a “Pentecost Season”. The earliest possible date is May 10th in 1818 and 2286, (Proper 1), and the latest possible date is June 13th, 1943 and 2038 (Proper 6).
Trinity Sunday :
The first Sunday after Pentecost. The Earliest possible date is 17th May, 1818 and 2286, (Proper 2) and the latest date is 20th June, (Proper 7) 1943 and 2038. Ordinary Time: (aka Kingdomtide)
Ordinary Time :
Ordinary time, does not mean common. It refers to Ordinal time, or Ordinal numbers, which means First, Second, Third etc, which are ranks, versus Cardinal numbers which are 1,2,3,.. which means how many. Ordinary weeks are set backward from the last week of the Church Year, which is always Proper 29.
When do the Proper’s start? It has been determined that earliest possible Day of Pentecost is May 10th, hence Proper 1 is the closest to May 11th.
The Propers are planned backward. The Sunday before Advent 1 (of the next year) is Proper 29, then the Propers fill in before that until they hit Pentecost and the Proper closet to that Sunday after Pentecost is used. The early Propers are rarely used, but those readings still find their way into the lectionary, because they are repeats of the last weeks of Epiphany. You may notice the readings for Proper 1 are the same as the readings for the 6th Sunday after Epiphany; Proper 2 is the same as seventh Sunday after Epiphany. This continues to the 8th Sunday after Epiphany, the greatest number of Sundays possible after Epiphany.
- Sixth Sunday After Epiphany = Proper 1
- Seventh Sunday After Epiphany = Proper 2
- Eighth Sunday After Epiphany = Proper 3