Ordinary Time

Liturgical year
Western
Eastern

Ordinary Time refers to a season of the Christian liturgical calendar, particularly the calendar of the ordinary form of the Roman rite of the Catholic Church, although some other churches in Western Christianity also use the term. In Latin, the name of this season is Tempus per annum (literally time during the year).

Ordinary Time is celebrated in two segments: from the Monday following the Baptism of Our Lord up to Ash Wednesday; and from Pentecost Monday to the First Sunday of Advent. This makes it the largest season of the Liturgical Year.[1]

Since 1970 in the ordinary form of the Roman rite in the Catholic Church, Ordinary Time comprises two periods: one beginning on the day after the Feast of the Baptism of the Lord (the end of the Christmas season) and ending on the day before Ash Wednesday, the other beginning on the Monday after Pentecost (the conclusion of Eastertide) and continuing until the Saturday before the First Sunday of Advent.

The Church numbers the weeks of Ordinary Time. Several Sundays bear the name of feasts or solemnities celebrated on those days, including Trinity Sunday and the Feast of Christ the King.

The liturgical color normally assigned to Ordinary Time is green.

Periods of Ordinary Time

In the Catholic Church, Ordinary Time begins on the day following the Feast of the Baptism of the Lord. The Church normally celebrates this feast on the Sunday after Solemnity of the Epiphany of the Lord (6 January). However, some dioceses, including those in the United States of America, always celebrate Epiphany on the Sunday after Solemnity of Mary, Mother of God (1 January); when they celebrate the Solemnity of the Epiphany of the Lord on Sunday (7 or 8 January), they move the Feast of the Baptism of the Lord to Monday (8 or 9 January), respectively.

Therefore, Ordinary Time starts on Tuesday (9 or 10 January) in those years and dioceses. The Christmas season includes the Feast of the Baptism of the Lord, so Ordinary Time begins the next day (Monday or Tuesday, not on Sunday). However, the Sunday after the Feast of the Baptism of the Lord is always counted as the "Second Sunday of Ordinary Time".

Ordinary Time continues through the day before Ash Wednesday, which falls between 4 February and 10 March (inclusive), and marks the beginning of the Season of Lent. Thus, for Roman Catholics, the period of Ordinary Time between Christmas and Lent may end amid the fourth, fifth, sixth, seventh, eighth, or ninth week of Ordinary Time. Ash Wednesday is a moveable feast which occurs on the 40th day (excluding Sundays) before the Solemnity of the Resurrection of the Lord (Easter Sunday).

Ordinary Time resumes on the Monday following Solemnity of Pentecost, which is the Sunday between 10 May and 13 June that marks the 50th day of Easter. Ordinary Time concludes with the Saturday afternoon before the first Sunday of Advent (27 November to 3 December). Ordinary Time thus always includes the entire months of July, August, September and October and most or all of June and November. In some years, Ordinary Time includes a portion of May, or a day or two in early December, or both. The Catholic Church substitutes the Solemnity of Our Lord Jesus Christ the King of the Universe in the place of the 34th Sunday in Ordinary Time, the last Sunday of the season.

Baptism of the Lord

Every second Sunday of the calendar year, if the feast of the Epiphany of the Lord Sunday falls January 7 to 8 will be falls on Monday.

Second Sunday in Ordinary Time

Feast of the Holy Child Jesus

Every third Sunday of the calendar year.

Third Sunday in Ordinary Time

Fourth Sunday in Ordinary Time

Fifth Sunday in Ordinary Time

Sixth Sunday in Ordinary Time

Seventh Sunday in Ordinary Time

Eighth Sunday in Ordinary Time


Weeks in a year

Weeks of Ordinary Time
Wk
No		Beginning
on or after		Date
201420152016
1Jan 7 Jan 12 Jan 11 Jan 10
2Jan 14 Jan 19 Jan 18 Jan 17
3Jan 21 Jan 26 Jan 25 Jan 24
4Jan 28 Feb 2 Feb 1 Jan 31
5Feb 4 Feb 9 Feb 8 Feb 7
6Feb 11 Feb 16 Feb 15
7Feb 18 Feb 23
8Feb 25 Mar 2
9Mar 3/4[A 1]
6May 8 May 8 [A 2]
7May 15 May 17 [A 2] May 15
8May 22 May 24 May 22
9May 29 Jun 1 [A 2] May 31 May 29
10Jun 5 Jun 8 Jun 7 Jun 5
11Jun 12 Jun 15 Jun 14 Jun 12
12Jun 19 Jun 22 Jun 21 Jun 19
13Jun 26 Jun 29 Jun 28 Jun 26
14Jul 3 Jul 6 Jul 5 Jul 3
15Jul 10 Jul 13 Jul 12 Jul 10
16Jul 17 Jul 20 Jul 19 Jul 17
17Jul 24 Jul 27 Jul 26 Jul 24
18Jul 31 Aug 3 Aug 2 Jul 31
19Aug 7 Aug 10 Aug 9 Aug 7
20Aug 14 Aug 17 Aug 16 Aug 14
21Aug 21 Aug 24 Aug 23 Aug 21
22Aug 28 Aug 31 Aug 30 Aug 28
23Sep 4 Sep 7 Sep 6 Sep 4
24Sep 11 Sep 14 Sep 13 Sep 11
25Sep 18 Sep 21 Sep 20 Sep 18
26Sep 25 Sep 28 Sep 27 Sep 25
27Oct 2 Oct 5 Oct 4 Oct 2
28Oct 9 Oct 12 Oct 11 Oct 9
29Oct 16 Oct 19 Oct 18 Oct 16
30Oct 23 Oct 26 Oct 25 Oct 23
31Oct 30 Nov 2 Nov 1 Oct 30
32Nov 6 Nov 9 Nov 8 Nov 6
33Nov 13 Nov 16 Nov 15 Nov 13
34Nov 20 Nov 23 Nov 22 Nov 20
  1. ↑ Mar 3 in leap years and Mar 4 in ordinary years
  2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 In places where Feast of the Ascension
    is moved to neighboring Sunday,
    this will be the 7th Sunday of Easter
  Movable by Lent
  Movable by Easter

The actual number of complete or partial weeks of Ordinary Time in any given year can total 33 or 34. In most years, Ordinary Time comprises only 33 weeks,[2][3] so the Church omits one week that otherwise would precede the resumption of Ordinary Time following Pentecost Sunday. For example, in 2011, the Sunday before Ash Wednesday was the ninth Sunday in Ordinary Time, but the day after Pentecost Sunday began the 11th Week in Ordinary Time.

In the Church of England, a similar situation arises with "Sundays after Trinity", as Sundays in the second period of Ordinary Time are termed (until the final four, which are termed "Sundays before Advent"). The total number of Sundays varies according to the date of Easter and can range anything from 18 to 23. When there are 23, the Collect and Post-Communion for the 22nd Sunday are taken from the provision for the Third Sunday before Lent.

In the Episcopal Church (United States), it is normal to refer to Sundays after Epiphany and Sundays after Pentecost. The use of Ordinary Time is not common.

In the Orthodox Church and in the Eastern Catholic Churches, Sundays are all numbered after Pentecost which runs through the following year. Orthodox do not distinguish Ordinary Time.

Solemnities and feasts within Ordinary Time

In addition, certain solemnities and feasts that fall on Sundays during Ordinary Time preempt the observance of an ordinarily numbered Sunday. On preempted Sundays, the liturgical color of the feast or solemnity replaces the liturgical color green. These feast days include, in the Roman Catholic calendar, any holy day of obligation, any other solemnity, any feast of the Lord, and the Commemoration of All Faithful Departed Souls.

On the universal calendar, these include:

The following observances always preempt a Sunday in Ordinary Time:

Other solemnities which outrank Sundays of Ordinary Time vary from parish to parish and diocese to diocese; they may include the feast of the patron saint of a parish and the feast of the dedication of the parish church.

In addition, if a solemnity or feast that outranks a Sunday of Ordinary Time, such as those mentioned above, should occur during the week, a priest celebrating Mass with a congregation may observe the solemnity on a nearby Sunday. Such a celebration is traditionally called an "external solemnity," even if the feast in question is not ranked as a solemnity. If an external solemnity is celebrated on a Sunday, the color of that celebration is used rather than green.

Use of the term

Before the liturgical reforms of 1970, there were two distinct seasons in the Roman Breviary and Roman Missal, known as the season after Epiphany and the season after Pentecost, respectively. Liturgical days in these times were referred to as the -nth Sunday after Epiphany or Pentecost, or Feria II,III,IV,V or VI after the -nth Sunday.

With the reforms came the introduction of four liturgical weeks, the 6th through 9th weeks of Ordinary Time, which could fall either after Epiphany or after Pentecost, making the old numbering scheme unusable, and the term tempus per annum was used to describe both of these seasons. Before the reforms until the present, the term tempus per annum has been used to describe the season of the Little Office of the Blessed Virgin Mary that is not part of Advent or Christmastide, and so tempus per annum extends from Matins on 3 February through None on the last Saturday before Advent.

Following the lead of the liturgical reforms of the Roman rite, many Protestant churches also adopted the concept of Ordinary Time alongside the Revised Common Lectionary.

Kingdomtide exception

Some Protestant denominations (most notably the United Methodist Church) set off the last 13 or 14 weeks of Ordinary Time into a separate season, known as Kingdomtide.

See also

Notes

  1. ↑ http://www.catholicculture.org/culture/liturgicalyear/overviews/seasons/ordinary_time/ordinary1.cfm
  2. ↑ Lectionary Calendar and Movable Feasts
  3. ↑ There are 34 weeks of Ordinary Time in years with dominical letters A or g or some combination containing A or g, i.e., Ag, bA, or gf. All other years have 33 weeks of Ordinary Time, with the fifth, sixth, seventh, eighth, or ninth or 10th week dropped from the calendar that year.
  4. ↑ In the United States, white may be used in place of violet on All Souls Day.