Weekday Observances

Rev. Mary McCue

​Sprinkled through our liturgical calendar are days called feria. Today, for example
is Christmas Feria.
Mysterious as that sounds, it simply means weekdays. Though simple liturgies
may be celebrated during the week, a saint’s feast, if it falls on that day, takes
precedence.
There are four classes of ferias. First class is Ash Wednesday, and all the days
of Holy Week. Second class is in Advent, December 17 to 23 rd . Third class is
during Lent, from the Thursday after Ash Wednesday to the Saturday before
Palm Sunday.
(Ferias are not to be confused with Ember Days, which occur quarterly.
Ember Days are times for special prayer and for fasting. Ember Days are
the third and fourth Sundays of Advent, the first and second Sundays of
Lent, Pentecost and Trinity Sundays.)
Since we celebrated Epiphany yesterday, when we were together in church,
we did not hear the Collect for the Second Sunday of Christmas.
In honor of today’s Christmas Feria, here it is.
Oh God, who didst wonderfully create and yet more wonderfully
restore the dignity of human nature: Grant that we may share
the divine life of him who humbled himself to share our
humanity, thy Son Jesus Christ, who liveth and reigneth
with thee, in the unity of the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever
and ever. Amen.
Best wishes to all for the New Year.
Deacon Mary