Holidays

Lutheran churches observe the liturgical calendar and keep the major Christian festivals, including Christmas (Nativity of Christ), Easter (Resurrection), Pentecost, Epiphany, and the seasons of Advent and Lent. Luther retained a rich liturgical tradition from the medieval Western church, reforming it to center on Word and Sacrament rather than abolishing it. The Lutheran confessions explicitly permit the observation of holy days and liturgical seasons as useful for catechesis and worship.

The Augsburg Confession (Article XXVIII) and Apology defend the observation of church festivals as adiaphora (matters of indifference) — not required by divine law but permitted and valuable for the life of the church. Lutheran churches also observe saints' days as occasions for remembering exemplary Christians and hearing their stories, though the saints are not invoked as intercessors. The observation of these festivals is an expression of Christian freedom, not a legal obligation, but is nearly universal in practice across Lutheran churches.