The sacred rhythm of the Church year
Friday of the seventh week of Ordinary Time
Suitbert of Kaiserswerth
Saturday of the seventh week of Ordinary Time
Agnes of Bohemia
Eighth Sunday in Ordinary Time
Katharine Drexel
Monday of the eighth week of Ordinary Time
Casimir
Tuesday of the eighth week of Ordinary Time
Gerasimus of the Jordan
Ash Wednesday
Thursday after Ash Wednesday
Perpetua and Felicity
Friday after Ash Wednesday
John of God
Saturday after Ash Wednesday
Frances of Rome
First Sunday of Lent
The Forty Martyrs of Sebaste
Monday of the first week of Lent
Eulogius of Córdoba
Tuesday of the first week of Lent
Angela Salawa
Wednesday of the first week of Lent
Roderick of Córdoba
Thursday of the first week of Lent
Matilda of Ringelheim
Friday of the first week of Lent
Louise de Marillac
Saturday of the first week of Lent
Heribert of Cologne
Second Sunday of Lent
Patrick of Ireland
Monday of the second week of Lent
Cyril of Jerusalem
Saint Joseph, Spouse of the Blessed Virgin Mary
Wednesday of the second week of Lent
Cuthbert of Lindisfarne
Thursday of the second week of Lent
Enda of Aran
Friday of the second week of Lent
Nicholas Owen
Saturday of the second week of Lent
Turibius of Mogrovejo
Third Sunday of Lent
Óscar Romero
The Annunciation of the Lord
Tuesday of the third week of Lent
Ludger of Münster
Wednesday of the third week of Lent
Rupert of Salzburg
Thursday of the third week of Lent
Stephen Harding
Friday of the third week of Lent
Ludolph of Ratzeburg
Saturday of the third week of Lent
John Climacus
Fourth Sunday of Lent
Balbina of Rome
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.