Lectionary
in MS Word - Click Here.St Faith's Anglican Church Burwood
Prayer and Bible Readings (Lectionary)
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These notes are written as an aid to regular Bible reading, either associated with prayer or independently. They have been prepared by Dr. Keys Smith, one of St. Faith's parishioners, a Graduate in Arts (Classical Studies) and in Divinity and a former medical missionary.
The books required are the Bible and the Prayer Book you use for public worship. As an Australian Anglican, the author uses the Prayer Book for Australia (PBA) 1995, but most Prayer Books that follow the ecclesiastical year have similar formats and prayers (in these notes the relevant pages in the Prayer Book of Australia are quoted in square brackets). The readings are confined to the weekdays; the readings for Sundays and other Special Days are included in the Prayer Books [PBA pp.461-642].
BIBLE READINGS
The readings have two advantages over the existing Lectionaries:
(a) One set of readings (rather than two) is given for each day. Most Lectionaries have two readings each day for Morning Prayer and Evening Prayer, but most lay people only have one session of Bible reading, prayer and meditation each day.
(b) The entire N.T., O.T. and Psalms are read. The readings, arranged according to the ecclesiastical year, enable the whole New Testament and the Psalms to be read in one year, and the whole Old Testament, which is over three times as long, to be read in three years. Many passages are read more than once. The readings are so arranged that the regular reading of the Bible is not disturbed by the lack of correspondence between the calendar year and the ecclesiastical year; the weeks not constant every year are filled with miscellaneous readings of the NT and OT.
Psalms.
It is suggested that the Psalms be read serially, either in the Bible version or a Prayer Book version [PBA pp.223-380], using one Psalm or one sub-division of a Psalm each day (All the Psalms will be completed about two-thirds through the year and the series should then be started again and so on indefinitely).
New Testament Readings use Mark in Advent, Matthew and Luke till Easter, John, Acts and Hebrews between Easter Sunday and Pentecost Sunday and the remainder of the New Testament in the weeks after Pentecost. The Psalms and New Testament Readings should be read daily.
Old Testament Readings are arranged in weekly blocks of text, the whole Old Testament being spread over three years. The readings are arranged in three series called Year A, Year B and Year C. ; the Table at the end of this Introduction links the A, B and C Years to the calendar years. It is expected that the Old Testament blocks of text will be read on one or more days in each week and not necessarily every day. Some blocks are long where there are long lists of names (eg. Numbers and Chronicles), of laws (e.g. Leviticus) or of temple details (e.g. Ezekiel). These can be skimmed rapidly. In the weeks with miscellaneous readings, the readings are listed for daily use and remain the same each year.
PRIVATE PRAYER
The readings can be used in conjunction with your Prayer Book; many Prayer Books contain excellent guides to daily prayer [ PBA pp.381-433]. It is expected that the readings will become a quarry for prayer - a word, a sentence, a theme, an incident becoming the starting point for prayer and meditation. The Prayer Books have a wealth of material for private prayer. You might like to use, in addition, anthologies of prayers or use some of the great classics of the spiritual life which range from the 3rd. to the 20th Century. Some people make their own anthologies of prayers which they glean from many sources or compose themselves and keep these in a loose-leaf folder for easy reference and expansion. Attention is also drawn to the Calendars in the Prayer Books, which contain lists of great Christians of the past [PBA pp.449-460]. These should be consulted daily so that we can remember, learn more about, honour and draw strength from the many witnesses to Christ down the centuries.
ECCLESIASTICAL AND CALENDAR YEARS
The relationship between these two is rather complicated. The ecclesiastical year starts with Advent Sunday, the fourth Sunday before Christmas Day, at the end of November or beginning of December. Christmas Day can fall on any day of the week following the fourth Sunday in Advent or on the following Sunday. The day of the week of Christmas Day determines whether there will be one or two Sundays after Christmas Day before Epiphany on January 6th.. Because of the varying dates of Easter Day, the number of Sundays after Epiphany and before Ash Wednesday varies. Between Ash Wednesday and Pentecost Sunday the weeks are continuous and no problems are encountered. The number of Sundays after Pentecost and before Advent Sunday also varies from year to year with the date of Easter. Use the Sundays after Epiphany and the Sundays after Pentecost up to the Sunday before Lent and the Sunday before Advent respectively.
TABLE.
The following Table makes it possible to link the Ecclesiastical Year with the Calendar Year. A footnote to the Table lists the A, B and C Years for the OT readings. In this footnote two calendar years are given; the first is the year of Advent Sunday and the second the following year. For example, 'Year A - 01/02' means that Advent Sunday for Year A is in 2001 and then Year A continues in 2002 until (but not including) the next Advent Sunday. The Table contains the key dates of the ecclesiastical year from 2001 to 2010.
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Years |
Ash Wednesday |
Easter Sunday |
Pentecost Sunday |
Advent Sunday |
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2001 |
Feb-28 |
Apr 15 |
June 3 |
Dec 2 |
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2002 |
Feb-13 |
Mar 31 |
May 19 |
Dec 1 |
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2003 |
Mar-05 |
Apr 20 |
June 8 |
Nov 30 |
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2004 |
Feb-25 |
Apr 11 |
May 30 |
Nov 28 |
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2005 |
Feb-09 |
Mar 27 |
May 15 |
Nov 27 |
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2006 |
Mar-01 |
Apr 16 |
June 4 |
Dec 3 |
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2007 |
Feb-21 |
Apr 8 |
May 27 |
Dec 2 |
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2008 |
Feb-06 |
Mar 23 |
May 11 |
Nov 30 |
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2009 |
Feb-25 |
Apr 12 |
May 31 |
Nov 29 |
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2010 |
Feb-17 |
Apr 4 |
May 23 |
Nov 28 |
For OT Readings -
YEAR A - 01/02; 04/05; 07/08; 10/11.
YEAR B - 02/03; 05/06; 08/09.
YEAR C - 00/01; 03/04; 06/07; 09/10.
FOOTNOTES. At the end of the Schedule of Bible Readings are some footnotes explaining the use of the Lectionary for some Sundays. These footnotes are indicated in the Schedule by '(Fn)'.
The table and the notes on this page can be downloaded in MS Word Format:
Lectionary
in MS Word - Click Here.
SCHEDULE OF BIBLE READINGS
Psalms.
A Psalm or part of a Psalm should be read daily, gradually reading the whole Psalter. Repeat when completed.
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SUNDAY |
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ADVENT 1 |
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ADVENT 2 |
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ADVENT 3 |
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ADVENT 4 (Fn) |
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CHRISTMAS DAY (Fn) Monday. |
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CHRISTMAS 1 |
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CHRISTMAS 2 |
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EPIPHANY(JAN.6) (Fn) |
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EPIPHANY 1 (Fn) |
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EPIPHANY 2 |
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EPIPHANY 3 |
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EPIPHANY 4 |
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EPIPHANY 5 |
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EPIPHANY 6 |
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EPIPHANY 7 |
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EPIPHANY 8 |
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SUN. BEFORE LENT |
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LENT 1 |
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LENT 2 |
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LENT 3 |
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LENT 4 |
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LENT 5 |
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PALM SUNDAY |
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EASTER DAY |
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EASTER 1 |
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EASTER 2 |
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EASTER 3 |
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EASTER 4 |
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EASTER 5 |
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EASTER 6 |
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PENTECOST (Fn) |
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PENTECOST 1 |
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PENTECOST 2 |
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PENTECOST 3 |
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PENTECOST 4 |
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PENTECOST 5 |
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PENTECOST 6 |
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PENTECOST 7 |
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PENTECOST 8 |
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PENTECOST 9 |
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PENTECOST 10 |
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PENTECOST 11 |
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PENTECOST 12 |
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PENTECOST 13 |
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PENTECOST 14 |
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PENTECOST 15 |
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PENTECOST 16 |
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PENTECOST 17 |
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PENTECOST 18 |
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PENTECOST 19 |
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PENTECOST 20 |
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PENTECOST 21 |
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PENTECOST 22 |
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PENTECOST 23 |
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PENTECOST 24 |
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PENTECOST 25 |
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PENTECOST 26 |
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PENTECOST 27 |
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S. BEFORE ADVENT |
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ADVENT SUNDAY |
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Footnotes:
Advent 4 - Christmas Day may fall on any day of the week after the Fourth Sunday in Advent or on the following Sunday. Use the week-day Readings of this week (if any) until Christmas Day.
Christmas Day - Christmas Day may be a week-day or a Sunday. Use the readings in this section and the following two sections to cover the days between December 26th and January 5th. The readings cover the birth and infancy stories in Matthew and Luke and in the OT the passages from Isaiah radiating reassurance, hope and expectation. They should be spread over these days. The days will be interrupted by one or two Sundays after Christmas, which have their own readings.
Epiphany - Epiphany (Jan.6) may be a week-day or a Sunday. Use the readings in this section for the days (if any) between Epiphany and the First Sunday after Epiphany.
Epiphany 1 - The number of Sundays after Epiphany varies with the date of Ash Wednesday (See the Table for the date of Ash Wednesday), which in turn depends on the date of Easter. The readings for the Sunday before Lent should always be used. Use the Sundays after Epiphany readings prior to the Sunday before Lent. The continuous Readings resume after Ash Wednesday.
Pentecost - The number of
Sundays after Pentecost varies with the date of Easter. Continue with the
Sundays after Pentecost until you reach the Sunday before Advent, which should
always be used.
(See the Table for the date of Advent Sunday)