The sacred rhythm of the Church year
Monday of the fourth week of Ordinary Time
Brigid of Kildare
The Presentation of the Lord
Wednesday of the fourth week of Ordinary Time
Ansgar, Blaise of Sebaste
Thursday of the fourth week of Ordinary Time
Rabanus Maurus
Saint Agatha, Virgin and Martyr
Agatha of Sicily
Saint Paul Miki and Companions, Martyrs
Fifth Sunday in Ordinary Time
Richard the Pilgrim
Monday of the fifth week of Ordinary Time
Gerolamo Emiliani, Josephine Bakhita
Tuesday of the fifth week of Ordinary Time
Apollonia of Alexandria
Ash Wednesday
Thursday after Ash Wednesday
Our Lady of Lourdes
Friday after Ash Wednesday
Meletius of Antioch
Saturday after Ash Wednesday
Jordan of Saxony
First Sunday of Lent
Cyril and Methodius, Valentine of Rome
Monday of the first week of Lent
Onesimus
Tuesday of the first week of Lent
Juliana of Nicomedia
Wednesday of the first week of Lent
Seven Holy Founders of the Servite Order
Thursday of the first week of Lent
Theotonius of Coimbra
Friday of the first week of Lent
Conrad of Piacenza
Saturday of the first week of Lent
Jacinta and Francisco Marto
Second Sunday of Lent
Peter Damian
The Chair of Saint Peter the Apostle
Tuesday of the second week of Lent
Polycarp of Smyrna
Wednesday of the second week of Lent
Praetextatus of Rouen
Thursday of the second week of Lent
Walpurga of Heidenheim
Friday of the second week of Lent
Porphyry of Gaza
Saturday of the second week of Lent
Gregory of Narek, Leander of Seville
Third Sunday of Lent
Romanus of Condat
Fourth Sunday in Ordinary Time
Monday of the fourth week of Ordinary Time
The Presentation of the Lord
Wednesday of the fourth week of Ordinary Time
Thursday of the fourth week of Ordinary Time
Saint Agatha, Virgin and Martyr
Saint Paul Miki and Companions, Martyrs
Fifth Sunday in Ordinary Time
Monday of the fifth week of Ordinary Time
Tuesday of the fifth week of Ordinary Time
Ash Wednesday
Thursday after Ash Wednesday
Friday after Ash Wednesday
Saturday after Ash Wednesday
First Sunday of Lent
Monday of the first week of Lent
Tuesday of the first week of Lent
Wednesday of the first week of Lent
Thursday of the first week of Lent
Friday of the first week of Lent
Saturday of the first week of Lent
Second Sunday of Lent
The Chair of Saint Peter the Apostle
Tuesday of the second week of Lent
Wednesday of the second week of Lent
Thursday of the second week of Lent
Friday of the second week of Lent
Saturday of the second week of Lent
Third Sunday of Lent
Monday of the third week of Lent
Tuesday of the third week of Lent
Wednesday of the third week of Lent
Thursday of the third week of Lent
Friday of the third week of Lent
Saturday of the third week of Lent
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.
