Monsignor Gervasio occassionally provides information on liturgical celebrations under the title "Liturgical Lines." These will be included under this page.
Advent has a two-fold character. It is a season to prepare for Christmas which commemorates the first coming of the Son of God to humanity, and a time when we are led to look forward to Christ’s second coming at the end of time. Advent begins with Evening Prayer/Mass on December 1 and ends with celebration of the Christmas Vigil Masses, December 24.
The use of the organ and other instruments and the decoration of the altar with flowers are to be done in a moderate manner, that is, without anticipating the full joy of Christmas. The official liturgical color is violet. (The use of blue is prohibited in the US).
January 12 is the Feast of the Baptism of the Lord. It brings to a close the Church's celebration of the Christmas season. Ordinary Time begins on the following day, and continues through the day before Ash Wednesday (in 2020, from Monday, January 13 through Tuesday, February 25). In Latin, Ordinary Time is called "Tempus per Annum" (Time through the Year).
The term, “Ordinary” is not used here in the sense of being mundane, routine or common but rather in the sense of being counted. “Ordinal numbers are first, second, third, fourth and so on. They denote the weeks between the liturgical seasons of Lent, Easter, and Advent.
Our observance of the 18th Sunday in Ordinary Time defers to the great feast of the Transfiguration of the Lord. It is a celebration that traces its origin to the 5th century in the Eastern Church. Its observance was well established in the west by the 9th century. August 6 is considered the dedication day of the church on Mt. Tabor, the site of the Lord’s Transfiguration. Pope Callistus III added it to the general church calendar in 1457 to commemorate the Christian victory over the Turks at Belgrade in 1456.