Christianity - Festivals

1. Advent is the period of celebration for the celebration of the birth of Jesus.

2. It begins on the Sunday nearest to 30th November.

3. Advent wreaths are popular, they are circular evergreen wreaths with five candles, four around the wreath and one in the centre.

4. A new candle is lit each Sunday during the four weeks of Advent and the centre candle is lit on Christmas Eve or Christmas Day.

5. Christmas is a Christian holy day and an important Christian festival that that marks the birth of Jesus.

6. The date of 25th December was set by Pope Julius in the fourth century.

7. Christian churches often hold a midnight communion service to start Christmas Day.

8. Other churches have a short morning service for the family.

9. The Christmas festival we know today was created by the Victorians.

10. They who revived the tradition of carol singing, and introduced Christmas trees and cards.

11. Epiphany is the twelfth day of Christmas when the wise men came to visit Jesus, it celebrates the fact that Jesus was born.

12. Lent starts with Ash Wednesday, the day after Shrove Tuesday when many people eat pancakes.

13. Many Christians do without something they like during Lent.

14. This reminds them that Jesus went without food in the wilderness for forty days.

15. The special day during Lent is Good Friday, the day Jesus died on the cross - there may be special services on this day.

16. Ministers wear different coloured robes for the different Chrsitian festivals.

17. They many wear black on Good Friday, but white or gold on Easter Sunday.

18. Easter Sunday celebrates the day that Jesus rose from the dead, it is a time of rejoicing and eggs are given to celebrate new life.

19. Some churches light a Pascal Candle as Jesus was known as the ‘Light of the World’.

20. Pentecost remembers when the Apostles received the Holy Spirit, flames appeared to settle on each disciple when they were praying.

21. They were then able to go outside and talk to pilgrims in different languages, so they could all understand what was being said.

22. This meant that the teachings of Jesus were spread throughout the world.

23. All Saints’ Day on 1st November is when Christians celebrate the lives of the saints.

24. In some churches, priests wear red robes to show that many Christians have died because of their faith.