Home Liturgical year

Liturgical year

The eight seasons.

The Christian year has a shape. It runs from Advent, four Sundays before Christmas, through Easter and Pentecost, and back around again. Each season has its own emphasis, its own color in many traditions, and its own readings.

Happening now

Easter

Apr 5 – May 24, 2026

The fifty days from Easter Sunday through Pentecost: the central festal season of the Christian year.

Liturgical color: White / Gold.

All eight seasons

  1. Advent

    Four Sundays of preparation before Christmas. The opening season of the Christian year.

  2. Christmas

    The twelve days from December 25 through the Baptism of the Lord. The festal observance of the Nativity.

  3. Epiphany

    The feast of January 6: the manifestation of Christ to the Magi. In Orthodox tradition, the focus is the baptism of Jesus.

  4. Lent

    Forty days of fasting, prayer, and almsgiving leading toward Easter. Begins on Ash Wednesday.

  5. Holy Week

    Palm Sunday through Holy Saturday: the close of Lent and the Easter Triduum that leads to the Resurrection.

  6. Easter Now

    The fifty days from Easter Sunday through Pentecost. The central festal season of the Christian year.

  7. Pentecost

    The festal Sunday that closes the Easter season, fifty days after Easter. The descent of the Holy Spirit.

  8. Ordinary Time

    The long green stretches of the year: between Christmas and Lent, and between Pentecost and Advent.

Last updated: May 17, 2026