The Origins Of The Christian Year

Source: The Complete Library of Christian Worship, Robert E. Webber, General Editor

In the first centuries a. d. the cycle of Christian time grew out of the conviction that all time finds its meaning in the death and resurrection of Christ. Thus the early Christians, beginning with the paschal event, extended the Christian calendar forward to Pentecost and backward to Lent and Holy Week. Later, in the fourth century, Advent, Christmas, and Epiphany were developed to complete the cycle.

The Easter Cycle

In the first days of the life of the church following Pentecost, there...

 

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