The liturgical year builds upon and sanctifies the annual flow of the seasons. The cosmic cycle testifies to the order of God’s creation and carries lessons within it, offering times of abundance and scarcity, greater brightness and also darkness. This cycle, stretching back beyond memory, may seem unending to men who live but seventy years, or eighty for the strong, as the Psalmist puts it. But 2,025 years ago an occurrence disrupted its normal course. The Creator entered the cosmic cycle to straighten out its circularity, pointing to something more linear: an end and perfection beyond it.
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Before the feast: the Ember Days of Advent
Nearly as old as the Church itself, the Ember Days of Advent call Christians to sanctify the seasons
Jared Staudt
5 min read
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