The sacred rhythm of the Church year
The Octave Day of the Nativity of the Lord: Solemnity of Mary, the Holy Mother of God
Saints Basil the Great and Gregory Nazianzen, Bishops and Doctors of the Church
January 3
Genevieve of Paris, The Most Holy Name of Jesus
Saint Elizabeth Ann Seton, Religious
Saint John Neumann, Bishop
January 6
André Bessette
The Epiphany of the Lord
Raymond of Penyafort
The Baptism of the Lord
Tuesday of the first week of Ordinary Time
Alix Le Clerc
Wednesday of the first week of Ordinary Time
Gonçalo of Amarante
Thursday of the first week of Ordinary Time
Theodosius the Cenobiarch
Friday of the first week of Ordinary Time
Marguerite Bourgeoys
Saturday of the first week of Ordinary Time
Hilary of Poitiers
Second Sunday in Ordinary Time
Sava of Serbia
Monday of the second week of Ordinary Time
Paul the First Hermit
Tuesday of the second week of Ordinary Time
Marcellus I, Pope
Saint Anthony, Abbot
Anthony the Great
Thursday of the second week of Ordinary Time
Prisca of Rome
Friday of the second week of Ordinary Time
Saint Joseph Sebastian Pelczar
Saturday of the second week of Ordinary Time
Pope Fabian, Sebastian the Martyr
Third Sunday in Ordinary Time, or Sunday of the Word of God
Agnes of Rome, Fructuosus of Tarragona, Meinrad of Einsiedeln
Monday of the third week of Ordinary Time
Vincent of Saragossa
Tuesday of the third week of Ordinary Time
Ildephonsus of Toledo, Marianne Cope
Saint Francis de Sales, Bishop and Doctor of the Church
The Conversion of Saint Paul the Apostle
Saints Timothy and Titus, Bishops
Saturday of the third week of Ordinary Time
Angela Merici
Fourth Sunday in Ordinary Time
Thomas Aquinas
Monday of the fourth week of Ordinary Time
Bolesława Maria Lament
Tuesday of the fourth week of Ordinary Time
Hyacintha Mariscotti
Saint John Bosco, Priest
The Holy Family of Jesus, Mary and Joseph
The Octave Day of the Nativity of the Lord: Solemnity of Mary, the Holy Mother of God
Saints Basil the Great and Gregory Nazianzen, Bishops and Doctors of the Church
January 3
Saint Elizabeth Ann Seton, Religious
Saint John Neumann, Bishop
January 6
The Epiphany of the Lord
The Baptism of the Lord
Tuesday of the first week of Ordinary Time
Wednesday of the first week of Ordinary Time
Thursday of the first week of Ordinary Time
Friday of the first week of Ordinary Time
Saturday of the first week of Ordinary Time
Second Sunday in Ordinary Time
Monday of the second week of Ordinary Time
Tuesday of the second week of Ordinary Time
Saint Anthony, Abbot
Thursday of the second week of Ordinary Time
Friday of the second week of Ordinary Time
Saturday of the second week of Ordinary Time
Third Sunday in Ordinary Time, or Sunday of the Word of God
Monday of the third week of Ordinary Time
Tuesday of the third week of Ordinary Time
Saint Francis de Sales, Bishop and Doctor of the Church
The Conversion of Saint Paul the Apostle
Saints Timothy and Titus, Bishops
Saturday of the third week of Ordinary Time
Fourth Sunday in Ordinary Time
Monday of the fourth week of Ordinary Time
Tuesday of the fourth week of Ordinary Time
Saint John Bosco, Priest
Thursday of the fourth week of Ordinary Time
The Presentation of the Lord
Saturday of the fourth week of Ordinary Time
On the First Sunday of Advent, four Sundays before Christmas — so the Church's year opens in late November or early December, not in January.
Advent, Christmas, Lent, the Sacred Paschal Triduum, Easter and Ordinary Time. Ordinary Time is the longest, and falls in two stretches: between Christmas and Lent, and between Pentecost and Advent.
Green for Ordinary Time, violet for Advent and Lent, white for Christmas, Easter and most feasts of the Lord, Our Lady and non-martyr saints, and red for Pentecost, Palm Sunday, Good Friday and the martyrs.
They are ranks. A solemnity is the highest and keeps its own Mass with Gloria and Creed; a feast ranks below it; a memorial lower still, and an optional memorial may be kept or passed over at the priest's discretion.
A day on which the faithful are bound to attend Mass and to rest from work that would hinder it. Every Sunday is one, along with a handful of solemnities that vary by country.
