Words: 1914
Name of Student: Anesthesia Saunders Topic: Major Christian Festivals Subject: Religious Education school code: 100070 Year of Examination: 2014 The topic of this Religious Education School Based Assessment is the major festivals in Christianity. Holidays, feasts and fasts are a significant part of Christian religious practice. The feast days celebrate Joyous historical events, such as the birth and resurrection of Christ, while the fast days provide a special opportunity to focus on self-reflection, self-discipline, and repentance.
Festivals are a part of the natural unman desire to celebrate, and so the traditional Christian festivals retain their hold upon our national consciousness, even in families where there is no Christian faith. Part of the task of RE, therefore, is to help pupils distinguish between the Christian heart of a festival and the secular additions (some of them very ancient) which now adhere to it. I hope that the information given in this project will help and educate all those who come in contact with it.
The successful completion of this study would not have been possible without the assistance and cooperation of a number of people. Consequently, I would like to thank God for giving me the strength to complete this study. Secondly I will like to thank my teacher Ms. Wisdom for guiding me through the steps involved in making this project a successful one and for the persons who answered the questionnaires that was issued out. Last but not least I would like to thank my mother Minaret Henry for providing the necessary equipments and resources which help in completing this project.
Title Page Table of Contents Acknowledgment Statement of Aims 1 Information Collection 2 Summary of Findings 3 Conclusion Bibliography 0 To discover: ‘The festivals celebrated in the Christian Church ‘The significance and meaning of the festivals to the members of the church ‘The benefits the members get from celebrating the festival ‘What the festival commemorates ‘When the festivals are held. The Researcher as discovered information from: Internet- the Researcher as visited the Internet at home on Wednesday July 3 2013 at 1 :pm. Library- the Researcher visited the Library in Highest SST Mary on July 28 2013 at 11:38 am.
Christian festivals are essentially centered on the life of Christ and their celebration ethos vary a lot among the different churches. Advent This festival occurs four Sundays before Christmas, marks the beginning of the Christian year. It celebrates the approach of Jesus birth and looks forward to his second coming in glory. Thoughts are concentrated on death, Judgment, Heaven and Hell. Near Christmas, carol services take place, often with nine lessons from the Bible, showing God created Man and cares for him by sending his Son. Nativity plays (on the theme of Jesus birth) are performed in schools.
Christmas Christmas or Christmas Day is an auspicious religious festival for Christians. It is being celebrated every year on the specified date December 25 with great fervor to commemorate the birth and life of Lord Jesus Christ. Christians on this occasion gather at the churches at midnight and in the morning for the ‘church service’, popularly known as mass, for Christ. Christmas, nominally a holiday is observed in various innovative ways apart from following traditional practices that includes: special dishes, exchanging gifts, offering prayers and enjoying meal with family members.
Following the centuries old customs and beliefs, Christians will observe Christmas as a great festival around the Globe. Epiphany Epiphany is one of the most important Christian festivals, as it shows how God comes to His people and reveals His salvation to the world. Every year this day falls on 6th January or in some countries, on the Sunday that falls between 2nd January and 8th January. The Epiphany is an ancient Christian festival and is important in a number of ways. In some region, the Epiphany celebrates the baptism of Jesus by John the Baptist in the River Jordan.
In some other region, this day refers to the visit of the magi (wise en) to the infant Jesus when revealed himself to the world through the manifestation of Jesus. This day also celebrates Jesus’ birth. The traditional color for Epiphany is white, which signifies peace, purity and holiness. Lenient is the period of 40 days which comes before Easter in the Christian calendar. Beginning on Ash Wednesday, Lent is a season of reflection and preparation before the celebrations of Easter. By observing the 40 days of Lent, Christians replicate Jesus Christ sacrifice and withdrawal into the desert for 40 days.
Lent is marked by fasting, both from foods and festivities. Lent is an old English word meaning ‘lengthen’. Lent is observed in spring, when the days begin to get longer. Purple is the symbolic color used in some churches throughout Lent, for drapes and altar frontal. Purple is used for two reasons: firstly because it is associated with mourning and so anticipates the pain and suffering of the crucifixion, and secondly because purple is the color associated with royalty, and celebrates Chrism’s resurrection and sovereignty.
Ash Wednesdays Wednesday is the beginning of Lent for Western Christian churches. It’s a day of penitence to clean the soul before the Lent fast. Roman Catholic, Anglican, and some other churches hold special services at which worshippers are marked with ashes as a symbol of death and sorrow for sin. The service draws on the ancient Biblical traditions of covering one’s head with ashes, wearing sackcloth, and fasting. In Ash Wednesday services church goers are marked on the forehead with a cross of ashes as a sign of penitence and mortality.
The use of ashes, made by burning palm crosses from the previous Palm Sunday, is very symbolic. Shrove Daguerreotypes Tuesday occurs the first Tuesday before Ash Wednesday, usually February 2nd or March 9th. It officially ends the season of Epiphany and is the vigil for the starting of Lent. Traditionally viewed as a day of repentance, Shrove Tuesday has become the last day for celebration and feasting before the period of fasting required during the Lenten season. The name “Shrove Tuesday” is derived from the word “shrive”, which meaner to confess and receive absolution.
The name denotes a period of cleansing, wherein a person brings their lusts and appetites under subjection through abstention and self-sacrifice. Palm Sunlamp Sunday is one of the most important says in the Christian calendar after Christmas and Easter. Palm Sunday is the Sunday before Easter, and marks the beginning of Holy Week, the week of events leading up to Jesus’ death. As one of the most important events in the life of the church, it is important to have the right media to celebrate.
Amanda Thermodynamics Thursday also called Holy Thursday is the beginning of the three day celebration of Easter the most important time in the year for Christians and is also the day before Good Friday. This period (The Tritium) is one big celebration, the crucifixion and the death of Jesus, and the Resurrection to new life. Amanda Thursday commemorates the Last Supper of Jesus Christ with the Apostles. It is one of the lesser known days of the Christian calendar. Good Friday Good Friday commemorates the crucifixion of Jesus.
It is the most solemn day in the Christian calendar. The dates of Good Friday, which vary each year, occur between March 20th and April 23rd. It falls on the last Friday before Easter. It is the pinnacle of the Holy Week. All Christians observe this day with great humility and reverence. Easter Sandblaster Sunday is a happy day or Christians because they believe that Jesus rose from the dead on this day. They believe that Jesus’ resurrection or coming alive shows that death is not the end of everything. Many go to church to thank for Jesus’ life.
Church bells are rung and churches are decorated with flowers such as white lilies which are associated with Easter. The colors in the church change to white or gold which are thought to be the best colors. Ascension Desiccation Day commemorates the ascension of Christ into Heaven. Observed generally by Catholics and Anglicans, Ascension Day, also known s the Feast of Ascension, occurs on the Thursday 40 days after Easter. Whit Sandwich Sunday is a Christian holiday during Pentecost, the 50th day following Easter. It falls on the first Sunday after Easter.
The Pentecostal churches regard it as a mark of evidence that the Spirit has entered a member when he or she speaks in tongues. Corpus Christie festival of Corpus Christi celebrates the Eucharist as the body of Christ. The name ‘Corpus Christi’ is Latin for ‘the body of Christ’. This Jubilant festival is celebrated by Roman Catholics and other Christians to proclaim the truth f the transubstantiation of bread and wine into the actual body of Christ during Mass. Corpus Christi falls between late May and the middle of June, on the first Thursday after Trinity Sunday which is 60 days after Easter.
In some countries the festival is celebrated on the Sunday after Trinity Sunday. The main feature of Corpus Christi celebrations is the triumphant liturgical procession in which the sacred host (the wafer that has been consecrated during the Mass) is carried out of the Church “for the Christian faithful to make public profession of faith and worship of the Most Blessed Sacrament” . Mothering Commandeering Sunday is the fourth Sunday of the Christian period of Lent and is very different from the American Festival of Mothers Day.
Centuries ago, once a year, people returned to their home or mother church. It became an occasion for family reunions when children who were working away, often as domestic servants, returned home. They would take gifts to their mothers, including a simile cake, a type of fruit cake with marzipan. Mothering Sunday was also known as Refreshment Sunday because the fasting rules for Lent were relaxed that day. The day has now become secularists and is popularly known as Mother’s Day when children give cards, presents and flowers to their mothers.
All Saints Day – 1 November The early followers of Jesus were called saints or ‘holy ones’. Later in the first century, a Saint was a great man or woman of the past who was formally recognized by the church as having lived a virtuous life of faith and who can be an inspiration to people today. All Saints’ Day is a festival on 1st November when many western Christian Churches honor and give thanks for both known and unknown Saints/saints. It used to be known as All Hallows Day (Hallows meaning a saint) and the feast day started the previous evening, the Eve of All Hallows or Halloween.
Many churches now move the festival to the nearest Sunday. Trinity Consanguinity Sunday is a day when Christians think of the nature of God rather than, as with other festivals, commemorating historical events of special significance. From this research I have concluded that there are several festivals and seasons of the Christian year. Some, like Christmas Day, happen on the same date every year, while others move around within a range of dates. The main festival that moves is Easter, and since many other festivals have their dates fixed in relation to Easter, they move with it.