Holy days of the church year - Advent and Christmas season

Writer: 
Liisa Rossi

What is the church year?

In the church, we don't celebrate the New Year just once, but twice. In addition to the regular annual calendar, we also follow the church annual calendar, also called the liturgical year, Christian year, or ecclesiastical calendar. In the Lutheran Church it begins with the first Advent and ends with the Judgment Sunday. Each Sunday of the church year has its own theme, the purpose of which is to take us through the essential events and topics of Christianity.

The church year is divided into two parts: the festive period and the ordinary time. The celebration episode follows the life of Jesus. In Advent, we prepare for His birth and we celebrate it at Christmas. We mourn the death of Jesus on Good Friday, and rejoice in the resurrection on Easter morning. Then from the Ascension day we proceed to the church's birthday, Pentecost.

After Pentecost, the ordinary time begins. In summer and autumn, the church year focuses on the topics that are part of the life of the church and Christians in earthly life. At the end of the church year, we look further, waiting for the return of Jesus and the end of this world.

Advent

The church year begins on the first day of Advent. We gather in churches and the preparation for Christmas begins. We are waiting for Jesus to come. In the midst of our Christmas preparations, we are getting ready to receive Jesus as our king, and acknowledging that we need His help.

While we prepare to celebrate the birth of Jesus, the themes of Advent Sunday serve as an introduction to the whole new church year, and also direct our eyes to Jesus' death, resurrection and return at the end of this world. That is why the Bible texts of Advent Sundays do not deal with the events of Christmas until the fourth Advent. In the Advent, the manger, the cross and the crown belong together. By focusing on why Jesus came into the world, we make room for Him in our hearts and lives and wait for Him to return.

The Advent season is so-called the time of a small fast. It's not a party yet. It's not Christmas yet. Christian preparation for Christmas does not only mean cleaning the house and buying gifts, but also cleaning the heart and preparing to receive the greatest Christmas gift.

Christmas 25.12.

At Christmas, we celebrate the birth of Jesus, who brought light and hope to the darkness of our world. The miracle happened that God himself was born as a man, among us, and like us. This is emphasized by the fact that He was not born in a palace, but had as his mother Maria, a young woman belonging to the common people, as his foster-father the builder Joseph, and as his first guests the shepherds working the night shift. The events of Christmas changed our world so radically that even the Western calendar is divided into the time before and after the birth of Christ.

At Christmas, we give gifts to each other, but the greatest gift of all was given by God. Unlike the gifts brought by Santa Claus, God's Christmas gift is not only for the good and kind, but for everyone. Jesus was born precisely because we cannot be kind, completely sinless people, but we need a Savior. Jesus came to fix what was broken between people and God. This is the kind of gift that doesn't just stay at Christmas, but lasts throughout the year.

Boxing Day 26.12.

When we open the Bible, we find today's title character Stephen. Suddenly, we move from Christmas peace to completely different moods. On Boxing Day, we remember the first martyr of the Christian Church, i.e. one who was killed for his faith. In the Acts of the Apostles, it is told about Stefanos, who boldly and powerfully proclaimed the gospel about Jesus, incurred the wrath of the Jewish leaders, just as Jesus had, and was stoned to death. At the time of his death, Stefanos is said to have even prayed for forgiveness to his killers. He dared to be faithful to Jesus until death, because he knew that Jesus was the conqueror of death and would receive him in heaven.

The fact that Boxing Day is in the middle of celebrating Christmas reminds us that not everyone accepts the gift of God in Jesus with joy. 28.12. we celebrate the day of the innocent children, which tells about the massacre of the boys in Bethlehem ordered by King Herod, whose goal was to get Jesus out of the way as soon as he was small. Even today, hundreds of millions of Christians suffer persecution for their faith. But they have the same hope as Stefanos: not even death can separate us from Jesus' love.

New Year's Day 1.1.

At the turn of the year, we look back at the past year, thanking God for his care during it, and once again leave the coming year in His hands. At the same time, we also celebrate Jesus' name day.

According to the Bible, Jesus was circumcised on the eighth day after his birth, like other Jewish male children. At the same time, that event served as a naming ceremony. Jesus received the name that the angel had announced to His mother Mary (Luke 1:31) and to His foster father Joseph (Matthew 1:21). The name Jesus means "The Lord saves". Every time we say or hear the name of Jesus, we can remember why He came into the world: to save us.

There is no better name to put your trust in as the new year begins. Jesus has defeated all the powers of evil and therefore it is safe to start the new year together with Jesus.

  • Read from the Bible: Luke 2:21 (ESV, Bible Gateway)

Epiphany 6.1.

The Christian celebration of Christmas does not end with the Christmas holidays, but continues until Epiphany. Then we remember that the wise men of the East visited the little baby Jesus. The Bible says that the wise men interpreted from the stars that a new king had been born, and that they traveled a long way to honor the new king and bring him expensive gifts: gold, frankincense and myrrh. The number of scholars is not mentioned, but traditionally, according to the number of gifts, they have been thought to have been three.

One plausible theory says that the wise men were Persian Zoroastrian magi, i.e. noblemen familiar with astronomy and natural sciences, and that instead of three, twelve of them came to Jesus. Whether these men were Jews or not, they still knew the teachings of the Old Testament, because there was also a Jewish community in Persia.

The Epiphany reminds us that Jesus was born for all nations. The wise men made a long and expensive journey to worship Jesus, the King born into the world. Today we are called to work for the message of Jesus to spread to the ends of the earth. That's why Epiphany is also the holy day of missions.

Candlemas

When Jesus was 40 days old, His parents took Him to the temple in Jerusalem, as required by the law, and offered the prescribed sacrifice of the firstborn son, which for poor families was two pigeons. In the temple, the family met the old Simeon and the prophetess Hannah. They recognized that Jesus was the Savior they were waiting for. We remember this temple visit on Candlemas. The name of Candlemas Day comes from the old way of blessing all the candles used in the church during the year. In some countries this is still done.

The day of Candlemas was not chosen by chance, but was placed on a day whose theme speaks of Jesus as the light of the world. When old Simeon took the baby Jesus in his arms, he thanked God that he had seen in Jesus the salvation prepared for all nations, the light for the Gentile nations, the glory for God's own people Israel.

St. Mary's Day

In the middle of early spring, on St. Mary's Day, there is a touch of Christmas when we remember what happened nine months before the birth of Jesus. God sent the angel Gabriel to young Mary to tell her that she will become pregnant from the Holy Spirit and give birth to a child who will be the Son of God. Mary was a virgin and betrothed to Joseph. Although at first she wondered how it was possible for her to get pregnant, she accepted the task she was given, trusting in God.

Mary was given the unique honor of becoming the mother of God. His humility and trust in God are set as examples for us. Mary's prayer of thanksgiving shows faith in God, who sees the small and insignificant and does great things for them and through them. Even on St. Mary's Day, the focus is not Mary, but God and His love, mercy and goodness, which the world got to see in Jesus.

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