Beginning a New Liturgical Year

The liturgical calendar helps us to orient ourselves into God's time. 

This is the Level 3 liturgical calendar, a long work in more than one way. The children start by figuring out when the first Sunday of Advent is and start numbering their pages. They know there are always 4 Sundays of Advent and 3 Sundays of Christmas. Next they find the date of Easter by looking at the lunar cycles.  Even though our lives are vastly different from those of our ancestors, seasons are still determined by the sun and the moon. Passover is determined by those seasons, as is the great feast of Easter. 

In article 1170 of the Catechism we read: "At the Council of Nicaea in 325, all the Churches agreed that Easter, the Christian Passover, should be celebrated on the Sunday following the first full moon (14 Nisan) after the vernal equinox." 

Together we discuss that the vernal equinox is on March 21 and from there the children look at lunar calendars to find out when the first full moon after that date occurs and determine the date of Easter. The children have worked with a wooden liturgical calendar since the Level 1 atrium so they know the set numbers of Sundays in the Lent and Easter seasons. Once the date of Easter has been determined, the periods of ordinary time can be filled in.