Structure
The Lutheran calendar operates on two different cycles: the Temporal Cycle and the Sanctoral Cycle. The Temporal Cycle pivots on the festivals of Christmas and Easter. All Sundays, Seasons, and Festivals are related to these festivals. Because Easter varies in date each year based on the vernal equinox and the phases of the moon, it is called a moveable feast (see: Computus). Dates affected by placement of Easter include Ash Wednesday and the start of Lent, the start of Easter itself, Pentecost, and Holy Trinity. Advent, the other pivotal season on the calendar, comes exactly four Sundays before the start of Christmas (if Christmas falls on a Sunday, that day does not count), or the Sunday closest to St. Andrew's Day (November 30). Like the other Western Church calendars, the first Sunday of Advent is also the first day of the liturgical year. The Sanctoral Cycle is the fixed daily commemorations of individuals and events not related to the Temporal Cycle of Sundays, Festivals, and Seasons. It is the Sanctoral Cycle which is sometimes thought of as being the “Calendar of Saints” of a Church.
Beyond their place in the Temporal or Sanctoral Cycles, the events commemorated on the Lutheran liturgical calendar fall into one of three different categories depending upon their liturgical priority: Festivals, Lesser Festivals, and Commemorations.
Read more about this topic: Liturgical Calendar (Lutheran)
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