Danielle Hitchen

Cover

Endorsements

Title Page

Dedication

Acknowledgments

Introduction

Part I: In His Time

Keep Sacred Time

Train for Righteousness

Live the Liturgy

Part II: The Church Year

Enjoying the Church Year

Cycle of Light

Cycle of Life

Benediction

Notes

Bibliography

Poetry Credits

About the Author

Copyright Page

Make Jesus the Center of Your Family’s Year  
   
 The time-honored traditions of the liturgical calendar guide Christians through a year-long meditation on the life of Christ. Beyond just Christmas and Easter, each season of the church year offers special opportunities to remember and celebrate the work of God.   
   
 In Sacred Seasons, Danielle Hitchen helps you incorporate the rhythms and rituals of this ancient Christian discipline into your everyday family life. Part theology, part church history, and part practical spirituality, Sacred Seasons provides an easy-to-use guide to observing the liturgical year complete with fun activities, delicious recipes, and meaningful liturgies.   
   
 Grow your family’s faith in tangible ways as you experience the meaning and joy of each sacred season together.

__Danielle Hitchen__ is a writer and the founder of Catechesis Books, a publishing company dedicated to building out a collection of biblical and theological resources for babies, toddlers, and preschools. A graduate of the Torrey Honors Institute at Biola University, Danielle lives with her husband and three young children in northern Virginia.

__Make Jesus the Center of Your Family's Year__  
   
 The time-honored traditions of the liturgical calendar guide Christians through a year-long meditation on the life of Christ. Beyond just Christmas and Easter, each season of the church year offers special opportunities to remember and celebrate the work of God.   
   
 In Sacred Seasons, Danielle Hitchen helps you incorporate the rhythms and rituals of this ancient Christian discipline into your everyday family life. Part theology, part church history, and part practical spirituality, Sacred Seasons provides an easy-to-use guide to observing the liturgical year complete with fun activities, delicious recipes, and meaningful liturgies.   
   
 Grow your family's faith in tangible ways as you experience the meaning and joy of each sacred season together.

 "Sacred Seasons makes a warm, winning, and above all practical introduction to the traditional church year, and will be a boon for all who are rediscovering this forgotten treasure of the church, this neglected pattern for Christian living. This book will especially appeal to those who'd like to 'live the liturgy' in a natural way, together, at home, as a family. Wonderful seasonal recipes are interwoven with helpful explanations of the reasons for the seasons and creative ideas for celebrating them together. I am glad to commend this book."  
 —__Rev. Dr. Malcolm Guite, poet and Life Fellow of Girton College, University of Cambridge__

 "One of the more cheering elements of recent evangelical thought has been a renewed attentiveness to spiritual disciplines, the church year, and the rituals of ordinary Christian piety. If you have read Dallas Willard, John Mark Comer, or Tish Warren and found something valuable in their emphasis on the ordinary practices of Christian discipleship, then Sacred Seasons is the practical manual you need to help you incorporate these values into your daily routines. Danielle's book is the best guide I have seen for how to actually begin adopting the practices that have anchored God's people for centuries and helped give flesh to the theological claims of Christian faith."  
__—Jake Meador, editor in chief of Mere Orthodoxy__

 "Danielle is a thoughtful teacher whose invitational spirit will help you learn and grow alongside your family as you journey through the liturgical year. This deeply rooted offering is informational yet accessible, historical yet approachable. The spiritual rhythms, routines, and rituals in this artful collection are sure to resource families for years to come."  
__—Kayla Craig, author of To Light Their Way and creator of the Liturgies for Parents podcast__

 "As late converts to liturgical rhythms, the Church Calendar confronted decades of being shaped by school calendars, sports seasons, and a few fun-but-frenzied holidays. Challenging at first, this new way of telling time offered a far more profound way to build the shared rhythms we need as humans. This book is a beautifully crafted sourcebook for shaping our traditions by the awareness that time has been redeemed by Christ. Happily, it's never too late to dig deeper with friends and family. My wife and I look forward to using Danielle Hitchen's gift to shape our coming days more richly than ever, after the greatest story of all."  
__—Bishop Steven A Breedlove, Diocese of Christ Our Hope, Anglican Church in North America__

 "If you are looking for a new rhythm for your own personal study, or if you need a fresh plan to help the Scriptures come alive for your children, this book is for you! In this friendly layout you will find nuggets on church history, practical ideas for your kids or grandkids, recipes to make together, and much more. It's a great gift for a young family!"  
__—Susan Alexander Yates, speaker and author of Risky Faith__

 "This is a beautiful, invigorating, one-of-a-kind book. In an age of praise songs and fog machines, retrieving the church calendar can feel like little more than nostalgic play-acting. Yet the liturgical rhythms have provided a firm anchor for Christian devotion throughout the centuries. Danielle Hitchen has provided a rich treasure to the church in this historically informed, immensely practical how-to guide that offers us baby steps back into spiritual disciplines and promises to root us more deeply in God's grace and communion with our fellow saints."  
 —__Bradford Littlejohn, president of the Davenant Institute__

 "In Sacred Seasons, Danielle Hitchen equips us to place ourselves inside God's story by embracing the often-overlooked liturgical calendar. Wow! She has me totally convinced of its value for my family and my faith! She offers approachable, meaningful, and exciting ways for Christians to 'keep time with the Lord' so that God's story informs theirs. Every page captivated my attention, and I am looking forward to inviting these practices to captivate my calendar."  
__—Caroline Saunders, author of The Story of Water__

 "Sacred Seasons offers a biblical, historical, and practical roadmap for living out your faith every day of the year. This book isn't about adding more to your already busy life. Rather, it's about attuning our lives to what God has done and is doing throughout the history of the church. Whether you're familiar with following the church calendar or the concept is completely new, this book is an invaluable resource to help you and your family embody the grand and beautiful story of our redemption."  
__—Sarah J. Hauser, speaker and author of All Who Are Weary__

 "There is nobody I trust more than Danielle Hitchen to help lead my family through the rhythms of discipleship. In Sacred Seasons, you'll find a knowledgeable, humble, and encouraging conversation partner, fellow parent, and trustworthy friend. For the parent who has heard of the church calendar but has no clue where to begin, this is your new go-to resource. For the family who has dabbled in church calendar resources, this book will guide you deeper. With a grateful heart, I commend this book to your family and pray that God will use it to bind your heart to his."  
 —__Chris Ammen, founder of Kaleidoscope Kids' Bibles__

 "More than any resource I know, Sacred Seasons makes following the Christian calendar approachable and enjoyable. This book is meticulously researched and theologically robust—it will be an enormous blessing to anyone who wants to enter more deeply into the rhythms of grace God has given his church."  
__—Matthew Lee Anderson, author and founder of Mere Orthodoxy__

 "Sacred Seasons stirs my longing to experience something bigger than the personal relationship with Christ I know so well. I have often looked for new ways to consistently connect my kids to God through the year—not for the sake of tradition, but so my whole family can grow a deeply rooted faith. As it turns out, the global, millennia-spanning church has the sacred seasonal practices I've been searching for. Danielle reminds us that it's never too late to tune our lives to the melody and rhythms of the church calendar. I'm delighted to discover I'm invited, too, and I'm grateful that she has written the comprehensive, practical guide this mom needed."  
 —__Christie Thomas, author of Fruit Full__

 "Sacred Seasons is an incredible gift. It demystifies the church calendar for young families, inviting them into the beauty of orienting our rhythms and routines around Christ and his church. No longer will observing the church calendar with your kids feel too sophisticated or complicated. Danielle has done all the heavy lifting for parents with full arms, from simple liturgies to delicious doable recipes. An accessible must-have for families seeking to make the rhythms of remembrance part of the heartbeat of their home."  
 —__Abbey Wedgeworth , author of Held__

 "Sacred Seasons makes a warm, winning, and above all practical introduction to the traditional church year, and will be a boon for all who are rediscovering this forgotten treasure of the church, this neglected pattern for Christian living. This book will especially appeal to those who'd like to 'live the liturgy' in a natural way, together, at home, as a family. Wonderful seasonal recipes are interwoven with helpful explanations of the reasons for the seasons and creative ideas for celebrating them together. I am glad to commend this book."  
 —__Rev. Dr. Malcolm Guite, poet and Life Fellow of Girton College, University of Cambridge__

 "One of the more cheering elements of recent evangelical thought has been a renewed attentiveness to spiritual disciplines, the church year, and the rituals of ordinary Christian piety. If you have read Dallas Willard, John Mark Comer, or Tish Warren and found something valuable in their emphasis on the ordinary practices of Christian discipleship, then Sacred Seasons is the practical manual you need to help you incorporate these values into your daily routines. Danielle's book is the best guide I have seen for how to actually begin adopting the practices that have anchored God's people for centuries and helped give flesh to the theological claims of Christian faith."  
__—Jake Meador, editor in chief of Mere Orthodoxy__

 "Danielle is a thoughtful teacher whose invitational spirit will help you learn and grow alongside your family as you journey through the liturgical year. This deeply rooted offering is informational yet accessible, historical yet approachable. The spiritual rhythms, routines, and rituals in this artful collection are sure to resource families for years to come."  
__—Kayla Craig, author of To Light Their Way and creator of the Liturgies for Parents podcast__

 "As late converts to liturgical rhythms, the Church Calendar confronted decades of being shaped by school calendars, sports seasons, and a few fun-but-frenzied holidays. Challenging at first, this new way of telling time offered a far more profound way to build the shared rhythms we need as humans. This book is a beautifully crafted sourcebook for shaping our traditions by the awareness that time has been redeemed by Christ. Happily, it's never too late to dig deeper with friends and family. My wife and I look forward to using Danielle Hitchen's gift to shape our coming days more richly than ever, after the greatest story of all."  
__—Bishop Steven A Breedlove, Diocese of Christ Our Hope, Anglican Church in North America__

 "If you are looking for a new rhythm for your own personal study, or if you need a fresh plan to help the Scriptures come alive for your children, this book is for you! In this friendly layout you will find nuggets on church history, practical ideas for your kids or grandkids, recipes to make together, and much more. It's a great gift for a young family!"  
__—Susan Alexander Yates, speaker and author of Risky Faith__

 "This is a beautiful, invigorating, one-of-a-kind book. In an age of praise songs and fog machines, retrieving the church calendar can feel like little more than nostalgic play-acting. Yet the liturgical rhythms have provided a firm anchor for Christian devotion throughout the centuries. Danielle Hitchen has provided a rich treasure to the church in this historically informed, immensely practical how-to guide that offers us baby steps back into spiritual disciplines and promises to root us more deeply in God's grace and communion with our fellow saints."  
 —__Bradford Littlejohn, president of the Davenant Institute__

 "In Sacred Seasons, Danielle Hitchen equips us to place ourselves inside God's story by embracing the often-overlooked liturgical calendar. Wow! She has me totally convinced of its value for my family and my faith! She offers approachable, meaningful, and exciting ways for Christians to 'keep time with the Lord' so that God's story informs theirs. Every page captivated my attention, and I am looking forward to inviting these practices to captivate my calendar."  
__—Caroline Saunders, author of The Story of Water__

 "Sacred Seasons offers a biblical, historical, and practical roadmap for living out your faith every day of the year. This book isn't about adding more to your already busy life. Rather, it's about attuning our lives to what God has done and is doing throughout the history of the church. Whether you're familiar with following the church calendar or the concept is completely new, this book is an invaluable resource to help you and your family embody the grand and beautiful story of our redemption."  
__—Sarah J. Hauser, speaker and author of All Who Are Weary__

This highly informative and practical guide to observing the Christian liturgical calendar helps families enrich their faith as they celebrate the time-honored traditions of the church throughout the year. Experience sacred seasons together.

"Sacred Seasons" by Danielle Hitchen offers a guide to the liturgical calendar, featuring theology, history, activities, recipes, and liturgies for families to deepen their faith.

\["For families wanting to deepen their faith together", "Guides you through the rhythms of the liturgical year", "You will celebrate God\\u2019s work in your daily life"\]

Sacred Seasons helps you make Jesus the focus of your family’s year.

Jayne Runacres

This book is not what I was expecting. I thought it would be a nice, beautifully designed book about feast and saints’ days. It is so much more than that. The book explains the church year in a way that anyone who has never come across it before can understand but it also delves deeper into why the church year matters for those who are familiar with it. And for those who are very familiar with the church calendar, it still has more insight and wisdom to offer. There is a section on the history of the church and information on when seasons came to be included in the church year. Sacred Seasons is beautifully designed and illustrated. I really like the at a glance sections which gives the details of the season, a key verse and a fruit of spirit for the season. I also like the feature sections which highlight spiritual practises and disciplines, associated with the season. There are so many ideas in this book which I will be putting into practise. I truly think that this is a book you will keep close at hand to dip into again and again. And of course, year after year.

Not what I was expecting

Sacred Seasons

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