The celebration of the liturgical year is living the life of Christ, all its stages from birth to death.
Origin of the Liturgical Year
The Christian holidays have emerged gradually over the centuries. These stem from a desire to deepen the Catholic Church in the various phases of the life of Christ. It started with the party Sunday and Easter, Pentecost and then joined, eventually, others. The missionaries, to evangelize the Christian holidays were introduced trying to give a different meaning to the pagan festivals of the village where they were. We can compare it to a person who receives a beautiful gift wrap, which stores and then used to wrap and give another gift. The church took pagan holidays of some external forms and gave them a new content, the true Christian sense.
The first festival was held Sunday. Then, with Easter as the only annual festival, we decided to celebrate the birth of Christ on the winter solstice, the day that many pagan peoples celebrated the rebirth of the sun. Instead of celebrating the "Sun of Justice", the Creator God is celebrated. Thus, little by little, he shaped the liturgical year with a series of feasts, happy, reflection or repentance.
The liturgy is the way to celebrate our faith. Not only we have faith and live according to it, but we celebrate it with actions that express worship in community and public, our worship Jesus Christ present with us in the Church. By living the Liturgy, we enrich the gifts come from God's redemptive action.
The liturgy is the set of sensible signs, effective, holiness and devotion to the Church. Is the set of the public prayer of the Church and the sacramental celebration.
Leitourgia Liturgy comes from the Greek, meaning public service usually offered by an individual to the community. The Second Vatican Council in the "Constitution on the Liturgy" tells us: "The liturgy is the exercise of the priesthood of Jesus Christ. In it, the sensible signs mean and each in its way, the sanctification of man made and thus the mystical body of Christ, ie the Head and its members, full public worship is performed. "
The liturgy is a sacred action par excellence, prayer or action any human being can match the work of Christ and his Church and all of a person or group. It is the source from which flows all the strength of the Church. It is the primary and indispensable source from which to drink all the faithful the Christian spirit. The liturgy invites you to make a commitment to life-transforming, realizing the Kingdom of God. The Church is sanctified through it and must exist in the liturgy by the faithful, full, conscious and active.
Every liturgical celebration has a triple meaning:
1. Reminder: All major development should be remembered. For example, the anniversary of the birth of Christ, His passion and death, etc..
2. Presence: It is Christ who is present in the liturgical celebrations by giving spiritual graces to all those who participate in them, according to the ultimate purpose of the Church is to save all men of all time.
3. Standby: Every liturgical celebration is a prophetic proclamation of the hope of establishing the Kingdom of Christ on earth and one day reach the heavenly home.
The liturgical year is the development of the mysteries of life, death and resurrection of Christ and the celebration of the saints that the Church proposes to us throughout the year. It's live and not just remember the story of salvation. This is done through festivals and celebrations. Are held and updated the most important stages of the plan of salvation. It is a journey of faith that takes us into and invites us to deepen the mystery of salvation. A journey of faith to explore and experience the divine love that leads to salvation.
The seasons
The liturgical year is made up of different seasons. These are times when the Church invites us to think and live according to some of the mysteries of the life of Christ. He begins with the Advent, then comes Christmas, Epiphany, First Ordinary Time, Lent, Easter, Passover, Easter Season, Pentecost, Ordinary Time Second and ends with the feast of Christ the King.
In each liturgical season, the priest chasuble is coated with different colors:
White signifies joy and purity. Used in time for Christmas and Easter
Green means hope. Used in Ordinary Time
Purple means mourning and penance. It is used in Advent, Lent and Easter
Red means the fire of the Holy Spirit and martyrdom. It is used in the feasts of the holy martyrs and Pentecost.
Advent is a time of waiting for the birth of God in the world. Remember Christ is born in Bethlehem and will come again as King at the end of time. It is a time of change and to commit ourselves to prayer and look forward to Christ. It is paving the way for Christmas. This consists of the liturgical season four weeks before the December 25, covering the four Sundays of Advent.
At the end of Advent, Christmas starts on time, ranging from Christmas or Birthday, celebrated on December 25 and reminds us that God came into this world to save us.
The Epiphany (= manifectación) is held every January 6 and reminds the public manifestation of God to all men. This concludes the Christmas season.
The First Ordinary Time is the one from the feast of the Epiphany until the beginning of Lent. In the First and Second Ordinary Time of the liturgical year, not held any particular aspect of the mystery of Christ. In both times deepen the different moments in the life of Christ to enter into the history of salvation.
Lent begins with Ash Wednesday and lasts forty days before Easter Triduum. It is time to prepare for Easter or Pass of the Lord. It is a time of prayer, penance and fasting. It's time for a change of heart.
Holy Week begins with Palm Sunday and ends with Easter Sunday. In the Paschal Triduum is remembered and lives with Christ his passion, death and resurrection.
Easter Sunday is the biggest feast of the Church, which celebrates the Resurrection of Jesus. It is the Lord's final victory over death and the first fruits of our resurrection.
Weather Easter is a time of peace, joy and hope. Lasts fifty days from Easter Sunday to Pentecost, which is the celebration of the coming of the Holy Spirit upon the apostles. In this party is open our hearts to the gifts of the Holy Spirit.
After Pentecost Ordinary Time is the second of the liturgical year that ends with the feast of Christ the King.
The axis of the liturgical year is Easter. The high points are the Advent and Lent.
During Advent, Christmas and Epiphany relive the joyful expectation of the Messiah in the Incarnation. There is a preparation for the coming of the Lord at the end of time: "Wine, come and come back."
During Lent, they revive Israel's march through the desert and rising of Jesus into Jerusalem. He lives the mystery of Death and Resurrection of Christ: "Conversion and meditation on the Word of God."
In the Easter season is experienced Easter, Ascension and Pentecost in 50 days. It celebrates the great Sunday: "He's dead, alive, Come Lord Jesus!
In ordinary times, the Church continues to build the kingdom of Christ, moved by the Spirit and nourished by the Word: "The Spirit makes the Church the Body of Christ today."
The changes in dates of some festivals of the liturgical year.
The liturgical year is set from the lunar cycle, ie, does not adhere strictly to the calendar year. The most important festival of the Catholics, Easter coincides with the festival of "Passover" or Passover, it is performed when the moon is full. It is believed that the night that the Jewish people fled from Egypt, was a full moon which allowed them to dispense with the lamps to keep them from Pharaoh's soldiers discovered.
The Church fixes her liturgical year from the full moon occurs from March or April. Therefore, when Jesus celebrated the Last Supper with his disciples, respecting the Jewish tradition of the Passover - the passage of the chosen people through the Red Sea to the promised land - must have been a full moon night. This fact is repeated every Holy Thursday.
The Church marks this date as the center of the liturgical year and other festivals that are associated with this date change from day to celebrate one or two weeks.
The holidays that change from year to year, are:
· Wednesday Ash
· Week Santa
· The Ascension of the Lord
· Pentecost
· Festivals of Christ the King
Now, there are liturgical feasts that never change the date, including:
· Christmas
· Epiphany
· Candelaria
· Festivals in San Pedro and San Pablo
· The Assumption
. Festival of All Saints
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