Ordinary Time


In the liturgy of the post-Vatican II Roman Rite, Ordinary Time is that part of the Christian liturgical year outside of Advent, Christmastide, Lent, the Easter Triduum, and Eastertide, and is divided into two periods: that between Christmastide and Lent, and that between Eastertide and Advent. In this season the Church celebrates the public ministry of Jesus from his Baptism of Jesus to the time of his final suffering and death.
The word "ordinary" as used here comes from the ordinal numerals by which the weeks are identified or counted, from the 1st week of Ordinary Time in January to the 34th week that begins toward the end of November; Ordinary Time is interrupted by Lent and Eastertide.

Roman Rite

The Feast of the Baptism of the Lord, which ordinarily occurs on the Sunday after the Solemnity of the Epiphany of the Lord, is the First Sunday in Ordinary Time. It closes the Season of Christmas and opens the Season of Ordinary Time. The weekdays that follow the Feast of the Baptism of the Lord are reckoned as belonging to the first week of Ordinary Time and the following Sunday as the Second Sunday of Ordinary Time.
Ordinary Time continues until the Tuesday that immediately precedes Ash Wednesday. The date of the latter, which is on the 40th day before Easter Sunday falls between 4 February and 10 March. The date for Easter Sunday is determined by the Paschal full moon.
Ordinary Time is then interrupted by Lent and Eastertide and resumes on the Monday after the Solemnity of Pentecost, the 50th day of Eastertide. It concludes on the Saturday afternoon before the first Sunday of Advent. The second period of Ordinary Time can thus sometimes last as much as seven months.
The decision to treat the whole of Ordinary Time as a unit, calling it in Latin Tempus per annum, led to abandonment of the previous terminology, whereby the Sundays of the first period were called Sundays after Epiphany and those of the second period Sundays after Pentecost. The weeks, rather than the Sundays alone, are spoken of, in view of the assigning of specific Scripture readings at Mass not only to the Sundays of Ordinary Time but also to the weekdays.
Taken thus as a unit, Ordinary Time is the longest season of the liturgical year, and is composed of 33 or 34 complete or partial weeks. In about 2 years out of 3, Ordinary Time comprises only 33 weeks, so in those years one week is skipped when resuming Ordinary Time after Pentecost Sunday: for example, in 2011, the Sunday before Ash Wednesday was the 9th Sunday in Ordinary Time, but the day after Pentecost Sunday was Monday of the 11th Week of Ordinary Time.
The liturgical color assigned to Ordinary Time Sundays and weekdays, is green.

Solemnities and feasts on Ordinary Time Sundays

The celebration of an Ordinary Time weekday gives way to that of any solemnity, feast, or obligatory memorial that falls on the same day, and may optionally be replaced by that of a non-obligatory memorial or of any saint mentioned in the Roman Martyrology for that day.
The liturgy of a solemnity or a feast of the Lord that falls on an Ordinary Time Sunday during Ordinary Time replaces that of the Sunday.
The solemnities and feasts of the Lord inscribed in the General Roman Calendar of the Catholic Church are:
The Universal Norms on the Liturgical Year and the General Roman Calendar also lists as solemnities a number of celebrations whose dates vary from place to place and from one church to another even within the same parish:
Christmas, Solemnity of the Epiphany of the Lord, and Feast of the Baptism of the Lord fall in Christmastide, not Ordinary Time. Likewise, the Solemnity of Pentecost is the last day of Eastertide.
In addition, if a solemnity or feast that is "agreeable to the devotion of the faithful" occurs during the week, the Mass of that celebration may, for the pastoral good of the people, be used on a Sunday of Ordinary Time at all celebrations of Mass at which they are present, provided that it outranks Ordinary Time Sundays.

Revised Common Lectionary usage

Following the lead of the liturgical reforms of the Roman Rite, many Protestant churches also adopted the concept of Ordinary Time alongside the Revised Common Lectionary, which applies the term "Ordinary Time" to the period between Pentecost and Advent. However, use of the term "Ordinary Time" is not common.
Those that have adopted the Revised Common Lectionary include churches of the Anglican Communion, Methodist Churches, Lutheran Churches, Old Catholic Churches and Reformed Churches.
Some Protestant denominations set off a time at the end of Ordinary Time known as Kingdomtide or Season of End Times. This period can range anywhere from only the three Sundays prior to Christ the King to 13 or 14 weeks. The Church of England observes this time between All Saints and Advent Sunday.
In some traditions, what in the Roman Rite is the first period of Ordinary Time is called Epiphanytide and from Trinity Sunday to Advent is called Trinitytide. In the Church of England, Sundays during "Ordinary Time" in this narrower sense are called "Sundays after Trinity", except the final four, which are termed "Sundays before Advent". In the Episcopal Church, it is normal to refer to Sundays after Epiphany and Sundays after Pentecost.
The total number of Sundays varies according to the date of Easter and can range anything from 18 to 23. When there are 23, the Collect and Post-Communion for the 22nd Sunday are taken from the provision for the Third Sunday before Lent.