Liturgical Calendar
The liturgical year is the program's training structure. This calendar uses the 1962 (Old / Extraordinary Form) calendar as the structural primary; Novus Ordo dates are noted where they differ.
Each season has a character (interior or outward, penitential or joyful, foundational or mission) that shapes the week-to-week rhythm of training.
A note on movable dates
The liturgical year does not align cleanly with the civil calendar. Christmas is fixed at December 25, and saints' feast days are fixed dates, but Easter moves. It falls on the first Sunday after the first full moon on or after the spring equinox, anywhere between March 22 and April 25. Everything tied to Easter (Septuagesima, Lent, Passiontide, Eastertide, Rogation Days, Ascension, Pentecost, and the Whitsun Ember Days) shifts with it. A Lenten Ember Day in one year may fall in early February; the next year, in mid-March.
For exact dates in a given year, consult a published ordo (the FSSP and ICKSP both publish ordos for the 1962 calendar). The ranges below are the outer bounds.
Season date ranges
| Season / Anchor | Approximate dates |
|---|---|
| Advent (first Sunday) | Sunday between Nov 27 and Dec 3 |
| Advent Ember Days | Wed / Fri / Sat after St. Lucy (Dec 13) |
| Christmastide | Dec 25 through Jan 13 (Octave of Epiphany) |
| Time after Epiphany | Jan 14 until Septuagesima |
| Septuagesima Sunday | Between Jan 18 and Feb 22 |
| Lent (Ash Wednesday) | Between Feb 4 and Mar 10 |
| Lenten Ember Days | First Wed / Fri / Sat after Ash Wednesday |
| Passiontide | Two weeks before Easter (Mar 8 to Apr 11) |
| Easter Sunday | Between Mar 22 and Apr 25 |
| Rogation Days | Mon / Tue / Wed before Ascension |
| Ascension Thursday | Between Apr 30 and Jun 3 |
| Pentecost Sunday | Between May 10 and Jun 13 |
| Whitsun Ember Days | Wed / Fri / Sat after Pentecost |
| Time after Pentecost | Pentecost through to Advent |
| September Ember Days | Wed / Fri / Sat after Holy Cross Day (Sept 14) |
Saints' Feast Days
| Feast | Saint | Season | Lesson |
|---|---|---|---|
| 04-23 | St. George | Easter | St. George and the Dragon |
Advent (Indoor / Interior / Endurance)
- Season of interiority, darkness, waiting
- Bodyweight conditioning, drilling in confined space, repetitive technique refinement
- Physical equivalent of lectio divina: slow, grinding, unglamorous
- The boys are waiting for something
Advent Ember Days (after St. Lucy)
- Fasting and assessment under winter darkness
- Kata / prize assessment performed under fasting constraint
- Marks the transition into Christmastide
- First quarterly progress report for parents and administration
Christmastide (Outdoor / Explosive / Joyful)
- Christmas through Epiphany
- Outside into the cold on purpose
- Combat games in the snow, joyful and expansive
- The Incarnation: God entered the physical world including the miserable parts
Time after Epiphany (Indoor / Foundational)
- Technical development, core lesson plans
- Steady interior work through the deep winter
- Textual integration work
Septuagesima (Indoor / Pre-Lenten Preparation)
- Transition from Epiphany's steady work toward Lenten discipline
- Intensity begins to increase, joy begins to quiet
- St. Valentine's Day falls here or in late Epiphany: Arthurian romance lesson
Lent (Indoor / Penitential / Restraint)
- Harder and more interior than Advent
- Restraint drills, endurance work, defensive practice
- Building toward Passiontide
- Lenten service project: One or more sessions devoted to community service rather than drilling. The martial virtue of protecting the vulnerable expressed without a sword. Shoveling a widow's driveway, helping at a food bank, whatever the parish or school community needs. The boys aren't just enduring. They're giving.
Lenten Ember Days (after Ash Wednesday)
- Fasting and assessment under penitential discipline
- Kata / prize assessment performed under fasting constraint
- Boys are already in Lenten mode. The assessment meets them there
- Second quarterly progress report
Passiontide (Two-Week Intensification)
- Distinct from Lent: the approach to the Cross itself
- St. Sebastian season: absorbing pressure without retaliation
- Pure fortitude under suffering
Easter (Outdoor / Expansive / Aggressive / Joyful)
- Back outside, the body resurging
- Training opens up: more freedom, more initiative
- Resurrection embodied
Rogation Days (Before Ascension)
- Outdoor training with processional quality
- Covering ground together: march discipline
- Petition and procession mapped to physical practice
Whitsun Ember Days (after Pentecost)
- Fasting and assessment at the threshold of the longest season
- Kata / prize assessment performed under fasting constraint
- Transition from Easter joy into the sustained mission of Time after Pentecost
- Third quarterly progress report
Time after Pentecost (Outdoor / Outward / Mission)
- The longest season in the old calendar: the Spirit's action in the world
- Best weather, longest days, most outward-facing
- The sending out season: formation meets the world
- Most complex group scenarios, leadership exercises
- Older boys teaching younger ones
- The Spirit equipping for mission, embodied
- Runs from Pentecost through to Advent
September Ember Days (after Holy Cross Day)
- Fasting and assessment as the season turns toward autumn
- Kata / prize assessment performed under fasting constraint
- Marks the transition from outdoor mission season toward the interior seasons
- Fourth quarterly progress report: final assessment before Advent begins the cycle again