Celebrations & festivals
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- Created on: 01-06-17 13:20
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- Celebrations & festivals
- Advent
- begins on the Sunday nearest the end of November and marks the period of preparation for Christmas
- Christians light Advents Wreaths, sing carols, decorate their homes and prepare spiritually for the celebration of Christ’s birth.
- Christmas
- 25th December is the date used to celebrate the birth of Christ.
- Special Holy Communion services are held, carols are sung, nativity plays performed and Bible readings retell the story of Christ’s birth in a stable in Bethlehem.
- Epiphany
- – the word means ‘coming’ and refers to the arrival of the wise men at the stable, bearing gifts of gold, frankincense and myrrh.
- Epiphany takes place on 6th January
- In the Orthodox Church, both the birth of Christ and the arrival of the wise men are celebrated on 6th January.
- Lent
- – Lent is the period of fasting and spiritual preparation before the festival of Easter.
- . It lasts for 40 days and remembers when Jesus fasted and prayed in the desert for 40 days and nights, and where he was tempted by the Devil.
- It is traditional for Christians to give up something they enjoy during Lent in order to remember the fasting and temptation.
- . The eve of Lent is Shrove Tuesday (Pancake Day). The word ‘shrove’ has come to mean being forgiven.
- Ash Wednesday
- the first day of Lent is Ash Wednesday.
- The name comes from the custom practiced by some Christians of rubbing ashes on their foreheads as a mark of sorrow and repentance for the sins committed during the past year.
- The ashes are made by burning the palm leaves used the previous year on Palm Sunday.
- Palm Sunday
- Jesus enters Jerusalem.
- Many churches are decorated with palm branches and each member of the congregation is given a palm cross.
- Sometimes processions are held around the streets or around the church.
- Maundy Thursday
- the Last Supper and the arrest in the Garden of Gethsemane.
- he Last Supper was probably the Passover Seder Meal celebrated a day early.
- The Last Supper is remembered and repeated by Christians in the Holy Communion service
- Many Churches have a special Passover meal, and in Britain the King or Queen gives Maundy Money to the poor.
- Some Christians hold a vigil to remember Jesus’ time praying in the Garden of Gethsemane.
- Some churches ***** the altar to remember how Jesus was *****ped and beaten by the Romans.
- Good Friday
- Roman Catholics pray at the Fourteen Stations of the Cross – pictures of sculpture which record the places Jesus stopped on his journey from Pilate’s Judgement Hall to Golgotha (Calvary) the place of the crucifixion.
- Vigils and quiet services are held in churches. Untitled
- Easter
- Easter Sunday is the most joyful day of the Christian year
- Christians celebrate the resurrection of Christ in different ways – Easter gardens (models with rock rolled away from the tomb) are made.
- The Paschal Candle is lit – the victory of light over darkness – Jesus is the light of the world.
- In Greek Orthodox churches the priest comes out of the darkened church at a minute past midnight with the lighted candle
- All of the congregation outside have candles and the light is passed from person to person.
- There are fireworks and bonfires too!
- Pentecost
- This festival, known by two different names – either Pentecost or Whitsun – marks the gift of the Holy Spirit to Jesus’ followers after his resurrection and ascension.
- This used to be a favourite time for baptisms, particularly of new converts.
- Those being baptised were dressed in white so it became known as White Sunday or Whitsun.
- Many churches hold processions around the streets which are called ‘Walks of Witness’.
- Sunday
- This is also known as the Sabbath or the Lord’s Day
- The fourth of the Ten Commandments says ‘Remember the Sabbath and keep it holy’ (Exodus 20).
- This day is devoted to resting, as God created the universe in six days and rested on the seventh (Genesis 1), and worshiping God.
- It is the weekly remembrance of the resurrection of Christ and when the main service of Holy Communion takes place.
- Advent
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