The Christian year — from Advent to Pentecost

In a minute

Christians live through the story of Jesus every year. The Christian year (or liturgical year) begins in late autumn with Advent, waiting for his coming; celebrates his birth at Christmas and his showing to the world at Epiphany; walks with him through forty days of Lent and the drama of Holy Week; rejoices in his resurrection at Easter; and celebrates the gift of the Spirit at Pentecost. The long season after that, "Ordinary Time", is for growing in faith.

Each season has its own colours, readings, music and customs, so that over a year a Christian has, in a sense, walked the whole Gospel.

The year at a glance

Coming dates: Advent Sunday 29 November 2026 · Christmas Day (a Friday) 25 December 2026 · Ash Wednesday 10 February 2027 · Easter Day 28 March 2027 (Orthodox Easter 2 May 2027) · Pentecost 16 May 2027.

What it is and how it's lived

Advent and Christmas

Advent is a season of quiet expectation. Many homes and churches light one more candle on an Advent wreath each Sunday, and children open the doors of an Advent calendar. Churches hold carol services, often a service of nine lessons and carols, telling the story from creation to the birth of Christ.

Christmas celebrates the incarnation: "For a child is born to us. A son is given to us" (Isaiah 9:6, WEBBE), a prophecy Christians read as fulfilled in Jesus. Many go to Midnight Mass or a Christmas morning service. The angels' song in Luke's Gospel is sung all over the world: "Glory to God in the highest, on earth peace, good will towards men." (Luke 2:14, WEBBE). Many Orthodox churches that keep the older Julian calendar celebrate Christmas on 7 January.

Lent: forty days

Lent recalls the forty days Jesus spent fasting in the wilderness. It begins on Ash Wednesday, when many Christians receive a cross of ash on the forehead, with words such as "Remember that you are dust, and to dust you shall return". The day before, Shrove Tuesday ("Pancake Day"), was traditionally for using up rich foods and going to confession ("shriving").

In Lent Christians focus on prayer, fasting and almsgiving (Matthew 6). Many give something up, such as chocolate, alcohol or social media, or take something on, such as a daily act of kindness or Bible reading. Orthodox Christians keep a strict Great Lent, traditionally without meat, dairy, fish, wine or oil on most days. Jesus taught that fasting should be private: "But you, when you fast, anoint your head and wash your face, so that you are not seen by men to be fasting, but by your Father who is in secret" (Matthew 6:17–18, WEBBE).

Holy Week

• Palm Sunday: crowds welcomed Jesus into Jerusalem with palms, shouting "Hosanna!" Churches hand out small crosses made of palm leaves.
• Maundy Thursday: the Last Supper; in many churches the priest or minister washes people's feet, following Jesus' example (John 13). In Britain the monarch gives "Maundy money" to older people for their service to church and community.
• Good Friday: the most solemn day of the year. Churches are stripped bare; many hold a three-hour vigil or walk the Stations of the Cross. Hot cross buns are a British tradition.
• Holy Saturday: a day of waiting by the tomb.

Easter

The Easter Vigil on Saturday night begins in darkness with new fire and a great Paschal candle; at dawn on Easter Day, churches fill with flowers, bells and alleluias. Christians greet one another: "Christ is risen! He is risen indeed!" Easter is a season, not just a day: fifty days of celebration until Pentecost. Every Sunday, Christians say, is a "little Easter".

Pentecost

Fifty days after Easter, at the Jewish festival of Shavuot, the Holy Spirit came upon the disciples in Jerusalem "like the rushing of a mighty wind" with "Tongues like fire" (Acts 2:2–3, WEBBE). Churches wear red, and some read the Bible in many languages. In England it was once called Whitsun (White Sunday), after the white clothes of people baptised that day.

Its inner meaning

Christians believe time itself is holy. Living through the year in this way means the story of Jesus becomes their story: waiting, receiving, struggling, grieving, rejoicing, being sent out. The rhythm of fast and feast also teaches them to hold sorrow and joy together. "For everything there is a season, and a time for every purpose under heaven" (Ecclesiastes 3:1, WEBBE).

Key texts

"Now when Jesus was born in Bethlehem of Judea in the days of King Herod, behold, wise men from the east came to Jerusalem, saying, 'Where is he who is born King of the Jews? For we saw his star in the east, and have come to worship him.'" (Matthew 2:1–2, WEBBE)

"Then Jesus was led up by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil. When he had fasted forty days and forty nights, he was hungry afterward." (Matthew 4:1–2, WEBBE)

"The multitudes who went in front of him, and those who followed, kept shouting, 'Hosanna to the son of David! Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord! Hosanna in the highest!'" (Matthew 21:9, WEBBE)

"Now when the day of Pentecost had come, they were all with one accord in one place." (Acts 2:1, WEBBE)

Greek (Acts 2:1): ἐν τῷ συμπληροῦσθαι τὴν ἡμέραν τῆς πεντηκοστῆς — en tō symplērousthai tēn hēmeran tēs pentēkostēs, "when the day of Pentecost had fully come".

"This is the day that the LORD has made. We will rejoice and be glad in it!" (Psalm 118:24, WEBBE — sung at Easter)

From the Christian tradition

• The Council of Nicaea (325) agreed that all churches should keep Easter on the same Sunday, independently of other calendars; the method was later fixed as the first Sunday after the first full moon on or after the spring equinox (summary; Nicaea's own canons do not survive with the rule) .
• The Venerable Bede (8th century) wrote that the English name "Easter" came from Eostre, a goddess honoured in spring; many scholars now question this, and the name may simply come from an old word for dawn or the east (paraphrased; Bede, The Reckoning of Time 15).

Common misunderstandings, answered gently

• "Easter is a pagan festival." In Greek, Latin and most languages Easter is called Pascha, from the Hebrew Pesach (Passover), because Jesus died and rose at Passover. Some customs, such as eggs and the English name, may have older roots, but the festival is the resurrection.
• "Christmas is the most important Christian festival." It is the best known in Britain, but Christians regard Easter as the greatest feast.
• "Lent is about dieting." Lent fasting is a spiritual practice: making space for God and giving to those in need. Children, the elderly, the ill and pregnant women are usually excused from strict fasting.

Across the churches

Catholic, Orthodox, Anglican and Lutheran churches keep the full Christian year. Many free churches and evangelical churches mark Christmas, Holy Week, Easter and Pentecost but not every season. Orthodox churches calculate Easter using the older Julian calendar, so their Easter usually falls later; it coincided with Western Easter in 2025. Orthodox Christians call Easter "the feast of feasts".

Reflection

Which season of the Christian year matches the season you are in right now: waiting, celebrating, letting go, or new beginning?

In the other traditions

• Judaism: the Jewish year moves from Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur in autumn through Sukkot, Hanukkah and Purim to Pesach (Passover) in spring and Shavuot fifty days later; the dates follow a lunisolar calendar.
• Islam: the Islamic year follows the moon, so its festivals move through the seasons: Ramadan, the month of fasting, ends with Eid al-Fitr, and Eid al-Adha falls during the Hajj in Dhu al-Hijjah.

Watch

A Christian telling

▶What is Advent? Advent Explained · BBC Newsround

A Christian telling

▶Christmas: Why is it Special to Christians? · BBC Newsround

A Christian telling

▶Pancake Day: What is Shrove Tuesday? · BBC Newsround

A Christian telling

▶How do Christians celebrate Easter? · BBC Newsround