Lutheran Liturgical Calendar

Guide to the Lutheran liturgical calendar used for genealogical research in determining the correct dates for religious events in Denmark, German, Norway, Sweden, and Finland.

Introduction
This is a list of the Sundays in the Lutheran liturgical calendar. Only selected feast and holy days that fall on days other than Sunday are included. The liturgy is divided into several seasons beginning with Advent, and followed by Nativity/Christmas, Epiphany, Pre-Lent (Shrovetide/Fastelaven), Lent, Holy Week, Easter, and Ordinary Time (sometimes referred to as Pentecost and Trinty).

Because of variations in the calendar the number of Sundays after Epiphany and Pentecost varies yearly. This also affects the Feast of the Transfiguration which is observed on the last Sunday in Epiphany, except in Finland and Sweden where it is observed on the 7th Sunday after Trinity/8th Sunday after Pentecost. The period between Pentecost and Advent is referred to as "Ordinary Time" as the Sundays are identified by ordinal numbering (1st, 2nd, 3rd, etc.).

Please note that how these dates are identified in the church records will vary from parish to parish. For example, Epiphany may also be recorded as "Hellige Tre Konger", "H3Kdag", "Tre Konger", "Rex Trium", or some other form entirely. This is because the recording was left entirely to the priest or his scribe, and they would identify the date in the manner they preferred.

Annual lists of feast days and their corresponding calendar date for each year from 1501 to 1900 can be found on these pages:
 * Denmark Feast Day Calendars
 * Moveable and Fixed Feast Day Calendars for Germany
 * Norway Feast Day Calendars
 * Sweden Feast Day Calendars (also for Lutheran churches in Finland)