Chapter 17

Ten Christian Holy Days, Holidays, and Seasons

In This Chapter

Observing holy days

Celebrating traditional holidays

Reserving seasons for contemplation

Many in postmodern society downplay tradition. This change has rippled through some parts of the Church as well. However, tradition remains an important part of what the Christian faith is all about, because when the Church recognizes holy days, holidays, and seasons, it connects Christians of today with Christians throughout history. Special days and seasons also serve as annual reminders of key aspects of the Christian faith, be it Christ’s death and resurrection or a day of prayer to humble ourselves as a nation before God.

In this chapter, you discover more about ten major Christian holy days, holidays, and seasons. Some of these holy days that follow in calendar order commemorate actual events that transpired during the life of Christ, although others are special times of reflection and self-examination.

Lent

When: Begins 40 days before Easter

Observance: Self-examination and preparation for Easter

Lent was first observed in the fourth century as the 40-day period between Ash Wednesday (see the “Ashes to ashes” sidebar in this chapter) and Easter. Its focus was on self-examination and self-denial, and Christians used fasting (abstaining from eating food) in the early years as a visible demonstration of this process.

Ashes to ashes

Back in the seventh century, Church leaders began the practice of marking foreheads with ashes to symbolize repentance and mortality on Ash Wednesday, referring to Genesis 3:19: “For you are dust, and to dust you shall return.” Many churches don’t practice this tradition anymore, because it’s a man-made tradition with no biblical roots. However, some Catholic and Anglican churches today continue in this tradition during Ash Wednesday services.

Over the centuries, Catholics have relaxed some of the strict fasting rules. Today, only Ash Wednesday, Good Friday, and all Fridays during Lent are considered fasting days. On these days, Catholics over the age of 14 are to refrain from eating meat. (Historically, this practice was meant to help unify people who could afford meat with poor people who couldn’t.) In addition, on Ash Wednesday and Good Friday, those between the ages of 18 and 59 are to eat only one full meal and two smaller meals and aren’t to eat between meals.

Orthodox Christians are far more rigorous in their observance of fasting during Lent, believing that regular fasting is a crucially important discipline for one’s spiritual growth. Meat, dairy products, and eggs (which historically were considered more luxury foods than ordinary breads) aren’t allowed, with some additional restrictions on certain days. They can only eat fish (which was historically considered less of a luxury than red meat) on the feasts of the Annunciation and Palm Sunday.

Some Protestant denominations observe Lent (such as Anglican and Episcopalian), but many Protestant churches attach less significance to the season of Lent than to the individual holy days leading up to Easter.

In addition to refraining from eating, Lent is often a time in which Christians give something pleasurable up (furthering the focus on self-denial), be it chocolate, meat, or — shudder the thought! — coffee.

Palm Sunday

When: Sunday before Easter

Observance: Jesus’ entry into Jerusalem

Biblical reference: Matthew 21:1–11

Christians observe Palm Sunday on the Sunday before Easter, celebrating Jesus’ triumphal entry into Jerusalem. The reason they call it Palm Sunday stems from the fact that when Jesus rode a donkey into Jerusalem, a large crowd of people in the city spread out palm branches on the ground before him as a sign of his kingship. Throughout Jesus’ three-year ministry, he downplayed his role as Messiah and sometimes even told people whom he healed not to say anything about the miracle to others. Palm Sunday is the one exception in which his followers loudly proclaimed his glory to all.

Today, Christians often celebrate Palm Sunday in a joyous, triumphant manner during worship services, emphasizing the glory of Jesus Christ. Some churches spread palm branches at the front of the sanctuary as a way to commemorate the event.

Maundy Thursday

When: Thursday before Easter

Observance: The Last Supper of Jesus

Biblical reference: John 13–17

Within the midst of the Easter season, Maundy Thursday is one Christian holy day that many Christians and even many churches often overlook, yet it symbolizes a critically important truth of the Christian faith — Jesus as a suffering servant and the call for his followers to do the same. It also draws a connection between the Passover sacrifice, a Jewish tradition, and Jesus Christ’s sacrificial role on the cross.

The night before Jesus was crucified, he had a Passover supper with his disciples. (Passover is a Jewish holy day that celebrates God’s deliverance of the Israelites from their slavery in Egypt.) After supper, Jesus knew that this would be his final opportunity to instruct his disciples before the crucifixion, so he talked at length about his purposes, what his followers should do in response, and the promise of the Holy Spirit to come. He then washed his disciples’ feet in an incredible demonstration of humility and servanthood. Finally, he gave bread and wine to his disciples and asked them to partake of it in remembrance of him. The act of partaking of bread and wine is called Communion (or the Last Supper) today (see Chapter 8).

The word Maundy (pronounced mawn -dee) comes from the Latin word mandatum, which means “command.” The command that this holy day refers to is the one that Jesus gave to his disciples during the Last Supper:

A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another, just like I have loved you; that you also love one another. By this everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another.

—John 13:34–35

Along this line, many churches perform foot-washing services on Maundy Thursday as a way to remember Jesus’ command. I remember going to one of those services as a teenager, panicking that my feet would be all smelly when someone washed them! I was certain the next song played by the organist would be the Odor Eaters theme song.

During the Middle Ages, this holy day was sometimes called Shere Thursday; shere means “pure.” In England during this time, bearded men found another reason for that name when they sheared their beards on Maundy Thursday as a symbol of the cleansing of body and soul before Easter.

Good Friday

When: Friday before Easter

Observance: Crucifixion of Jesus on the cross

Biblical reference: Luke 23

Good Friday marks the day on which Jesus Christ was crucified on the cross for the sins of the world. When I was growing up, the term Good Friday always seemed confusing, because I associated good with happy . Good Friday isn’t a happy day, but its name is a reminder that humans can only be considered good because of what happened on that day. Some believe that its name was originally God’s Friday, which, over the years, became its present name. In Germany, Christians call it Quiet Friday (from noon on Friday until Easter morning, church bells remain silent). Christians in other parts of Europe call it Great Friday or Holy Friday .

Good Friday is a day of mourning and sorrow over the sacrificial death of Jesus Christ and a reminder that the sins of all people made it necessary for him to die in the first place. It’s also a day of gratitude for the supreme sacrifice that he made.

Protestant churches sometimes hold services between noon and 3:00 p.m. to commemorate Jesus’ hours on the cross. Catholics often remove everything from the altar and kiss the crucifix as an expression of worship. Some churches even hold a Service of Darkness in which candles are extinguished until people are left sitting in total darkness, as a reminder of the darkness that covered the earth after Jesus died (Luke 23:44–46).

Easter

When: First Sunday after the first full moon after March 21

Which came first: The bunny or the name?

No one knows for certain where the term Easter came from, but one theory is that it’s derived from the Anglo-Saxon goddess Eostre, who was connected with fertility and spring. If so, Christians named their high holy day Easter aiming to replace the pagan celebration of spring with their own holiday — like they did with Christmas. Easter is also often known as Pasch, which comes from the Hebrew word Pesach, meaning “Passover.” Some Protestants prefer to call it simply Resurrection Day to remove the commercialized baggage that they see associated with the holy day.

In addition, the Easter bunny has pagan origins and has no real connection with the Christian celebration, although some churches use eggs as a metaphor for the new life Christians receive because of the Resurrection.

Observance: Resurrection of Jesus Christ

Biblical reference: Luke 24

Bar none, Easter is the single most important holy day of the Christian Church, for it celebrates the resurrection of Jesus Christ, the central event in Christianity. To Christians, the resurrection backs up Jesus’ claim that he had the authority to die for the sins of the world and the power to come back to life again. It also gives hope to Christians that they too will experience a resurrected life in heaven.

The exact day of the year that Easter falls on is very confusing, and the logic seems pretty old-fashioned in this digital age, because it’s based on the lunar calendar and tied to the start of the solar spring. But the Western Church (Catholic and Protestant) continues to observe it based on the rules of long ago — that it falls on the first Sunday after the first full moon after March 21. It can’t come before March 22 or after April 25. In contrast, Orthodox Churches wanted to tie Easter to Jewish Passover, given the relationship between Passover and the day of Christ’s resurrection. (See the “Maundy Thursday” section, earlier in this chapter.) Because the Jewish calendar determines the date that Jews celebrate Passover, Easter for the Orthodox Churches can vary by as much as five weeks from the Western Church.

Pentecost

When: 40 days after Easter

Observance: Coming of the Holy Spirit

Biblical reference: Acts 2

Originally, Pentecost was a Jewish holiday held 50 days after Passover. One of three major feasts during the Jewish year, it celebrated Thanksgiving for harvested crops. However, Pentecost for Christians means something far different. Before Jesus was crucified, he told his disciples that the Holy Spirit (which I discuss in Chapter 7) would come after him (see John 14:16). And 40 days after Jesus was resurrected (ten days after he ascended into heaven; see Luke 24:51), that promise was fulfilled when Peter and the early Church were in Jerusalem for Pentecost.

Although many North American Christians hardly notice Pentecost today, traditional European churches consider it a major feast day. Pentecost, also called Whitsuntide in parts of Europe, is just behind Easter in overall importance. For example, in Germany today on only three occasions does the observance of a national holiday span two days: Christmas (December 25 and 26), Easter (Sunday and Monday), and Pentecost (Sunday and Monday).

National Day of Prayer

When: First Thursday of May

Observance: Calling humbly before God as a nation (U.S.)

The National Day of Prayer is a relatively modern holiday for the United States, but it has historical ties dating back to the start of the country. In 1775, the Continental Congress asked the 13 colonies to pray for wisdom as they discussed forming a new nation. Abraham Lincoln continued this tradition in 1863 when he called for a day of prayer and fasting during the American Civil War. In 1952, Harry Truman declared a national day of prayer, and in 1988, Ronald Reagan formally acknowledged its observance to be held the first Thursday in May.

The purpose of the National Day of Prayer is fourfold:

Humbly coming before God as a nation and together seeking his will

Praying for the country’s leaders to seek wisdom and guidance in their decisions

Praying for the spiritual, moral, economic, and political health of the nation

Calling all people to repentance for the sins the nation commits or allows

Many churches in Britain observe their own National Day of Prayer each October, but these are sanctioned by the Church of England, not the government. In addition, an International Day of Prayer is held by the Church annually to pray for persecuted Christians around the world.

All Saints’ Day

When: November 1

Observance: Honors all Christian saints

Since the seventh century, many in the Western Church have observed All Saints’ Day as a holy day on November 1, and the Orthodox Church has observed it on the first Sunday after Pentecost.

All Saints’ Day is the day that Catholics, Orthodox Christians, and some Anglicans (see Chapter 11) remember, thank God for, and revere the saints in heaven for various helps. Some Protestant churches observe All Saints’ Day as well, but on this date, they remember and thank God for all saints, both dead and living. Some churches hold special services to mark this holy day.

Advent

When: Period marked by the four Sundays before Christmas

Observance: Preparation for Christmas and Christ’s Second Coming

Advent began in the early Church as a 40-day time of preparation and self-examination before Epiphany, a January holiday that observes the visit of the Magi to Jesus (by the Western Church, made up of the Catholic and Protestant Churches) and the Baptism of Jesus (by the Eastern, or Orthodox, Church). (For more on the Western and Eastern Churches, see Chapter 10.) During Advent, the Church welcomed new Christians into the Church to be baptized. Over the years, Advent was eventually tied to honoring Christ’s birth and anticipating his Second Coming (see Chapter 9).

Advent started off as a time of solemn preparation like Lent (see the “Lent” section in this chapter), but by the fourth century, the season had evolved into a more celebratory occasion in the Western Church. In contrast, the Orthodox Church has always tended to observe Advent in a more reflective, somber manner.

The lighting of the Advent wreath is the most popular tradition performed during this season. An Advent wreath is a circle of evergreens with four candles, three of which are usually colored violet purple (symbolizing royalty in some churches and penance in others) and the fourth colored rose red or pink (representing the expectation that people have in the coming Messiah). One of the purple candles is lit during the service on the first Sunday (highlighting the theme of hope), a second the next Sunday (love), a third the next Sunday (joy), and the rose-colored candle on the final Sunday before Christmas (peace). Some wreaths also have a white candle (representing the purity and holiness of Jesus Christ) placed in the center, which Christians light on Christmas day.

The origin of the wreath started as a pre-Christian practice by Germanic peoples as a symbol of the hope of a coming spring. Christians kept the tradition but changed its meaning as they looked forward to Christ’s return.

St. Francis of Assisi is credited as displaying the first Christmas nativity scene, a re-creation of the manger scene, during Advent in 1223.

Christmas

When: December 25

Observance: Birth of Jesus Christ

Biblical reference: Luke 2:1–20

Christmas is the observance of Jesus’ humble birth to a virgin in a stable in Bethlehem. The holiday also celebrates the events surrounding his birth, such as an angel’s appearance to shepherds, telling them to visit the newborn king.

Although the Church doesn’t consider it the most important Christian holiday, Christmas is certainly the most popular, at least in terms of cultural and social significance. But the early Church, believing that events later in Jesus’ life should be the focus, didn’t even consider it all that significant. What’s more, when Church leaders first discussed observing the birthday of Jesus, some argued against celebrating it like you would another great person in history. Nonetheless, the Church had enough pro-observance support to mark the calendar.

Neither the New Testament nor any historical record marks the exact date of Jesus’ birth. As a result, the Church initially considered many different dates, including January 2, March 21, March 25, April 18, April 19, May 20, May 28, November 17, and November 20. The Western Church first observed December 25 in the fourth century, and eventually Eastern Churches followed suit.

Some people criticize that Christmas has its origins as a pagan holiday. Some truth lies in that notion, considering that the timing of December 25 was selected to line up with several pagan Roman holidays that celebrated the winter solstice and worship of the sun. However, Church leaders didn’t see matching the date as compromising Christian teaching with the culture. Responding to any criticism, a fourth-century bishop remarked, “We hold this day holy, not like the pagans because of the birth of the sun, but because of him who made it.”

Most of the traditional customs of Christmas, such as gift giving, tree decorating, light hanging, and feasting, come from sources other than the Church.