St. Francis Seasonal Observances
Christ's Church has long observed special seasons of the year which have been helpful in celebrating the life, death, and Resurrection of her Lord Jesus. Special calendars were created and repeatedly revised, in the life of the Church, to guide the celebrations so that we could take comfort in knowing that the whole Church, throughout the world, was worshiping together to honor the Lord in the same way. Unhappily, the unity of the Church has suffered by divisions into East and West, Catholic and Protestant, and more. Despite these divisions, we still largely celebrate the same seasons, albeit at slightly different times. Our parish loosely follows something called The Ordo Calendar.
The liturgical year at St. Francis is divided into the seasons of: Advent, Christmas, Epiphany, Ordinary Time, Lent, and Easter.
Advent
The Christian year begins, near the end of the secular year, with the season of Advent. This is a time of preparation for the coming of the Lord into our world through His birth, the taking of the flesh, or the Incarnation. The word Advent comes from the Latin adventus, which means "coming". Another theme for the season is preparation for the Second Coming of our Lord, when he will come as the Judge of All Men. The lessons in the Mass during this time refer to both themes: the coming of the Messiah to save us and the coming of the Judge, who will separate the wheat from the chaff. Since it is a time of preparation, the color for the season is purple. During Advent, a special wreath is hung in the church that contains four candles, one for each week of the season. Each week, an additional candle is lit, so the number of candles burning corresponds to the number of the week in Advent. The candles are all purple, except for the third one, which is a pink, or rose-colored, candle. This rose candle is a sign of God's Mercy because the third Sunday takes on a more joyous tone and the preparation "lightens up" a little. Advent is also a reminder to Christians that we are "in the world, not of the world." We are making solemn preparations while most of our neighbors are partying, showing their lights and generally celebrating before the glad time has begun.
Christmas
The season following Advent is Christmastide, the season of the Incarnation. The celebration begins on the evening of December 24th (Christmas Eve) and continues for 12 days through January 5th. Christmas Eve at St. Francis is marked by a Service of Lessons and Carols, where there is Bible reading and joyous singing with the Choir performing wonderful hymns from the great masters alternating with the Congregation singing traditional Christmas carols. This is followed by a High Mass with lots of Handel and Mozart Latin coming from the Choir Loft and more beautiful harmony. The evening is topped off with a party in the Parish Hall after the Mass. There is another Mass with joyful music on Christmas Day. The color of Christmastide is white. Once again, we are reminded of being in and not of the world because we are still partying heartily all twelve days: our neighbors have pulled down their trees and put away the lights, but our houses are still shining brightly. We also celebrate the feasts of several martyrs during this time: St. Stephen on the 26th, St. Thomas Becket on the 29th, and the Holy Innocents on the 28th. We usually have a party on the 28th to honor the innocent children who were killed by King Herod in a vain attempt to kill the child Jesus. People are invited to bring gifts to the party that are donated to the centers that help save babies from abortion. Lately, this party is being attended by a lot of our Roman Catholic friends who are also pro-life. The last major feast day in Christmastide is January 1st, the Feast of the Holy Name, also called the Feast of the Circumcision. Another part of our Christmastide celebration involves the Crèche (or Nativity Scene), which is set up inside the church during Advent, without the figure of the baby Jesus or the Wise Men. At the Christmas Eve Mass, the procession of the Altar Party stops in the Nave, in front of the Crèche; the Priest deposits the tiny figure of the baby Jesus into the manger; and he pronounces a Blessing on the Crèche, before continuing into the Sanctuary. From that time forward, people may kneel in front of the Crèche, treating it as a tiny shrine, and pray to Jesus (not using the tiny figure as an idol, but as a blessed object that causes one to think of the real Jesus). The figures of the Three Wise Men, with their camels and servants, are placed on the Nave window sill farthest from the Crèche in the form of a small caravan. Every day, during Christmastide, the caravan is moved one window closer until, on the last day of the season, they are in the closest window.
Epiphany
When the season of Epiphany arrives, on January 6th, the Wise Men and their caravan have arrived at the Crèche. We celebrate the Octave of the Epiphany as the season, which means that it ends after eight days, on January 13th. The liturgical color for the octave continues white from Christmastide. This holiday has been changed a lot over the years between the churches of the East and West. The word Epiphany means "appearance" or "revelation" in Greek. The word "revelation" has been taken to mean "shining forth", also. In the Anglican Communion, the holiday has been taken to celebrate the arrival of the three Persian priests, "Magi", or "Wise Men", who were the first Gentiles (i.e., non-Jews) to see Jesus, so it represents the "Revelation to the Gentiles". Because the men (traditionally named Caspar, Melchior, and Balthazar) brought presents to Jesus, some have taken the holiday to be the right time to distribute Christmas presents. Another event associated with Epiphany (but much later in the earthly life of Jesus) was the Baptism of Our Lord in the Jordan River, which we celebrate on the first Sunday after Epiphany.
Ordinary Time
The next period in the year, between January 14th and Shrove Tuesday, is part of what is called "Ordinary Time"; the other part of Ordinary Time stretches between the seasons of Easter and Advent. The weeks in each part of this divided season are numbered sequentially, with the Sundays after Easter being the nth Sunday after Pentecost. The color for Ordinary Time is green. As in other seasons, special days may have their own colors. The feasts of martyrs use the color red and the feasts of other saints, who were not martyred, use white. The priest's vestments and the covers for the Tabernacle (on the Altar) and the Legillium (the folding, portable lectern) are in the color of the day.
Lent
Lent is a season of preparation for the most important event in the Christian year, the Resurrection of Our Lord from the dead. The color for the season is the same as for Advent, royal purple; except for the last week, which is mostly red. The season is a time of soul-searching and repentance, a time of fasting and prayer patterned after the retreat of Jesus into the desert where He fasted for forty days and overcame Satan's temptations. Many people give up favorite vices, add something that will bring them closer to God, and give the time or money spent doing that to charitable purposes. It is a good time to seek Spiritual Direction. In the English-speaking part of the world, the season has been called Lent since the Middle Ages, referring to the spring of the year when the days are getting longer. In most other languages, the season is still called by some form of the Latin quadragesima, referring to the "fortieth day" before Easter.
The anticipation of the season begins on the eve of Lent, on Shrove Tuesday. Also called Mardi Gras (French for Fat Tuesday) or Carnival (Latin for Farewell to meat), the Parish hosts a big pot-luck party with lots of meat dishes, pancakes, sweets, modest amounts of alcoholic beverages, and other items that are typically given up for Lent. In some places (e.g., New Orleans), this Mardi Gras celebration has blossomed into a multiple-week season of its own.
There are many special occasions during the forty days of Lent. In Western Christianity, the season begins on Ash Wednesday, the seventh Wednesday before Easter. The six Sundays in those weeks are not counted in the forty days because every Sunday in the year is a Feast of the Resurrection and one cannot feast and fast at the same time. Christians receive the sign of the Cross on Ash Wednesday with ashes on their foreheads and the words, "Remember, Oh man, that dust thou art and to dust thou shalt return." At St. Francis, there is a service of Stations of the Cross every Friday during Lent. This is a depiction of the Via Dolorosa (Way of the Cross), fourteen events on Our Lord's journey from Pontius Pilate to the grave. On every Friday, except in Holy Week, there is also a Benediction of the Blessed Sacrament, after which everyone gathers in the Parish Hall for a humble, but tasty, meal and a half-hour lesson from a visiting priest. All during Lent, the word Alleluia is not used and the Gloria in Excelsis Deo is not sung.
Two weeks before Easter Sunday is Passion Sunday, the beginning of Passiontide. The Crucifix over the Altar and all statues within the church are veiled in purple and all icons are removed, in accordance with the Passion Sunday Gospel (John 8:46-59), in which Jesus "hid Himself" from the people.
The last week of Lent, Holy Week, is a tableau of the Passion of Christ. It begins with Palm Sunday, where the congregation receives palm fronds and marches with them around the church, celebrating the entrance of Jesus into Jerusalem and His joyous reception by the people, just before His death. The colors in the church change from purple to red. When congregation marches into the church for the Mass, the mood changes from the joyous reception to the betrayal and pain of the Passion of Christ. The normal Gospel Procession in the Mass is replaced by a somewhat theatrical four-part presentation of the Passion Gospel. One part is chanted by a Narrator, another part for Pontius Pilate, a deep bass part for Jesus Christ, and the fourth part by the Choir for the crowd who shout, "Crucify Him, crucify Him!".
The last three days of Holy Week form the Easter Triduum. Maundy Thursday commemorates the new commandment (i.e., maundatum) that Christ gave to the Apostles to love each other the way that He had loved them. No music or bells are used in the Parish after the Gloria (with one exception) until Easter begins. The Maundy Thursday Mass celebrates the "Last Supper", the institution of the Holy Eucharist. Selected members of the congregation come forward to have their feet washed by the priest during the Mass. The color for Maundy Thursday is white. After the Mass, the Blessed Sacrament is removed from the High Altar to an Altar of Repose in a Side Chapel and the entire Sanctuary is stripped bare. Parishioners sign up for time slots to accompany the Sacrament in Repose throughout the night. And He came to the disciples and found them sleeping; and He said to Peter, "So, could you not watch with Me one hour?" -- Matthew 26:40. The next day, Good Friday, there are two rounds of Stations of the Cross, special meditations, and a Low Mass using the Reserved Sacrament. The Gospel Procession in the Mass is once again replaced by the four-part presentation of the Passion Gospel. All that remains of the Holy Sacrament is consumed after the Mass and the Tower Bell tolls 33 times to commemorate each year in the life of Jesus on Earth before his death. This lonely sound is the same as the tradition in every Requium Mass, after the death of anyone in our Parish. The color for Good Friday is black. Holy Saturday passes without celebration; with the church stripped of all its glory, the Sanctuary Light (a candle that usually marks the presence of the Holy Sacrament) is out, and the door of the Tabernacle (that normally contains the Holy Sacrament) stands open behind the bare Altar, revealing an empty space in the heart of the church.
Easter
Resurrection from death is perhaps the second most astounding claim in Christianity, second only to the very existance of God Almighty. It is the greatest source of Hope for Christians, that those who believe and follow Him will have everlasting life in the Presence of God.
Easter is the most important feast in the liturgical year because it celebrates this astounding event, that Jesus Christ was raised from the dead and lives forever, seated at the right hand of God the Father in Heaven. We have only the testimony of witnesses, as written in the New Testament, to establish this fact, but we also have the prophesies from the Old Testament and the Faith of millions for over 2,000 years to support its foundation. The most important witness is Jesus Christ Himself, who told His followers that it would happen and then appeared to many of them after His crucifixion to comfort them before ascending bodily into Heaven.
The season of Eastertide begins with the Easter Vigil in the night before Easter Sunday and extends for fifty days until the Feast of Pentecost. It is notable that Lent, with its penitential fasting and abstinance, extends for forty days, but Eastertide, a time of continuous feasting and celebration, lasts for fifty days. This is a liturgical nod toward the timing of our lives: we toil for a few score years on Earth, preparing for eternity in Heaven. Beginning the season on the night before hearkens back to the Jewish custom of marking the start of the new day at sunset.
The Easter Vigil begins after dark on the eve of Easter Sunday. Parishioners and visitors pick up a candle in the Narthex, the entryway, and enter the dimly lit Nave containing the pews for the congregation, to sit in silence. At the appointed time, all lights are extinguished and the celebrant begins speaking from the Narthex to bless the materials in front of him as he ignites pieces of wood in a brazier. This action is called the Lighting of the New Fire. In the light from the flames, he then blesses a large Paschal Candle, which becomes a symbol for Christ, and inserts five pins in the candle to symbolize the five wounds inflicted upon Jesus in his crucifixion. He then lights the candle with a piece of wood from the New Fire, to symbolize His Resurrection.
The Altar Party then enters the Nave, the priest carrying the Paschal Candle high as the only light, and proceeds down the center aisle toward the Altar. The congregation stands and holds out their candles as acolytes pass the fire from the Paschal Candle to them. Three times along the way, everyone, except the holder of the Paschal Candle, kneels as the Cantor calls out, "The Light of Christ!" and the congregation responds, "Thanks be to God!"
When the Alter Party reaches the front of the Nave, they turn and face the congregation as the Paschal Candle is placed in its stand. An appointed person then sings The Exultet, a joyful proclamation of the holiness of this special night and this special candle. The congregants then sit and extinguish their candles as the priest and two acolytes take turns reading a series of lessons from the Holy Prophets that highlight the history of Creation, Sin, and Salvation. Before each lesson, the Cantor calls out, "Let us bow the knee!" and all kneel until, "Arise!" is heard.
When the last lesson has been read, the congregation renews its baptismal vows and the Altar Party enters the Sanctuary, the area behind the Altar Rail. The lights are turned on to reveal an Altar fully draped in white and ready for the Mass. All the bleakness of Lent is gone and the full beauty of the Church is restored. The Paschal Candle is placed in the Sanctuary in a place of honor. The Mass begins with "Alleluia, Christ is risen." answered by "The Lord is risen indeed. Alleluia." This marks the first time that the word "Alleluia" has been spoken in the church since the beginning of Lent. When the Gloria in the Mass is reached, bells ring to mark the restoration of musical sounds to the church as well.
The season of Eastertide contains three Principal Feasts of the Church: Easter Day, Ascension Day, and The Day of Pentecost. White is the color of the entire season. Easter Day is marked on Sunday by a High Mass much like the one held during the Vigil the night before. Ascension Day is marked forty days after the beginning of Eastertide and it celebrates the Ascension of the risen Christ into Heaven. The Paschal Candle is moved from the Sanctuary back to the Baptismal Font during the Ascension Day Mass. Eastertide ends on the Day of Pentecost. Pentecost is Greek for "fiftieth day". This day celebrates the coming of the Holy Spirit, who filled the Apostles and caused them to speak to the devout Jews in Jerusalem from all the nations of the world, who heard them in their own languages - (Acts 2). The Mass on Pentecost features the Gospel in many languages to mark this event.