242. What is the function of the liturgical year? (Part 1)
(Comp
242) In the liturgical year the Church celebrates the whole mystery of Christ
from his Incarnation to his return in glory. On set days the Church venerates
with special love the Blessed Virgin Mary, the Mother of God. The Church also
keeps the memorials of saints who lived for Christ, who suffered with him, and
who live with him in glory.
“In brief”
(CCC 1194) The Church, "in
the course of the year,… unfolds the whole mystery of Christ from his
Incarnation and Nativity through his Ascension, to Pentecost and the
expectation of the blessed hope of the coming of the Lord" (SC 102 § 2).
To deepen and explain
(CCC 1168) Beginning with the
Easter Triduum as its source of light, the new age of the Resurrection fills
the whole liturgical year with its brilliance. Gradually, on either side of
this source, the year is transfigured by the liturgy. It really is a "year
of the Lord's favor" (Lk 4:19). The economy of salvation is at work within
the framework of time, but since its fulfillment in the Passover of Jesus and
the outpouring of the Holy Spirit, the culmination of history is anticipated
"as a foretaste," and the kingdom of God enters into our time. (CCC 1170)
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. Because of different methods of
calculating the 14th day of the month of Nisan the date of Easter in
the Western and Eastern Churches is not always the same. For this reason the
Churches are currently seeking an agreement in order once again to celebrate
the day of the Lord's Resurrection on a common date.
On reflection
(CCC 1169) Therefore Easter is not simply one feast among
others, but the "Feast of feasts," the "Solemnity of solemnities,"
just as the Eucharist is the "Sacrament of sacraments" (the Great
Sacrament). St. Athanasius calls Easter "the Great Sunday" (St.
Athanasius (ad 329) ep. fest. 1: PG 24, 1366) and the
Eastern Churches call Holy Week "the Great Week." The mystery of the
Resurrection, in which Christ crushed death, permeates with its powerful energy
our old time, until all is subjected to him. [IT CONTINUES]
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