Happy New Year! As we prepare to celebrate the first Sunday of Advent this week — and with it, the beginning of a new church year — Rachel takes the opportunity to quiz Sarah and Erin on the finer nuances of the liturgical calendar, focusing here on the festival seasons of Advent, Christmas, Epiphany, Lent, and Easter.

What are the three “advents” of Christ that we look for in the weeks before Christmas? Which came first: Christmas or Epiphany? What on earth is Gesimatide (and why don’t most Lutherans observe it anymore)? Why do Orthodox Christians celebrate the Resurrection on a different Sunday from the rest of the church?

Find answers to these questions and more in this merry romp through the first half of the church year — and watch for a follow-up Trivia Challenge covering the rest of the church year (“ordinary time”) in the spring.

Sources referenced in this episode:

• About the Three-Year Lectionary (LCMS.org)
• Want to know the history behind the Feast of the Epiphany? (Catholic News Agency)
• Gesimatide (The First Lutheran Church of Boston)
• Calendar of Sundays and readings in the One-Year Lectionary (lectionary.stanlemon.com)

Connect with the Lutheran Ladies on social media in The Lutheran Ladies’ Lounge Facebook discussion group (facebook.com/groups/LutheranLadiesLounge) and on Instagram @lutheranladieslounge. Follow Sarah (@hymnnerd), Rachel (@rachbomberger), and Erin (@erinaltered) on Instagram!

Sign up for the Lutheran Ladies' Lounge monthly e-newsletter here, and email the Ladies at [email protected].