Christian Holidays or Holy Days
Sunday – the day of the week devoted to rest and worship is Sunday, or the “Lord’s Day.” This weekly holiday has its roots in the Jewish Sabbath, with the day transferred from Saturday to Sunday because that is the day on which the resurrection occurred.Early Sunday observance is suggested in the New Testament and in the writings of the early church fathers. Christianity also observes a solar calandar, based on the sun.
Easter - is the central event of the Christian faith: the resurrection of Christ three days after his death by crucifixion. Easter is the oldest Christian holiday and the most important day of the church year. All the Christian movable feasts and the entire liturgical year of worship are arranged around the date for Easter, the council of Nicaea in 325 settled on a moveable day that would never coincide again with the Jewish holiday the first Sunday after the first full moon on or after the vernal equinox. The spring equinox is fixed for this purpose as March 21 and the “full moon” is actually the paschal moon, which is based on 84-year “paschal cycles” established in the sixth century, and rarely corresponds to the astronomical full moon. These complex calculations yield an Easter date of anywhere between March 22 and April 25. The Eastern churches (Greek, Russian, and other forms of Orthodoxy) use the same calculation, but based on the Julian calendar (on which March 21 is April 3) and a 19-year paschal cycle. Thus the Orthodox Easter sometimes falls on the same day as the western Easter (it does in 2010 and 2011), but the two celebrations can occur as much as five weeks apart. In the 20th century, discussions began as to a possible worldwide agreement on a consistent date for the celebration of the central event of Christianity. No resolution has yet been reached.
Name of Easter – The origins of the word “Easter” come from Eostre, the Germanic Celtic goddess of spring.
Easter Eggs – Rabbits and eggs were originally celebrated in the Germanic Celtic tradition for fertility. Christians view the Easter eggs as symbols of joy and celebration (as they were forbidden during the fast of Lent) and of new life and resurrection. A common custom is to hide brightly colored eggs for children to find.
Good Friday/Black Friday/Holy Friday – is observed on the Friday before Easter Sunday as the day that Jesus was crucified on the cross. The Catholic service focuses on the Passion of the Christ and the Stations of the Cross.
Christmas – is the celebration of the birth of Jesus Christ that is observed on December 25. The English word “Christmas” derives from the old English Christes maesse, meaning “Christ’s mass.” Unlike Easter, Christmas was not celebrated by the earliest Christians. It began to be observed in the late 3rd century AD as an alternative to pagan winter holidays. The celebration of Mithras, the Sun God and Saturnalia.
History of Christmas – Christians have been celebrating Jesus’ birth on December 25 since at least the early fourth century. The first evidence of its observance is in Rome in 336 AD. In fact, some early Christians, most notably Origen of Alexandria, strongly opposed the celebration of Christ’s birth. Pointing out that only Pharaoh and Herod celebrate their birthdays in the Bible, Origen argued that birthdays were for pagans, not Christians. Despite the objections of some church fathers, attempts to determine Jesus’ date of birth began early. Some reasoned that Christ must have born on the same day the sun was created, for example, suggested that Christ was born on a Wednesday, since the sun was created on the fourth day in Genesis. But as early as 273 AD, Western Christians had decided on December 25 to celebrate the birth of Jesus. The December date for the holiday probably arose from a desire to provide an alternative to the Roman “birthday of the unconquered sun” and the Persian birthday of Mithras, both of which were celebrated on or around the winter solstice. Later it needed to be differentiated from the Germanic solstice celebration of Cernunnous on the Solstice.
Christmas Customs and Observances – Christmas owes its origins to pagan celebrations, such as the Yule log, the tree, gift-giving, and lights. Early Christians saw it as a victory for Christ over paganism and a way to win more souls. The English language phrase “Christmas tree” is first recorded in 1835. It was imported from the German-speaking world, where it is Tannenbaum, literally “fir tree”, or Weinachtenbaum, “Christmas tree.” The modern Christmas tree tradition probably began in Germany in the 18th century, though some argue that Martin Luther began the tradition in the 16th century. The Christmas tree is often explained as a Christianization of pagan tradition and ritual surrounding the Winter Solstice, which included the use of evergreen boughs, and an adaptation of pagan tree worship.
Epiphany - is a Christian feast celebrating the ‘shining forth’ or revelation of God to mankind in human form, in the person of Jesus Christ. The observance had its origins in the eastern Christian churches, and included the birth of Jesus Christ; the visit of the three Magi (Caspar, Melchior and Balthasar) who arrived in Bethlehem; and all of Jesus’ childhood events, up to his baptism in the Jordan by John the Baptist. The eastern churches continued to treat January 6 as the day marking Jesus’s birth.
Ash Wednesday - Originally, the first day of Lent was the day on which public penitents at Rome began their penance. They were sprinkled with ashes, dressed in sackcloth, and required to remain apart from the community until Maundy Thursday. As this practice fell into disuse between the 8th and 10th centuries, it was replaced by the general penance of the entire congregation. From at least as early as the 8th century, this day was known as dies cinerum (day of ashes). This reflects the central ritual of this holiday, the placing of ashes on the forehead to symbolize mourning and penitence. The ashes used on Ash Wednesday are usually derived from burning the blessed palm branches left from the last Palm Sunday celebration. The ashes are blessed, sprinkled with holy water and fumigated with incense. Members of the clergy receive ashes from fellow clergy, usually from the most senior member of the clergy present. Monks receive their mark of ashes on their tonsure rather than their foreheads. Priests then place ashes on all willing members of the congregation, usually in the shape of a cross. At some churches, believers wash the ashes off before leaving the church to symbolize that they have been cleansed of their sins; in other churches, participants leave the ashes on when they leave, thereby “carrying the cross out into the world.” In the Roman Catholic Church, Ash Wednesday and Good Friday are the only days on which fasting is still universally required.
Lent – is a 40-day period of fasting and repentance in preparation for the celebration of Easter. It has been observed since apostolic times as a period of reflection and penitence for those who would be baptized on Easter, and a time for all sinners to repent. Lent was originally observed for six weeks excluding Sundays (36 days), but this was eventually extended to 40 days in order to parallel Christ’s temptation in the wilderness. In the Western Churches, Lent begins on Ash Wednesday (six and a half weeks before Easter). In the early history of the church, strict fasting was observed throughout this period. One meal was allowed per day, in the evening, and meat, fish, eggs, and butter were forbidden. Strict observance of fasting was discontinued among Roman Catholics during World War II, and today is rarely observed throughout the Lenten Season. However, Ash Wednesday and Good Friday are still fast days for the Catholic Church, and the emphasis on Lent as a period of penitence remains.
Palm Sunday – is the sixth Sunday of Lent and the last Sunday before Easter. It is also known as Passion Sunday, Willow Sunday, and Flower Sunday. Palm Sunday commemorates the triumphal entry of Jesus into Jerusalem, where he would be crucified five days later. According to the Gospels, Jesus rode into town on a donkey as exuberant crowds hailed him as the Messiah and spread out palm branches and cloaks in his path. The celebration of Palm Sunday probably originated in the churches of Jerusalem, sometime before the third or fourth century AD. Palm Sunday marks the beginning of Holy Week, an especially solemn and important week in the Christian calendar that focuses on the last days of Jesus’ life and anticipates Easter, the most important holiday in Christianity. Common Palm Sunday observances include processions with palm branches, the blessing of palms (which will be burned and used on Ash Wednesday), and the construction of small palm crosses.
Maundy Thursday – is the Christian feast or holy day falling on the Thursday before Easter that commemorates the Last Supper of Jesus Christ with the Apostles. It is the fifth day of Holy Week, and is preceded by Holy Wednesday and followed by Good Friday.
Mardi Gras – (French for “Fat Tuesday”), reflects the tradition of enjoying rich foods on this day Traditionally, rich foods such as eggs, meat, oils and butter were strictly prohibited during the 40 days of Lent. It thus became customary to eat all that remained of these foods in the house and enjoy one last feast on the day before the 40-day fast. The celebrations of Mardi Gras possibly has its roots in the “pagan” festival honoring the beginning of the new year and the rebirth of nature, or it may be linked to the Saturnalian festival of ancient Rome.
Advent - (Latin adventus, “coming”) marks the beginning of the church year. In the Western churches, it encompasses four Sundays, beginning with the Sunday nearest to November 30 and ending on Christmas Eve. In Eastern Orthodox churches, Advent is longer, usually beginning on November 15. Advent has become an anticipation of the historical coming of Christ at Christmas. The royal colors of blue and purple are incorporated into most Advent services. The most popular non-religious observance of Advent is the Advent Calendar, usually made of several layers of cardboard or paper. Children open a new “door” each day of Advent to reveal a small toy or chocolate treat.
