While the word “ordinary” in popular usage is used to describe things that are nondescript or dull, ordinary rather means customary, regular, and orderly. Ordinary Time may also be called Ordinal Time, which means numbered time. Ordinal comes from the Latin “ordinalis,” which is a word meaning “showing order, denoting an order of succession.” Hence, Ordinary Time is the standard, orderly, counted time outside of the other liturgical seasons. There is nothing “dull” about Ordinary Time!
What is Ordinary Time?
Ordinary time is the longest liturgical season in the Catholic Church, encompassing either 33 or 34 weeks each year. Because other liturgical seasons begin or end with movable feasts, the length of Ordinary time can vary slightly; however, 33 weeks is the more common length. The weeks are numbered, e.g., the first Sunday of Ordinary Time, the second Sunday of Ordinary Time, and so on.
Ordinary time is technically one liturgical season, though it is divided into two periods. Prior to the Second Vatican Council, when the term “Ordinary Time” was formally established, the two time periods were merely referred to as “the Season after Epiphany” and “the Season after Pentecost.”
The liturgical color of Ordinary Time is green; however, other appropriate colors are worn on particular feast days.
From:http://www.aquinasandmore.com/catholic-articles/what-is-ordinary-time/article/233
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