The Catholic Liturgical Calendar
Today
Ordinary Time
Liturgical color: Green
Date: Wednesday, October 28, 2026
Season ends: Sunday, November 22, 2026 (25 days remaining)
Next major feast: All Saints on Sunday, November 1, 2026 (4 days away)
Upcoming solemnities and feasts
The next 60 days on the universal Roman Calendar. Solemnities are the highest liturgical rank; many are holy days of obligation.
| Date | Celebration | Rank | Days away |
|---|---|---|---|
| November 1 | All Saints | Solemnity | 4 |
| November 2 | All Souls | Commemoration | 5 |
| December 8 | The Immaculate Conception | Solemnity | 41 |
| December 24 | Christmas Eve Vigil | Vigil | 57 |
| December 25 | The Nativity of the Lord | Solemnity | 58 |
What is the Catholic liturgical calendar?
The Catholic liturgical calendar is the year as the Church prays it: the annual cycle of seasons, solemnities, feasts, and memorials by which the Church re-presents to the faithful the entire mystery of Christ and the lives of His saints. The current Roman Calendar in force throughout the Latin Church was promulgated by Pope Saint Paul VI in 1969 in the apostolic letter Mysterii Paschalis, with subsequent revisions.
The shape of the liturgical year
The Catholic year is structured around two great cycles: the Christmas cycle (Advent, Christmas, and the days leading to the feast of the Baptism of the Lord) and the Easter cycle (Lent, the Sacred Triduum, the Easter season, and Pentecost). Between these two cycles lies Ordinary Time, the longest stretch of the liturgical year, in which the Church works through the public ministry of Christ in the Sunday Gospel readings.
Each Sunday of the liturgical year has its proper readings, prayers, and antiphons. The Catholic faithful are bound by the Third Commandment to assist at Mass on Sundays and on the holy days of obligation; the proper observance of the liturgical year is the lived form of this commandment in the Catholic life.
The six seasons
Advent
Liturgical color: Violet (with Rose on Gaudete Sunday)
Four weeks of preparation for Christmas, beginning on the Sunday closest to November 30 (the feast of Saint Andrew). The liturgical year begins with Advent. The dominant note is hopeful expectation: the people of Israel awaiting the Messiah, the Church awaiting the second coming of Christ.
Christmas
Liturgical color: White or gold
Begins with the Vigil of Christmas (December 24 evening) and continues through the feast of the Baptism of the Lord. Includes the Octave of Christmas, the Solemnity of Mary Mother of God (January 1), and the Epiphany.
Lent
Liturgical color: Violet
Forty days of penance, fasting, prayer, and almsgiving in preparation for Easter, beginning on Ash Wednesday and concluding at the Mass of the Lord's Supper on Holy Thursday evening. Lent recalls the forty days of Jesus's fast in the desert and prepares the catechumens for baptism at the Easter Vigil.
The Sacred Triduum
Liturgical color: Various (Holy Thursday white, Good Friday red, Easter Vigil white)
The three days from the Mass of the Lord's Supper on Holy Thursday evening through Vespers of Easter Sunday. The liturgical climax of the entire Catholic year. The Easter Triduum is one continuous liturgical celebration of the Paschal Mystery: the Last Supper, the Passion and Death, and the Resurrection of Christ.
Easter
Liturgical color: White or gold
Fifty days from Easter Sunday through Pentecost Sunday. The Easter Octave (the eight days from Easter Sunday through the Second Sunday of Easter, also called Divine Mercy Sunday) is celebrated as one continuous solemnity. The Easter season concludes with the descent of the Holy Spirit at Pentecost.
Ordinary Time
Liturgical color: Green
Two stretches of liturgical time outside the festal seasons: the weeks between the Baptism of the Lord and Ash Wednesday, and the weeks from Pentecost Monday through the Solemnity of Christ the King (the last Sunday before Advent). Ordinary Time is not unimportant; it is the time of the Church's ordinary, sustained meditation on the public ministry of Christ.
The ranks of liturgical days
Within the seasons, individual days carry one of four liturgical ranks. The rank determines the form of the celebration: which readings are proclaimed, which prayers are used, whether the day replaces the Sunday or weekday it falls on, and whether it must be observed by all the faithful.
-
Solemnity
The highest liturgical rank. Includes Christmas, Easter, Pentecost, the Annunciation, the Assumption, the Immaculate Conception, Saints Peter and Paul, All Saints, and the Solemnity of Christ the King. Solemnities have their own proper readings, and many are holy days of obligation in particular regions.
-
Feast
The middle rank of the universal calendar. Includes the feasts of the Apostles (other than Peter and Paul), most major Marian feasts not raised to solemnity, and feasts of saints of universal significance such as Saint Francis of Assisi (October 4) and Saint Catherine of Siena (April 29).
-
Memorial
Either obligatory or optional. The obligatory memorials of the universal calendar must be observed; the optional memorials may be observed at the discretion of the celebrant. The vast majority of saints in the universal calendar fall into one of these two categories.
The Sanctoral cycle and the saints' calendar
Layered onto the temporal cycle (the seasons of the liturgical year) is the sanctoral cycle: the calendar of saints' feast days. Each diocese has its own particular calendar in addition to the universal Roman Calendar; in the United States, the diocesan calendars include the memorials of the patron saints of the country and of particular regions.
For the saints whose biographies we have prepared, see the saints hub. For the foundational prayers of the Catholic year, see the prayers hub. For the novena calendar showing which novena to start today so day 9 lands on the next feast, see Catholic novenas starting today.
Frequently asked questions
What Catholic liturgical season is it right now?
Today (Wednesday, October 28, 2026) is in the season of Ordinary Time in the Roman Catholic liturgical calendar. The liturgical color is Green. The current season ends on Sunday, November 22, 2026.
How many liturgical seasons are there in the Catholic Church?
There are six liturgical seasons in the Roman Catholic Church: Advent, Christmas, Lent, the Sacred Triduum, Easter, and Ordinary Time. Some older calendars count the Triduum as part of Lent and Easter rather than as a separate season, giving five seasons. The current Roman Calendar (1969) treats the Triduum as its own liturgical unit.
When does the Catholic liturgical year begin?
The Catholic liturgical year begins on the First Sunday of Advent, which is the Sunday nearest to November 30 (the feast of Saint Andrew). The liturgical year ends on the Solemnity of Christ the King, the last Sunday before Advent.
What is the difference between a solemnity, a feast, and a memorial?
These are the three ranks of liturgical celebration in the universal Roman Calendar. Solemnities are the highest rank (Christmas, Easter, Pentecost, and the major Marian solemnities). Feasts are the middle rank (most apostles, major saints of universal significance). Memorials, either obligatory or optional, are the lowest and cover the majority of the saints in the universal calendar.
What are the liturgical colors?
The universal Roman Calendar uses five liturgical colors: white or gold (Christmas, Easter, most solemnities and feasts), red (Palm Sunday, Good Friday, Pentecost, apostles and martyrs), green (Ordinary Time), violet (Advent and Lent), and rose (Gaudete Sunday in Advent and Laetare Sunday in Lent, as an option). Black is permitted for funerals and All Souls' Day but has largely been replaced by violet in modern practice.