The Liturgical Year begins on the first Sunday of Advent and ends on the Saturday following the twenty-fourth Sunday after Pentecost. It is composed of two main parts or cycles that revolve together through the year. One might compare these cycles to two wheels tied together and turning on the same axle in close synchronization. These principal parts are called the temporal cycle and the sanctoral cycle.

The word temporal refers to "time." The temporal cycle is the cycle or recurring series of the main times or seasons of the Church year. It presents the events and mysteries of the life of Christ: His coming (Advent); His birth and revelation to the Gentiles (Christmastide); His hidden life (time after Epiphany); His public life (Spetuagesima and Lent); His suffering and death (Passiontide); His resurrection and ascension (Eastertide); His sending of the Holy Spirit (Pentecost); and the continuation of His life and work in His Mystical Body – the Church (time after Pentecost.)

Sanctoral refers to "saints." The sanctoral cycle is the recurring series of the feasts of the saints. It presents the lives of "other-Christs," that is, the lives of the saints, including particularly the life of our Blessed Mother.

A Sunday Missal contains only the Masses of the temporal cycle. You will find these Masses under the heading: "The Proper of the Time." It is called "Proper because it contains the Masses that are proper to the various seasons of the ecclesiastical year. A daily Missal contains both the Masses of the temporal cycle or Proper of the Time, and the sanctoral cycle or the Proper of the Saints – that is, the proper Masses for feasts of the saints. Although both cycles are occurring simultaneously throughout the Church year, the temporal cycle is by far the more important. The temporal cycle enacts the life of our Lord, which is the main story, the central plot in the drama of Redemption.

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