Saints LightThe Liturgical Year and Its Colors
The Church's year begins in Advent and walks through Christ's life, with Easter at its heart. The priest's colors tell you the season: green, violet, white, red, and sometimes rose or black.
What this lesson teaches
- The liturgical year walks through the whole mystery of Christ, beginning on the First Sunday of Advent.
- Its seasons are Advent, Christmas, Ordinary Time, Lent, the Easter Triduum and Easter.
- The Easter Triduum is the summit of the year, and every Sunday is a little Easter.
- Vestment colors mark the seasons: green, violet, white or gold, red, and sometimes rose or black.
Catechism paragraphs this lesson cites
- CCC 1163
- CCC 1166-1168
- CCC 1170-1173
- CCC 1194
CCC means the Catechism of the Catholic Church. Saints Light teaches it in its own words and never quotes it. Look up any paragraph in a printed copy or at vatican.va. See every lesson by paragraph in the Catechism index.
Scripture read in this lesson: Ecclesiastes 3:1; Psalm 117:24 (118:24 in most modern Bibles).
A sample question from this lesson
When does the liturgical year begin?
- On January 1
- On Ash Wednesday
- On the First Sunday of Advent
- On Easter Sunday
Show the answer
On the First Sunday of Advent. The liturgical year begins on the First Sunday of Advent, four Sundays before Christmas.
The lesson in the app has three questions, each with an explanation.
Words to know
- Liturgical year
- The Church's yearly cycle of seasons and feasts, beginning on the First Sunday of Advent.
- Easter Triduum
- The three days from the evening of Holy Thursday to Easter Sunday, the high point of the year.
More terms in the Catholic glossary. More passages in the Scripture index.
Read the full lesson in the app
"The Liturgical Year and Its Colors" is lesson 9 of The Mass, Explained. In Saints Light you get the whole teaching, the Scripture quoted in full, all three questions and a step to live it this week.
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