Something I've always been interested in is the calendar of the church. The liturgical calendar is full of seasons and holidays that really only play a role in Christian life. So if you're not a Christian, or not exposed to Christianity much, that whole year doesn't matter much.
And even for me, an active Christian, I still don't know that much about the Christian calendar, so I thought I'd do a little research...
At first, I thought I was pretty knowledgable. I knew when Christmas was. I knew when Easter was, and I knew Lent was forty days before Easter, but other than that, I was learning all new stuff. Turns out that most of the year is taken up by a period known as ordinary time, which basically means the time where there is no special church holiday or season going on. And after about six months of ordinary time, advent follows. Advent is the first season of the year, and it begins four sundays before Christmas. Then of course, come Christmas. After a few weeks, Lent begins for forty days leading up to the Easter Triduum, which consists of Good Friday, Holy Saturday, and Easter Sunday. Then the Easter season follows, celebrating the resurrection of Jesus, before finally we return to ordinary time.
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