We include a calendar on this website that includes Mass, Solemnities, and Holy Days of Obligation. We do ask that you attend the 11:00 am Mass with the OCIA group. Additional Mass times are on the Notre Dame website.

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Christianity isn’t just lived. It’s celebrated. That’s because our faith isn’t merely about doctrine.

It includes a plethora of saints, historical events, and divine mysteries that are uniquely honored throughout the year with appointed festivals (known as “feast days”). This happens according to a set rhythm called the liturgical calendar.

Just as the earth revolves around the sun according to a set pattern we call an orbit, so too the Church revolves around the Son of God, Jesus Christ, according to the pattern set by the liturgical calendar.

The Liturgical Calendar

Generally speaking, we can imagine the natural order as a reflection of the spiritual order, because both are revelations of the same God. Just as there are four seasons of the year that guide the life of nature, there are major seasons that guide the life of the Church.

The liturgical year is made up of six seasons:

Advent - four weeks of preparation before the celebration of Jesus' birth
Christmas - recalling the Nativity of Jesus Christ and his manifestation to the peoples of the world. The Christmas season celebrates Christ’s birth and concludes at the Feast of the Baptism of the Lord.
Lent - a six-week period of penance before Easter that that begins on Ash Wednesday and ends at sundown on Holy Thursday.
Sacred Paschal Triduum - the holiest "Three Days" of the Church's year, where the Christian people recall the suffering, death, and resurrection of Jesus
Easter - 50 days of joyful celebration of the Lord's resurrection from the dead and his sending forth of the Holy Spirit at Pentecost.
Ordinary Time - divided into two sections (one span of 4-8 weeks after Christmas Time and another lasting about six months after Easter Time), wherein the faithful consider the fullness of Jesus' teachings and works among his people

Catholic Liturgical Year.png

Reading Cycles

The church established a 3-year cycle for the Liturgy of the Word (Biblical readings during Mass), in order to put more emphasis on the Word of God and open up the riches of the Bible to the lay faithful.

The liturgical year begins on the first Sunday of Advent and concludes on the Feast of Christ the King (the final Sunday before Advent). This symbolizes the eternal truth that all things begin and end in Jesus Christ.

One of the simplest ways to determine the cycle year is to add the digits of the year and see if they are divisible by three.

****If it is divisible by three, then it is Year C. Once you figure that out, the rest of the years are easy to determine.
2 + 0 + 2 + 5 = 9. Since 9 is divisible by 3, 2025 is Year C, which ends on November 23, 2025.
This means that 2026 will be Year A, starting on November 30, 2025 through November 22, 2026. </aside>

Each of the three years is dedicated to a different Gospel. The Gospel of St. John is typically used for solemnities and during Holy Week, and the shorter Gospel of Mark is usually supplemented with readings from Matthew and Luke in Year B.