The other day I was listening to one of my favorite podcasts, Abiding Together, and their topic for the episode was Living Liturgically, take the time and give it a listen! This has been on my heart for the last couple of years and we have slowly started building, incorporating, and intentionally living our lives liturgically. From reading books, trying new foods, and crafting decorations, we are increasingly learning more about our Catholic faith as a family and spending more time on the Church schedule than our own.
What is Liturgical Living?
Liturgical living is simply aligning your families schedule and routine around the liturgical calendar of the Catholic Church. This includes the liturgical seasons, feast days, holy days of obligation and can even include ember days, novenas, etc. You can make it whatever suits your family and the season of life you are in. There are a multitude of ways to ‘live liturgically’; doing things as simple as attending mass (holy days of obligation and optional masses), praying an evening rosary or grace before and after meals. If you choose, you can dive head first into celebrating feast days and the liturgical seasons by planning meals around the saints, finding or creating activities based on the seasons or even learning and participating in ember days.
Feast Days & Holy Days of Obligation
A feast day is a specific date to celebrate a canonized saint, a mystery of the church or an event connected to the Blessed Virgin Mary or Jesus. The date to celebrate them is typically their birth or death date or date that an apparition or event happened. A saint is someone who is someone who is deemed to be in heaven through a process the Catholic Church does called canonization. Some feast days are considered Holy Days of Obligation, like All Saints Day on November 1st. These are days that every Catholic is required to attend Mass and refrain from any work that would hinder your worship of God. Holy days are typically moments that are pivotal in the life of Christ.
Liturgical Seasons
There are six different seasons of the Catholic Church: Advent, Christmas, Ordinary Time (Pt. 1 and 2), Lent, the Paschal Triduum, and Easter. Advent is a time of preparation is the coming of Christ. We learn patience and to prepare our hearts for the birth of Christ. During Christmas we celebrate fulfillment of a prophecy in the birth of Jesus through the incarnation. Then we begin our first period of growth in Ordinary Time. We read back through the Old and New Testaments, the gospels and celebrate different feast days to deepen our faith and learn more about our Lord. After a period of time, we join Jesus in the desert during Lent. This is our time to sacrifice and give penance to join Jesus in suffering to understand Him more fully. At the end of Lent are the ‘holiest Three Days’ or the Sacred Paschal Triduum which begins on the evening of Holy Thursday, the day of the Lord’s Supper, and ends on the evening of Easter Sunday. Following the Triduum, we get to join our Lord in celebration with fifty days of the Easter season. With Easter season comes the gift of the Holy Spirit and the call to evangelize and spread the good news of Christ’s resurrection! Once we are through all of these seasons, we dive back into part two of Ordinary Time and spend time studying His word, growing in our faith and living our calling. Then the cycle begins again with the next liturgical year.
*Bonus – Ember Days*
Ember Days are lesser known, but still beautiful way to live liturgically. These are broke down into quarterly periods to coincide with the four seasons. During ember days we spend time in prayer, penance and thanksgiving to the Lord for the new season. If you’d like more details and the history of Ember days, I strongly encourage you to check out these two resources: The Catholic Gentleman – Ember Days 101 and Blessed is She -Need an Advent penance? Meet the Ember Days. Both sites have a diverse collection of knowledge, history and suggestions on participating in the Ember Days.
Here are the dates for the Ember Days:
- Spring: The first Sunday in Lent (or after Ash Wednesday)
- Summer: Pentecost (Whitsun)
- Autumn: Holy Cross Day (September 14)
- Winter: St. Lucy’s Day (December 13
Your Family, Your Way
Liturgical living looks different for every family and even every season of life. Whether you are newlyweds, raising little ones or empty nesters, there are so many ways to keep Christ at the center of your home and grow each and every day in your faith and relationship with God. You can choose to get your toes wet and add a crucifix to your home, find your patron saint and celebrate their feast day or dive head first into the Ember Days. No matter which way you choose, just remember to keep Christ at the center and schedule life around Christ, not Christ around life.
