The Christian Calendar

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Recommended: Important religious festivals of Christianity

The Christian Calendar

The festivals dotting the Christian Calendar are marked by general out pourings of devotion, mourning and joy according to the religious significance of these days. Some common festivals celebrated by Christians are the days commemorating the major Christian events like Christmas for the birth of Jesus Christ and Easter for his martyrdom and resurrection. Other popular events usually mark the birth or the feast days of famous Saints. These occasions are celebrated with great enthusiasm; the people observe the time worn customs and traditions associated with each festival, which make each of these festivals, a unique experience.

Month Date Day Festival

January 1 Monday New Year's Day

January 6 Saturday New Year's Day

February 2 Friday Deva Matha Parisuthamaana Thirunal (candlemas)

February 28 Wednesday Ash Wednesday

March 4 Sunday First Sunday

March 17 Sunday St.Patricks Day

March 25 Sunday Lectare Sunday

March 26 Monday Annunciation

April 8 Sunday Palm Sunday

April 12 Thursday Maundy Thursday

April 13 Friday Good Friday

April 14 Saturday Holy Saturday

April 15 Sunday Easter

May 24 Thursday Ascension

June 3 Sunday Pentecost

June 10 Sunday Thiruthuva Sunday (Trinity)

June 14 Thursday Corpus Christi

June 22 Friday Sacred Heart of Jesus

June 23 Saturday Immaculate Heart of Mary

July 1 Sunday Canada Dominion Day

July 2 Monday Deva Madha Katchi Aruliya Dhinam

August 15 Wednesday Deva Madha Moksha Thirunal (Assumption)

September 8 Saturday Deva Madha Pirantha Naal (Birth of Virgin Mary)

September 14 Friday Celebration of Cross

November 1 Wednesday All Saints Day

November 2 Thursday All Souls Day

November 23 Friday Thanks Giving

November 25 Sunday Advent First Sunday

December 8 Saturday Deva Madha Karuvutra Thirunal

December 24 Monday Christmas Eve

December 25 Tuesday Christmas

December 31 Monday New Year's Eve.

Christmas is perhaps the only festival that is celebrated with an equal amount of joy and happiness a...

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...f their sin. Jesus died at 3 o'clock in the afternoon. It is believed that he rose from his grave on the following Sunday, which is celebrated as Easter.

The rituals for Good Friday commence on the preceding Thursday. A feast symbolising the last supper of Christ is held on Thursday night. The end of this meal marks the beginning of the fast for Easter.

Among some sects of the Syrian Orthodox Christians, the Good Friday liturgy begins at midnight on Thursday, but for all other Christians it starts on Friday morning.

A plank of wood, representing the cross on which Christ was crucified is displayed in churches for the veneration of believers. One by one, they come and kiss it. This is followed by a service from noon to3 o'clock, in which narratives from the four Gospels are read out. Sermons, meditation and prayers form part of the ceremony, in memory of the suffering endured by Jesus Christ for three hours. This is followed by a general communion service at midnight. In some churches, mourners wearing black move in a procession with an image of Christ, and a ceremonial burial takes place. A day of prayer and penance, the bells of the churches remain silent on Good Friday.

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