LECTIONARIES AND PROPERS

A "Lectionary" is composed of readings from the Holy Scriptures. The readings are specified for each Service of the Church Year and are all different. The majority of them have a reading from the Old Testament, an Epistle reading, a Gospel reading, and a Psalm. There are two different Lectionaries, one having a three year repeat period, the other a one year repeat period. The two lectionary readings for a given Service Date are usually different. These Lectionaries are a subset of the "Propers" for each Service. In the following, the two Lectionaries and the Propers are listed in the left column, and further explanation of them is found in the right column.

The Three Year Lectionary

The three years are tied to the first three Gospels: Matthew, Mark, and Luke in that sequence. The Gospel reading is exclusively from one of the three for the entire Church Year, except that occasionly a reading from the Gospel of John is substituted when appropriate. The "Gospel of the year" changes from one to the next upon the first Sunday in Advent. After Luke comes Matthew again and the sequence repeats.

The One Year Lectionary

This is the legacy lectionary. As with the three year, It is intended to present the main lessons of the life and works of the Lord Jesus as illustrated by the Church Year. The readings follow the same format as in the three year Lectionary, i.e. Old Testament, Epistle, Gospel and Psalm. The Gospel readings can be from any of the four, Matthew, Mark, Luke and John. The Old Testament and The Epistle are chosen to support the Gospel choice to best teach the lesson of the Gospel reading. The lectionary repeats starting with the first Sunday in Advent.

The Propers

These are a framework having a set of several elements of the Divine Service. There ia a unique Proper for each Sunday Service. A Proper is composed of, in order: 1. The number and/or title of the Sunday Service; 2. The color of the season or special Service; 3.The Proper Preface; 4. The Introit; 5. The Collect of the Day; 6. The Readings of God's Word; in the Lectionary; 7. The Gradual; 8. The Verse.