Christian Religions

The most fundamental sacred time for the Christian religions is Sunday. It is the one day of the week that is devoted to specifically rest and worship of God.

• Advent is the time before Christmas and is a period of fasting and is a time of preparation for the birth of Christ.

• Christmas is the day that Jesus Christ, the founder of the Christian religions, was born.

• The date of Christmas is traditionally December 25th but there has been a lot of controversy on if that was the actual date that Jesus was born.

• The Christmas tree is actually a tradition that was adopted from a pagan ritual revolving around the winter solstice.

• Boxing Day is a traditional holiday on December 26th. The origin of the holiday is unknown but it is also the first Christian martyr's feast day, St. Stephen.

• Another holiday celebrated by Christian religions is Easter which celebrates the rising of Christ from the dead.

• The date of Easter varies every year. It is determined by a complex series of events that depends on what calender day and week day that the first full moon of the spring equinox falls on.

• The Easter tradition and symbols of eggs and rabbits was adopted from the pagan symbols for fertility even though they no longer have the same meaning in the Christian religions. They now symbolize joy.

• The three days before Easter, known as the Easter Tridium, commemorate the passion, suffering, and death of Jesus Christ.

• Lent is a 40 day period of fasting and prayer that takes place before Easter.

• Valentine's Day is another adopted pagan tradition even though it is named for a Catholic saint. It is traditionally a day of love and romantics.

• St. Patrick's Day is a day that celebrates St. Patrick's