New Every Morning Anglican Fellowship
The Christian Year — Moveable Feasts and Fasting Calendar
Job Aid 9 · All Ministers · BCP Table of Fasts · Canon 11.06(d)
CALCULATING THE MOVEABLE FEASTS FROM EASTER
All moveable feasts are calculated from Easter Sunday. Easter falls on the first Sunday after the first full moon after the spring equinox (21 March).
Ash Wednesday: Easter minus 46 days (counting Easter as Day 1)
Palm Sunday: Easter minus 7 days
Ascension Day: Easter plus 39 days (Thursday; 40th day counting Easter)
Pentecost / Whitsunday: Easter plus 49 days (Sunday; 50th day counting Easter)
Trinity Sunday: The Sunday after Pentecost
Corpus Christi: Thursday after Trinity Sunday [traditional]
First Sunday of Advent: Fourth Sunday before Christmas Day
THE SEASONS AND THEIR THEOLOGICAL CHARACTER
Advent (4 Sundays before Christmas): Preparation for the Coming King; penitential; no Gloria; purple
Christmas (25 Dec to Epiphany): The Incarnation; the Word made flesh; white/gold
Epiphany (6 Jan to Septuagesima): The manifestation of Christ; growing light; white then green
Pre-Lent (Septuagesima, Sexagesima, Quinquagesima): Preparation for Lent; no Alleluia; subdued
Lent (Ash Wednesday to Holy Saturday): Penitence; fasting; purple; no Gloria; no Alleluia
Eastertide (Easter to Pentecost): The Resurrection; the life of pardon; white/gold; Alleluia
Trinity (Trinity Sunday to Advent): Formation in faith and life; green; long season of growth
THE EMBER DAYS [BCP Table of Fasts; Canon 15.04]
The Ember Days are four sets of three days of fasting (Wednesday, Friday, Saturday) appointed for prayer for the ministry of the Church, and for ordinations.
• Spring Ember Days: Wednesday, Friday, Saturday after the First Sunday in Lent
• Summer Ember Days: Wednesday, Friday, Saturday after Whitsunday (Pentecost)
• Autumn Ember Days: Wednesday, Friday, Saturday after Holy Cross Day (14 September)
• Winter Ember Days: Wednesday, Friday, Saturday after St. Lucy's Day (13 December)
Canon 15.04: Postulants for Holy Orders report to the Bishop at the Ember Days. Ordinations are traditionally performed at Ember seasons.
THE ROGATION DAYS [BCP Table of Fasts]
Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday before Ascension Day. Days of fasting and prayer for God's blessing on the earth, crops, and human industry. The Litany is appointed.
THE FRIDAY FAST [BCP Table of Fasts; Canon 11.06(d)]
⚠ All Fridays in the year — except Christmas Day — are fasting days. [BCP Table of Fasts] This is a canonical obligation for all communicants [Canon 11.06(d)]. Every Friday commemorates the Crucifixion.
PRINCIPAL FEASTS — PRECEDENCE OVER SUNDAYS
When a Principal Feast falls on a Sunday, the feast takes precedence. The Sunday Collect, Epistle, and Gospel give way to the feast propers. Principal Feasts: Christmas (25 Dec), Epiphany (6 Jan), Ash Wednesday, Easter, Ascension, Pentecost, Trinity Sunday, All Saints (1 Nov).
CANONICAL COMMUNION OCCASIONS [Canon 11.06(c)]
• CHRISTMASTIDE — Christmas Day and the season following
• EASTERTIDE — Easter Day and the fifty days following
• WHITSUNTIDE — Pentecost and the season following
⚠ All three seasons are canonically required. Reception only at Easter does not satisfy Canon 11.06(c).
© 2026 · The Reverend P. A. Ternahan, M.A. Hum. · The Continuing Anglican Tradition of the 1928 Book of Common Prayer