✦ zenith calendar · the lutheran almanac
the principal and lesser festivals in one quiet layer of your sky, each one explained in its own tradition's words.
lutheran is one of the holiday almanacs that come with zenith calendar. it holds the church year as the evangelical lutheran churches of america and canada keep it: its principal festivals and lesser festivals, from advent to reformation day. the apostles' days the lutheran church–missouri synod keeps on other dates are here too, marked (missouri synod).
its moving days hang from the western churches' published easter, ash wednesday, pentecost and advent tables, by the church's own rules, so nothing is worked out on your phone. tap a day and read three short paragraphs: what it is, where it comes from, and how it is kept.
gregorian · the church year, hung from the western churches' published tables
a sunday, beginning the weeks of advent
the first day of the church year. advent is weeks of hope and waiting, looking toward the birth of jesus at christmas and toward his coming again.
the first candle of the advent wreath is lit, a custom begun by johann hinrich wichern, a lutheran pastor in hamburg. many lutheran churches dress the altar in blue, the color of hope, and sing luther's advent hymn, "savior of the nations, come."
25 december
the festival of the birth of jesus christ, the word made flesh, and the first of the twelve days of christmas.
the church celebrates holy communion with white and gold, and the people sing the great christmas hymns. the day is spent with family and a festive meal, and the season goes on until epiphany.
a sunday, from the published western easter
the festival of the resurrection, the day christ rose from the dead: the first of the fifty days of easter, the heart of the christian faith.
the church fills with white, lilies and song, and the greeting rings out: "alleluia. christ is risen." "christ is risen indeed. alleluia." luther's "christ jesus lay in death's strong bands" is sung in many churches, and families gather for an easter meal.
the fiftieth day of easter
the day the church celebrates the gift of the holy spirit and the birth of the church.
the church is dressed in red, the color of fire and the spirit, and many people wear red. scripture may be read in several languages, and it closes the fifty days of easter.
zenith calendar draws the year as an orbit round the sun. lit, lutheran puts its festivals on their days on that ring, in ice blue. its mark is ✟.
each of its festivals carries three short paragraphs in its notes: what it is, where it comes from as its own tradition tells it, and how it is kept.
lutheran arrives locked, so nothing in it changes by accident. the lock guards your hand, not your eye: you can still read it, shine it or eclipse it. one tap unlocks it, and then it is yours to rename, recolour or add to.
tap its chip in the legend to eclipse it (kept, but not drawn) and tap again to bring it back. nothing is deleted either way.
lutheran shares one sky with your own commitments. like every almanac that comes with the app, it never counts toward the almanacs you can make for free, and it lives on your phone: zenith calendar has no server of its own.
✦ zenith calendar · the sky around it
lutheran is a single layer. beneath it is a whole calendar drawn as the sky, your year an orbit round the sun, and every part of it answers your touch.
the sun stands at the centre and the year rings round it, with today's earth riding at today's place, its small moon beside it. tap the ring anywhere else and a faint ghost earth waits on that day.
drag along the ring and the days pass under your finger, the big date and the day's list following as you go. lift, and the day you stopped on stays picked.
tap the small moon beside today's earth and you dive into the week. the moon above shows its phase, named underneath; swipe the dates and each week brings its own.
tap the sun and the ring tips on its edge into a ladder of years. in the week, pull the moon firmly down and the month opens, the moon resting half off its foot.
zenith calendar has no server of its own. tap the gear and switch on "nothing comes in" or "nothing leaves this phone"; lift them, and every almanac is back exactly as it was.
lutheran is waiting in the app, and the rest of the sky comes with it.
lutheran · the lutheran church year ·
Easter Day, the Resurrection of Our Lord, falls on 28 March 2027. In Zenith Calendar it sits on the ring of your year in the lutheran almanac.
The first Sunday of Advent falls on 29 November 2026, the first day of the church year.
Yes: it is on 31 October, the day Lutherans remember the reformation of the church. Many congregations keep it on the last Sunday in October instead.
The Lutheran Church–Missouri Synod keeps two apostles' days on other dates; those are in the lutheran almanac too, titled with "(missouri synod)".
Zenith Calendar for Android comes with an almanac called lutheran: the church's principal and lesser festivals, drawn on the ring of your year beside your own days. Turning it on costs nothing.
Its moving days hang from the western churches' published Easter, Ash Wednesday, Pentecost and Advent tables by the church's own rules. Nothing is worked out on your phone.