Sarah Mitchell
The Catholic liturgical calendar is a great way to bring Catholicism into your home and teach children about the Church's liturgical year. Unlike a regular calendar, the liturgical calendar is read by colour and symbols. Each liturgical year begins on the First Sunday of Advent, and the calendar includes various feast days, solemnities, and liturgical seasons. You can acquire a Catholic liturgical wall calendar or even make your own crafty version, such as a printable liturgical wheel that spins to reveal different liturgical seasons.
| Characteristics | Values |
|---|---|
| Purpose | To bring Catholicism into your home and daily life |
| Type | Wall calendar, craft, or digital |
| Features | Feasts, fasts, seasons, prayers, saints, and quotes |
| Colors | Green, white, red, purple |
| Symbols | Recognizable symbols for each liturgical season |
| Size | Large, approximately 3 by 4 feet |
| Format | Monthly, vertical pages |
| Availability | Printable, physical, or online |
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What You'll Learn
Use colours to represent liturgical seasons
Colour plays a significant role in the Catholic liturgical calendar, with different colours representing various seasons and moods. Using colours is an excellent way to teach children about the liturgical calendar, as it helps them identify the different seasons and celebrations. Here are some ways to incorporate colours into your Catholic liturgical calendar:
Choose the Right Colours
The first step is to select the colours that correspond to the various liturgical seasons. The Catholic Church uses different colours to indicate the season or feast being celebrated. The most common colours used in the liturgical calendar are red, white, gold, violet, green, black, and purple. Each colour has its own meaning and significance. For example, green represents Ordinary Time, which is the period between Easter and Advent and between Christmas and Lent. It symbolises life, hope, and anticipation. Consult with your church to determine the specific colours they use for each season and feast day.
Create Visual Reminders
Use colours to create visual reminders of the current liturgical season. Display the calendar with the colours and symbols of the current season. Change the colours and symbols when the season changes. You can also use coloured decorations, such as napkins or paper plates in liturgical colours, to enhance the awareness of the current season.
Incorporate Colours in Crafts
When creating liturgical crafts, such as the liturgical wheel, use colours to represent the different seasons. For example, you can use green for Ordinary Time, red for Pentecost, and purple for Advent and Lent. This will help children learn about the different seasons and their meanings.
Dress in Liturgical Colours
Another way to incorporate colours into your Catholic liturgical calendar is to dress in the colours of the current season. For example, during Christmas and Easter, white or gold can be worn to signify the birth and resurrection of Christ. During Pentecost, red is typically worn to represent the sacrifice of Christ and the descent of the Holy Spirit.
Use Colours in Worship Spaces
The colours used in worship spaces, such as churches or prayer tables, can also change according to the liturgical season. For example, during Advent and Lent, purple or violet may be used to symbolise repentance and penance. During Christmas and Easter, white or gold decorations can be used to create a festive and joyful atmosphere.
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Include symbols for children to recognise
When creating a Catholic liturgical calendar, it is important to include symbols that children can recognise and relate to. This will help them understand the Church's liturgical year and link their everyday lives with the Church year, making their understanding of time much richer.
The liturgical calendar is read by colour, with different colours representing different seasons and blessings of God. You can use colours like green, white, red, purple, and rose pink. For instance, green symbolises life and hope, and is the liturgical colour of Ordinary Time, which is the longest liturgical season. It is worn most often during liturgies in Ordinary Time. You can also include the symbol of two fish and a basket of bread, representing Jesus' "Loaves and Fishes" miracle. White or gold is used during festive, joyful seasons like Christmas and Easter, as well as on major feast days. Purple or violet symbolises repentance and penance and is worn during Advent and Lent. Red symbolises blood and fire and is used on Passion (Palm) Sunday, Pentecost Sunday, and for the Sacrament of Confirmation. It is also the colour associated with martyrs.
You can also include symbols that represent the different liturgical seasons. For example, you can have a spinning wheel calendar with pictures and words that represent each liturgical season. This will allow children to interact with the calendar and learn about the different seasons.
Additionally, you can use the calendar to teach children about the lives of the saints and their feast days. Include symbols and pictures associated with different saints, such as St. Francis of Assisi or St. Mary. This will help children learn about the harmony between the mystery of Christ and the celebration of the Saints.
By including recognisable symbols and colours, your Catholic liturgical calendar will become an engaging and educational tool for children to understand the Church's liturgical year and its significance.
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Add Catholic celebrations, quotes and art
Add Catholic celebrations, quotes, and art
The Catholic liturgical calendar follows the liturgical year, which is structured around the life of Christ. It includes celebrations such as the festival of Corpus Christi, which celebrates the Eucharist as the body of Christ, and All Saints' Day on the 1st of November, which is an opportunity for believers to remember saints and martyrs. Other important celebrations are the Annunciation, which has produced important liturgical texts such as the Ave Maria, the Angelus, and the Magnificat, and Easter, although the date of its celebration differs between the Orthodox and Catholic churches.
The liturgical calendar is also an opportunity to include quotes from Catholic saints and other important figures. For example, Dante's "Divine Comedy" includes the quote "In His will is our peace," attributed to the saints. Another quote from Pat McCloskey, OFM, reads: "We cannot, however, truly be at peace unless we allow our conversion to God’s ways to be open-ended."
Catholic art can also be incorporated into the liturgical calendar. For example, consider including images or icons of saints or other religious figures. You can also include decorative elements or symbols associated with different liturgical seasons, such as the use of specific colours or liturgical vestments. The Liturgical Arts Journal is a great resource for learning more about Catholic art and its history, featuring articles on topics such as Byzantine iconography, Renaissance vestments, and liturgical-architectural features in churches.
Additionally, you can encourage personalization and creativity by allowing individuals to add their own artistic touches to the liturgical calendar. This could involve decorating a printable liturgical wheel, as suggested by Catholic Icing, which can be a fun and educational activity for both children and adults.
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Feature saints' birthdays and feast days
The Catholic liturgical calendar is a traditional Christian method of organising the liturgical year by associating each day with one or more saints, referring to the day as the feast day or feast of the saint. The word "feast" in this context means an annual religious celebration dedicated to a particular saint. The earliest feast days of saints were those of martyrs, venerated as having shown the greatest form of love for Christ. Saint Martin of Tours is said to be the first non-martyr to be venerated as a saint.
In the Catholic Church, feast days are ranked in accordance with their importance. In the post-Vatican II form of the Roman Rite, feast days are ranked as solemnities, feasts, or memorials (obligatory or optional). The General Roman Calendar lists those saints celebrated by the entire church, but only a selection of the saints for each day is included. A fuller list is found in the Roman Martyrology, and some of the saints included may be celebrated locally.
When creating your own Catholic liturgical calendar, you can include the saint or feast for each day. You can also add symbols that children will recognise, helping them to understand the different seasons and celebrations of the Church. You can also use different colours to represent the liturgical seasons.
A wall calendar can be a great way to bring liturgical living into your home, helping you keep track of the feasts and fasts and seasons of the Catholic year. You can also use a liturgical calendar wheel, which spins to reveal different liturgical seasons.
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Make it a wheel that spins to reveal seasons
Making a Catholic liturgical calendar wheel that spins to reveal the seasons is a fun project that can help children learn about the Catholic liturgical year. Here's a step-by-step guide to creating this interactive calendar wheel:
Materials and Preparation:
Firstly, gather your materials. You will need:
- Thick and sturdy paper plates
- Coloured construction paper (in colours representing the four seasons)
- Coloured craft sticks (optional, in colours matching the seasons)
- Magazines or printed images from the internet
- Glue
- A clothespin or a pin
- String (optional)
Creating the Calendar Wheel:
Start by dividing your paper plate into four equal sections, each representing a different season. You can use coloured construction paper to differentiate the seasons, or draw and colour your own images. If you're feeling creative, you can cut out images from magazines or print pictures from the internet to represent each season. For example, you could use trees with different coloured leaves or flowers to symbolise spring and summer, and a snowman or snowflakes for winter.
Adding the Interactive Spin Feature:
To make your calendar wheel interactive, create two layers. The bottom layer remains stationary and contains images or symbols representing the seasons. The top layer, which spins, can be a simple disc with a small window cut out. When the top layer spins, the window reveals the image or symbol of the current season on the bottom layer. You can attach the two layers with a pin or clothespin, ensuring the top layer can rotate freely.
Final Touches and Display:
Once your calendar wheel is constructed, add any final decorative touches, such as ribbons or strings for hanging. You can even add a heading like "Today's Season is" above the window. Display your spinning liturgical calendar wheel where it can be easily accessed and spun to reveal the current season. This interactive calendar is a fun way to engage with the Catholic liturgical year and can be a great teaching tool for children.
Feel free to adapt and personalise your calendar wheel to suit your creative vision and the interests of your children. Enjoy crafting and spinning through the seasons!
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Frequently asked questions
A Catholic liturgical calendar is a calendar that helps you keep track of the Catholic liturgical year, including the feasts and fasts of the Universal Calendar, liturgical seasons, and days of fasting and abstinence.
The liturgical year is a seasonal cycle and a sanctoral cycle, called the Proper of Time and the Proper of Saints, respectively. Each liturgical year begins on the First Sunday of Advent during the preceding calendar year. For example, the First Sunday of Advent in 2019 began the 2020 liturgical year.
You can make a Catholic liturgical calendar by acquiring a liturgical year wall calendar, or by making your own. There are printable liturgical wheels and calendars available online that you can download and print. You can also make your own by using a large foam board and felt in the liturgical colors of green, white, red, and purple.
