Liturgical calendar and the church year
Pick any year and print the church year on one page, with Advent, Lent, Easter and every Sunday in its season color. Or print monthly pages for the bulletin, or a Sunday planner, or add the year to your own calendar. Plain by default, with the full liturgical detail one switch away.
This free tool is made by Church Posting.
Add the church year to your own calendar
Each file below holds the whole church year, computed for that year alone, and it never changes. Subscribe once and Easter, Advent and every Sunday stay in your calendar for good, free. Competitors sell one frozen year as a PDF; this is a live link your calendar reads.
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Church year 2026
churchposting.com/tools/liturgical-calendar/ics/2026.ics -
Church year 2027
churchposting.com/tools/liturgical-calendar/ics/2027.ics
In Google Calendar, open Other calendars, choose From URL, and paste the link. In Apple Calendar, choose File, then New Calendar Subscription, and paste it. In Outlook, choose Add calendar, then Subscribe from web. Your calendar reads the link itself, so nothing installs and nothing is emailed.
Your church's own dates belong in the file the maker above downloads: type them in, and they join the year in your calendar.
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Christmas and Epiphany fall on the same dates every year. Easter moves, and Ash Wednesday, Palm Sunday, Good Friday, Ascension Day and Pentecost move with it. In 2026 Easter is Sunday, April 5, and Advent begins on Sunday, November 29. In 2027 Easter is Sunday, March 28.
These dates follow the Western calendar that Protestant and Roman Catholic churches share. Eastern Orthodox churches date Easter by a different calendar. A church that does not keep the whole church year can still use the dates of Easter and Advent to plan its preaching and its bulletins.
2026
| Date | Day | Season | Color |
|---|---|---|---|
| Epiphany The visit of the wise men to the child Jesus, from Matthew 2, kept on January 6 every year. | Epiphany | White | |
| Ash Wednesday The first day of Lent, 46 days before Easter. | Lent | Purple | |
| Palm Sunday Jesus enters Jerusalem, from Matthew 21, and Holy Week begins. | Holy Week | Crimson | |
| Maundy Thursday The Last Supper, the night before the crucifixion. | Holy Week | Crimson | |
| Good Friday The crucifixion of Jesus. | Holy Week | Crimson | |
| Easter Sunday The resurrection of Jesus, and the day the other moving dates are counted from. | Easter | White | |
| Ascension Day Jesus is taken up into heaven, from Acts 1, on the Thursday 39 days after Easter. | Easter | White | |
| Pentecost The Holy Spirit comes on the church, from Acts 2, on the seventh Sunday after Easter. | Pentecost | Red | |
| Trinity Sunday The Sunday after Pentecost. | Ordinary Time | White | |
| Reformation Day The day in 1517 that Martin Luther posted his ninety-five theses, which many churches mark on the last Sunday of October. | Ordinary Time | Red | |
| First Sunday of Advent The fourth Sunday before Christmas, when the church year starts. | Advent | Violet | |
| Christmas Eve The evening before Christmas Day. | Christmas | Gold | |
| Christmas Day The birth of Jesus. | Christmas | Gold |
2027
| Date | Day | Season | Color |
|---|---|---|---|
| Epiphany The visit of the wise men to the child Jesus, from Matthew 2, kept on January 6 every year. | Epiphany | White | |
| Ash Wednesday The first day of Lent, 46 days before Easter. | Lent | Purple | |
| Palm Sunday Jesus enters Jerusalem, from Matthew 21, and Holy Week begins. | Holy Week | Crimson | |
| Maundy Thursday The Last Supper, the night before the crucifixion. | Holy Week | Crimson | |
| Good Friday The crucifixion of Jesus. | Holy Week | Crimson | |
| Easter Sunday The resurrection of Jesus, and the day the other moving dates are counted from. | Easter | White | |
| Ascension Day Jesus is taken up into heaven, from Acts 1, on the Thursday 39 days after Easter. | Easter | White | |
| Pentecost The Holy Spirit comes on the church, from Acts 2, on the seventh Sunday after Easter. | Pentecost | Red | |
| Trinity Sunday The Sunday after Pentecost. | Ordinary Time | White | |
| Reformation Day The day in 1517 that Martin Luther posted his ninety-five theses, which many churches mark on the last Sunday of October. | Ordinary Time | Red | |
| First Sunday of Advent The fourth Sunday before Christmas, when the church year starts. | Advent | Violet | |
| Christmas Eve The evening before Christmas Day. | Christmas | Gold | |
| Christmas Day The birth of Jesus. | Christmas | Gold |
Seasons and their colors
Colors differ from one tradition to the next. These are the ones most Western churches use for pulpit cloths, banners and bulletin covers.
- Advent
- The four Sundays before Christmas The church reads the promises of Christ's coming and waits for his return.
- Christmas
- December 25 through January 5 The twelve days that mark the birth of Jesus.
- Epiphany
- January 6 The wise men visit the child Jesus, and green is used for the Sundays that follow.
- Lent
- Ash Wednesday to the day before Easter Forty days of prayer and repentance, not counting Sundays.
- Holy Week
- Palm Sunday through Holy Saturday The week of the Last Supper and the crucifixion.
- Easter
- Easter Sunday through Pentecost The fifty days that mark the resurrection of Jesus.
- Pentecost
- The seventh Sunday after Easter The Holy Spirit comes on the church.
- Ordinary Time
- The weeks after Epiphany and after Pentecost The rest of the year, when no feast or fast is being kept.