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The church year: dates, seasons, and colors

See where the 1979 Book of Common Prayer’s calendar stands today: the season, when this year’s movable feasts fall, and which year of each lectionary is being read. The Sundays and holy days ahead are listed below, and you can add them to your own calendar.

Today, Friday, October 16, 2026

Liturgical color
Green
Daily Office lectionary
Year Two
Sunday lectionary
Year A

Today’s Morning Prayer · Evening Prayer · Add the church year to your calendar

Easter, Lent, and Pentecost dates through 2031

“Easter Day is always the first Sunday after the full moon that falls on or after March 21,” so it falls between March 22 and April 25. Its date sets Ash Wednesday, the beginning of Lent; Ascension Day, forty days after Easter; and the Sundays that follow (BCP p. 15). Advent always begins on the fourth Sunday before Christmas Day. Each church year runs from the First Sunday of Advent to the next.

Movable dates of the church year, 2025–26 to 2030–31
Church year2025–262026–272027–282028–292029–302030–31
First Sunday of AdventNov 30, 2025Nov 29, 2026Nov 28, 2027Dec 3, 2028Dec 2, 2029Dec 1, 2030
Ash WednesdayFeb 18, 2026Feb 10, 2027Mar 1, 2028Feb 14, 2029Mar 6, 2030Feb 26, 2031
Palm SundayMar 29, 2026Mar 21, 2027Apr 9, 2028Mar 25, 2029Apr 14, 2030Apr 6, 2031
Easter DayApr 5, 2026Mar 28, 2027Apr 16, 2028Apr 1, 2029Apr 21, 2030Apr 13, 2031
Ascension DayMay 14, 2026May 6, 2027May 25, 2028May 10, 2029May 30, 2030May 22, 2031
Day of PentecostMay 24, 2026May 16, 2027Jun 4, 2028May 20, 2029Jun 9, 2030Jun 1, 2031
Trinity SundayMay 31, 2026May 23, 2027Jun 11, 2028May 27, 2029Jun 16, 2030Jun 8, 2031
Daily Office lectionaryYear TwoYear OneYear TwoYear OneYear TwoYear One
Sunday lectionaryYear AYear BYear CYear AYear BYear C

Which lectionary year is it?

The psalms and lessons at Morning and Evening Prayer follow the Daily Office Lectionary, which “is arranged in a two-year cycle. Year One begins on the First Sunday of Advent preceding odd-numbered years, and Year Two begins on the First Sunday of Advent preceding even-numbered years” (BCP p. 934). Year Two runs until the First Sunday of Advent, November 29, 2026, when Year One begins.

The readings at the Sunday Eucharist follow a separate three-year cycle of Years A, B, and C. Year A begins at Advent in years divisible by three, so Advent 2025 began Year A. The prayer book’s Sunday lectionary and the Revised Common Lectionary both keep this cycle.

Sundays and holy days in the coming year

Here is every Sunday and holy day from October 2026 to October 2027, each on the day it is kept. A holy day that falls on a Sunday, or in Holy Week or Easter Week, is transferred as the prayer book directs (BCP pp. 16–17). Each links to that day’s offices and its collect.

October 2026

November 2026

December 2026

January 2027

February 2027

March 2027

April 2027

May 2027

June 2027

July 2027

August 2027

September 2027

October 2027

Liturgical colors

The prayer book appoints the seasons and holy days but not their colors. The colors are a matter of custom, and parishes differ. The colors below, which this site and the Gracious Light app use, follow common Episcopal practice.

  • Advent Violet, though many Episcopal parishes use blue. Advent's four Sundays prepare for Christmas, and the first of them begins the church year.
  • Christmas White, for the twelve days from Christmas Day through January 5.
  • Epiphany White for the Epiphany on January 6, then green for the weeks after it until Ash Wednesday.
  • Lent Violet, from Ash Wednesday through the Saturday before Palm Sunday. Some parishes use unbleached linen instead.
  • Holy Week Red from Palm Sunday, with white for Maundy Thursday. Customs for Good Friday and Holy Saturday vary; this site shows red, then violet.
  • Easter White for the Great Fifty Days from Easter Day, ending in red on the Day of Pentecost.
  • The Season after Pentecost Green for the long season from Trinity Sunday, which is white, until Advent.

Holy days keep their own colors: red for martyrs, among them most of the apostles and evangelists, and for Holy Cross Day; white for feasts of our Lord and for other saints.

Add the church year to your calendar

The calendar feed has every Sunday and holy day through December 2027 as an all-day event, with its season, color, and links to that day’s Morning and Evening Prayer. Once you subscribe, your calendar picks up later dates as they’re published.

For another calendar app, subscribe to this address:

https://gracelight.app/1979/church-year.ics

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