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 loosly follows something called The Ordo Calendar.
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 until 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 favorite 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 High 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 hardily all twelve days, while 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 a lot of 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 my 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). Later, the figures of the Three Wise Men, with their camels and servants, are placed in the Nave window sill farthest from the Crèche in the form of a small caravan. Every few days, 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. 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 life of Jesus) was the Baptism of Our Lord in the Jordan River, which we celebrate on January 13th.
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 Pentecost and Advent. The weeks in this divided season are numbered sequentially. 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.
[to be continued]