The calendar orders the liturgical year (also known as the Christian year) of the Anglican Church by identifying two cycles of feasts and holy days – one dependent upon the movable date of Easter Day and the other dependent upon the fixed date of Christmas, December 25. Easter Day is the first Sunday after the full moon that falls on or after March 21. The sequence of all Sundays in the church year is based on the date of Easter. For more information, click here.
Distinct liturgical colors used in Anglican worship signify our place in the different seasons of the Church Year: white, the color of Jesus’ burial garments, for Christmas, Easter, and other ‘feasts’ or festival days, as well as marriages and funerals; purple/violet for Advent (or royal blue) and Lent (or unbleached linen); red is used in Holy Week, the Day of Pentecost, and at ordinations; green is used during Epiphany and the “Ordinary Time” after Pentecost.
In addition, throughout the liturgical seasons variance may be noted in manner of prayer, theological emphases, and church decor. Readings of Holy Scripture are specified in The Revised Common Lectionary, a three-year cycle of Sunday Eucharistic readings in which Matthew, Mark, and Luke are read in successive years with parts of the text of John read in each year. For today’s lessons, click here.