The official Christian church calendar is a table containing the holy days, saints’ days, and festivals of the church, with the dates of the civil calendar on which they occur. These include the fixed feasts, such as Christmas, and the movable feasts, which depend on the date of Easter. The most important early church calendar was compiled by Furius Dionisius Philocalus about 354. After the Reformation, the German Lutheran church retained the Roman calendar, as did the Church of England and some other Anglican churches. The principal seasons of the church calendar observed by Lutherans are, in order, Advent, Christmas, Epiphany, Lent, Easter, and Pentecost.
The church year begins with Advent and our preparations for the coming of Christ. This year, "New Year's Day" is on December 2. Christmas follows Advent.
By January, we have concluded the Advent and Christmas Seasons, and are entering Epiphany. After that comes Lent and Easter. We then conclude the church year with the Season after Pentecost (Greek pentecoste,”fiftieth”), a festival observed on the seventh Sunday (50th day) after Easter, commemorating the descent of the Holy Spirit on the Apostles as they celebrated the ancient Jewish feast of Shabuoth (see Acts 2:1-4). In the early church, Pentecost was a time for administration of the sacrament of baptism.
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In addition to Sundays and Principal Festivals, the Church has designated many "Lesser Festivals and Commemorations". For a month-by-month summary, with brief biographies of those commemorated, click here.