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Complete List of Church Year Commemorations

Written by Concordia Publishing House | January 2, 2023

As a follow-up to our post on the seasons, feasts, and festivals in the Church Year, we’ve compiled a list of Church Year commemorations to help deepen your understanding. Read below for more information on the Church Year. Then follow the links to learn about each commemoration.

What Is a commemoration in the Church Year?

In the book Ordering Our Days in His Peace: An Introduction to the Christian Church Year, Rev. Heath Curtis reminds us why we set aside certain days as commemorations during the Church Year:

Commemorations provide us an opportunity to thank God for the saints’ examples of how we should cling to Christ for salvation.

How Do We Celebrate Commemorations in the Church Year?

Lutheran Service Book: Companion to the Services provides even more insights into how Christians can observe these important days of commemoration:

In contrast to the feasts and festivals of Christ and His New Testament saints, commemorations of His saints from the Old Testament and from throughout the history of His Church on earth are normally not celebrated with a full Divine Service but in daily prayer, whether within the family, in the Christian Day School, in the chapels of our church colleges and seminaries, or in parishes where the congregation may be gathered for Matins or Vespers during the week. The different character of these days is indicated in LSB by setting apart the commemorations in their own calendar (LSB xii–xiii), following the Sundays and seasons and
feasts and festivals. To that end, readings and other propers are not assigned to the commemorations as they are for the feasts and festivals.

Church Year Commemorations by Month and Day

The following is a complete list of commemorations taken from Lutheran Service Book, pages xii–xiii. Scroll through the list to see important dates. Then follow the links to see a brief reading for each day.

January

2 J. K. Wilhelm Loehe, Pastor

10 Basil the Great of Caesarea, Gregory of Nazianzus, and Gregory of Nyssa, Pastors and Confessors

20 Sarah

27 John Chrysostom, Preacher

February

5 Jacob (Israel), Patriarch

10 Silas, Fellow Worker of St. Peter and St. Paul

13 Aquila, Priscilla, Apollos

14 Valentine, Martyr

15 Philemon and Onesimus

16 Philipp Melanchthon (birth), Confessor

18 Martin Luther, Doctor and Confessor

23 Polycarp of Smyrna, Pastor and Martyr

March

7 Perpetua and Felicitas, Martyrs

17 Patrick, Missionary to Ireland

31 Joseph, Patriarch

April

6 Lucas Cranach and Albrecht Dürer, Artists

20 Johannes Bugenhagen, Pastor

21 Anselm of Canterbury, Theologian

24 Johann Walter, Kantor

May

2 Athanasius of Alexandria, Pastor and Confessor

4 Friedrich Wyneken, Pastor and Missionary

5 Frederick the Wise, Christian Ruler

7 C. F. W. Walther, Theologian

9 Job

11 Cyril and Methodius, Missionaries to the Slavs

21 Emperor Constantine, Christian Ruler, and Helena, Mother of Constantine

24 Esther

25 Bede the Venerable, Theologian

June

1 Justin, Martyr

5 Boniface of Mainz, Missionary to the Germans

12 The Ecumenical Council of Nicaea, AD 325

14 Elisha

25 Presentation of the Augsburg Confession

26 Jeremiah

27 Cyril of Alexandria, Pastor and Confessor

28 Irenaeus of Lyons, Pastor

July

6 Isaiah

16 Ruth

20 Elijah

21 Ezekiel

28 Johann Sebastian Bach, Kantor

29 Mary, Martha, and Lazarus of Bethany

30 Robert Barnes, Confessor and Martyr

31 Joseph of Arimathea

August

3 Joanna, Mary, and Salome, Myrrhbearers

10 Lawrence, Deacon and Martyr

16 Isaac

17 Johann Gerhard, Theologian

19 Bernard of Clairvaux, Hymnwriter and Theologian

20 Samuel

27 Monica, Mother of Augustine

28 Augustine of Hippo, Pastor and Theologian

September

1 Joshua

2 Hannah

3 Gregory the Great, Pastor

4 Moses

5 Zacharias and Elizabeth

16 Cyprian of Carthage, Pastor and Martyr

22 Jonah

30 Jerome, Translator of Holy Scripture

October

7 Henry Melchior Muhlenberg, Pastor

9 Abraham

11 Philip the Deacon

17 Ignatius of Antioch, Pastor and Martyr

25 Dorcas (Tabitha), Lydia, and Phoebe, Faithful Women

26 Philipp Nicolai, Johann Heermann, and Paul Gerhardt, Hymnwriters

November

8 Johannes von Staupitz, Luther’s Father Confessor

9 Martin Chemnitz (birth), Pastor and Confessor

11 Martin of Tours, Pastor

14 Emperor Justinian, Christian Ruler and Confessor of Christ

19 Elizabeth of Hungary

23 Clement of Rome, Pastor

29 Noah

December

4 John of Damascus, Theologian and Hymnwriter

6 Nicholas of Myra, Pastor

7 Ambrose of Milan, Pastor and Hymnwriter

13 Lucia, Martyr

17 Daniel the Prophet and the Three Young Men

19 Adam and Eve

20 Katharina von Bora Luther

29 David

 

Quotation from Ordering Our Days in His Peace: An Introduction to the Christian Church Year, p. 21, is copyright © 2009 Concordia Publishing House. All rights reserved.

Quotation from Lutheran Service Book: Companion to the Services, p. 263, is copyright © 2022 Concordia Publishing House. All rights reserved.

Church Year commemorations are from Lutheran Service Book, pp. xii–xiii, copyright © 2006 Concordia Publishing House. All rights reserved.

Learn more about Church Year commemorations in Celebrating the Saints.

Looking to learn even more about the saints we commemorate throughout the year? Rev. Will Weedon’s book, Celebrating the Saints, provides insights into the lives and work of those who have gone before us in the faith.