We are coming to the end of the “Sundays after Trinity.” The number of Sundays designated in this way varies from year to year, depending on the date of Easter in that year. There can be as many as twenty-seven Sundays in the whole season, so that it occupies about half of the church year. This year there are twenty-three Sundays in Trinitytide plus the “Sunday next before Advent.” (See below.)

The collect for the twenty-first Sunday after Trinity

Grant, we beseech thee, merciful Lord, to thy faithful people pardon and peace, that they may be cleansed from all their sins, and serve thee with a quiet mind; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

The last Sunday in the season of Trinity (included no matter how many or how few Sundays there are in the season) is called “the Sunday next before Advent.” It has traditionally been known as “stir up Sunday,” so named because of the first two words of the collect. This was also the Sunday on which people might “stir up” the traditional Christmas pudding, which needed to be made several weeks in advance of Christmas.

Stir up, we beseech thee, O Lord, the wills of thy faithful people; that they, plenteously bringing forth the fruit of good works, may by thee be plenteously rewarded; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

With the end of the Sundays after Trinity the Church Year also ends, beginning again the next week with the first Sunday in Advent.