The Liturgical Year serves as the Catholic Liturgical Calendar. It consists of the cycle of liturgical seasons that determine when feast days and other holy days are observed, and which Scripture and Gospel readings are used at Mass.
The liturgical calendar year begins on the first Sunday of Advent. It is divided into six seasons. The shortest but most holy season is the three day Sacred Pascal Triduum leading up to Easter. The start of a new liturgical year also marks the transition from one lectionary cycle (A, B, or C) to the next.
These cycles are a result of the Second Vatican Council, which ordered a change in the Sunday readings at Mass so that Catholics would become more familiar with the text of the Bible. As a result we now have a three-year cycle of readings built around readings from the three synoptic Gospels—Matthew, Mark, and Luke.
This secton is not intended for use in celebrating the Eucharist, since it does not include those texts which are different at each Mass, such as the Preface and Eucharistic Prayers. It also does not contain the full “rubrics” (the explicit instructions printed in red) of the Roman Missal, nor does it contain the brief prayers that the priest is supposed to say “inaudibly” (just before and after proclaiming the Gospel, while mixing the water and wine, while washing his fingers, after the Breaking of the Bread, and just before and after receiving communion).
The “Order of Mass” is based on Missale Romanum (The Roman Missal, revised by Decree of the Second Vatican Council and published by authority of Pope Paul VI). The English translations of the prayers and responses given here are copyright 2010 by the International Commission on English in the Liturgy (ICEL), and reprinted here with permission.
The “Readings for the Mass” is based on Lectionary For Mass for use in the Dioceses in the Philippines, __ Typical Edition, and reprinted here with permission.