CELEBRATING DAYS

CELEBRATING DAYS

EASTER DAY Easter is a religious holiday that commemorates the resurrection of Jesus Christ three days after his death by crucifixion some 2,000 years ago. For Christians, Easter is a day of religious services and the gathering of family.Easter is observed on a Sunday between March 22 and April 25. The commonly stated rule, that Easter Day is the first Sunday after the full moon that occurs next after the vernal equinox, is somewhat misleading because it is not a precise statement of the actual ecclesiastical rules.

The actual conditions to determine the date for Easter are:Easter must be on a Sunday;this Sunday must follow the 14th day of the paschal moon;the paschal moon is that of which the 14th day (full moon) falls on or next follows the day of the vernal equinox; andthe equinox is fixed in the calendar as March 21.

The name Easter comes from Eostre (pronounced yo'ster), an ancient Anglo-Saxon goddess. In pagan times an annual spring festival was held in her honor. Some Easter customs have come from this and other pre-Christian spring festivals. Others come from the Passover feast of the Jews, observed in memory of their deliverance from Egypt.

An 1825 invitation to an Independence Day celebration

INDEPENDENCE DAYIn the United States, Independence Day, commonly known as the Fourth of July, is a federal holiday commemorating the adoption of the Declaration of Independence on July 4, 1776, declaring independence from the Kingdom of Great Britain. Independence Day is commonly associated with fireworks, parades, barbecues, carnivals, fairs, picnics, concerts, baseball games, political speeches and ceremonies, and various other public and private events celebrating the history, government, and traditions of the United States. Independence Day is the national day of the United States

ST.PATRICKS DAYSt. Patrick's Day is celebrated by the Irish and Irish at Heart in big cities and small towns alike with parades, "wearing of the green," music and songs, Irish food and drink, and activities for kids such as crafts, coloring and games. Its a time for fun. Some communities even go so far as to dye rivers or streams green!

WHO IS ST.PATRICK ? Saint Patrick is believed to have been born in the late fourth century, and is often confused with Palladius, a bishop who was sent by Pope Celestine in 431 to be the first bishop to the Irish believers in Christ.

WHY ST.PATRICKS DAY ?Saint Patrick's Day has come to be associated with everything Irish: anything green and gold, shamrocks and luck. Most importantly, to those who celebrate its intended meaning, St. Patrick's Day is a traditional day for spiritual renewal and offering prayers for missionaries worldwide.

WHY IS IT CELEBRATED ON MARCH 17 ? One theory is that that is the day that St. Patrick died. Since the holiday began in Ireland, it is believed that as the Irish spread out around the world, they took with them their history and celebrations. The biggest observance of all is, of course, in Ireland. With the exception of restaurants and pubs, almost all businesses close on March 17th. Being a religious holiday as well, many Irish attend mass, where March 17th is the traditional day for offering prayers for missionaries worldwide before the serious celebrating begins.

HALLOWEENHalloween is an annual holiday celebrated on October 31. It has roots in the Celtic festival of Samhain and the Christian holiday of All Saints, but is today largely a secular celebration. Halloween activities include trick-or-treating, wearing costumes and attending costume parties, carving jack-o'-lanterns, ( jack-o'-lantern is typically a carved pumpkin.) ghost tours, apple bobbing, visiting haunted attractions, telling scary stories, and watching horror films.

SYMBOLS Many families that celebrate Halloween carve a pumpkin into a frightening or comical face and place it on their doorstep after dark. The imagery of Halloween is derived from many sources, including national customs, works of Gothic and horror literature (such as the novels Frankenstein and Dracula), and classic horror films. Halloween imagery includes themes of death, evil, the magic, or mythical monsters. Traditional characters include ghosts, witches, skeletons, vampires,bats, and black cats. The colours black and orange are associated with the celebrations perhaps because of the darkness of night and the colour of fire, autumn leaves, or pumpkins. TRICK OR TREATING Trick-or-treating is a customary celebration for children on Halloween. Children go in costume from house to house, asking for treats such as candy or sometimes money, with the question, "Trick or treat?" The word "trick" refers to a (mostly idle) "threat" to perform mischief on the homeowners or their property if no treat is given. In this custom the child performs some sort of trick, i.e. sings a song or tells a ghost story, to earn their treats.AROUND THE WORLD

Halloween is not celebrated in all countries and regions of the world, and among those that do the traditions and importance of the celebration vary significantly. Celebration in the United States has had a significant impact on how the holiday is observed in other nations.

THANKSGIVINGThanksgiving Day is currently celebrated on the fourth Thursday in November. Thanksgiving or Thanksgiving Day is a harvest festival celebrated primarily in the United States and Canada. Traditionally, Thanksgiving is associated with giving thanks to God for the harvest and expressing gratitude. While historically religious in origin, Thanksgiving is now primarily identified as a secular holiday.

THANKSGIVING DINNER

Thanksgiving is traditionally celebrated with The customary 'feast' shared among friends and family. It is an important family gathering, and people often travel far distances to be with family members for the celebration. The traditional Turkey is the most important dish cooked in every house as part of the feast. Pumpkin pie, cranberry sauce and corn dishes also form a part of the family dinner. CUSTOM OF PRAYING For centuries, 'Thanksgiving Day' is associated with communal prayers in church and in homes. People offer various meal time prayers during the day. It is a time, when mankind thanks God for all his blessings and grace. It is also a day to show gratitude to your friends and relatives for all the good deeds. AROUND THE WORLD

Thanking God for a bountiful harvest is not unknown in other parts of the world. Apart from America, there are a number of religions and countries that celebrate Thanksgiving Day in their own various forms during the harvest season.

CHRISTMAS Christmas or Christmas Day is a holiday held on December 25 to commemorate the birth of Jesus, the central figure of Christianity. The history of Christmas dates back over 4000 years as the various custom and tradition associated with the festival of Christmas were celebrated centuries before the birth of Christ. Traditions say that it has been celebrated since the year 98 AD. Christmas Day is celebrated as a major festival and public holiday in most countries of the world, even in many whose populations are not majority Christian.

SANTA CLAUS Santa Claus, known as Saint Nicholas or simply "Santa", is a legendary figure who, in many Western cultures, brings gifts to the homes of the good children during the late evening and overnight hours of Christmas Eve, December 24. Today Santa Claus is generally depicted as a plump, jolly, white-bearded man wearing a red coat with white collar and cuffs, white-cuffed red trousers, and black leather belt and boots. This image became popular in the United States and Canada in the 19th century.

CUSTOMSPopular modern customs of the holiday include gift-giving, music, an exchange of greeting cards, church celebrations, a special meal, and the display of various decorations; including Christmas trees, lights, garlands, nativity scenes, and holly. In addition, Father Christmas, known as Santa Claus in many other areas, including Scotland, North America and Ireland, is a popular folklor figure, associated with the bringing of gifts for children. AROUND THE WORLD Because gift-giving and many other aspects of the Christmas festival involve heightened economic activity among both Christians and non-Christians, the holiday has become a significant event and a key sales period for retailers and businesses. The economic impact of Christmas is a factor that has grown steadily over the past few centuries in many regions of the world.

MOTHERS DAYMothers Day One day, I was awakened by a sharp tap on my head. What.....? I mumbled under my blanket. "I've got something very important to discuss with you... Come on,wake up ! My sister, Stephy, snatched my blanket away to prevent me from going back to sleep again. "Can't we discuss this at lunch? It's only 8 o'clock, you know? I tried to pull a n o t h e r pillow after I took a peek at the alarm clock beside my bed. "No, we can't because it's Mother's Day tomorrow and we haven't got anything planned yet, for your limited information," she added icily. "Mother's Day?" I sat upright at once. Only then I realized that it was the second Saturday of May, the next day would be Mother's Day. And I hadn't prepared anything yet. "Oh, no." I moaned. "Why didn't you remind me of that earlier?" I scrambled out of bed and began pacing the room. "We need to buy some carnations , a cake , a card, a...? ......and we need to buy them ourselves," she finished the line for me. "Ourselves? Why? Where's Dad?" I asked."I wonder if you're really awake, Stephanie. Dad is out of the country, remember? With that, she walked out of the room. "Oh, no, where's Dad when we need him?" I complained aloud. S t e p h y made a phone call to the flower shop and bought a dozen carnations which cost us $50 including the delivery fee. After that, we realized that we only had $10 left, which meant that we did not have enough money for the cake we planned to buy. "So, now what?" I asked. Stephy shrugged and said, "I suppose we'll have to sacrifice the cake now. So, we decided to replace the cake with a card instead. But deep inside, we were both disappointed that we could not afford the cake for Mom. On Sunday morning, the flower-delivery-man arrived at 9 o'clock. Mom was so shocked that she stood in the doorway gaping at the flowers until Stephy and I jumped out and shouted, "SURPRISE!" After that, Stephy and I told her how we ended up with the card instead of the cake. Mom told us that she didn't mind not having the cake, but the most important thing was that we behaved ourselves in future. We hugged each other and that was the best Mother's Day ever.

In the United States, Mother's Day started nearly 150 years ago, when Anna Jarvis, an Appalachian homemaker, organized a day to raise awareness of poor health conditions in her community, a cause she believed would be best advocated by mothers. She called it "Mother's Work Day."

Fifteen years later, Julia Ward Howe, a Boston poet, pacifist, suffragist, and author of the lyrics to the "Battle Hymn of the Republic," organized a day encouraging mothers to rally for peace, since she believed they bore the loss of human life more harshly than anyone else.

Nothing can come close to the love that a mother feels for her children. Most women are inherently excellent mothers. Women carry their young before they are born and then continue to nurture them throughout their childhood and even into adulthood. Mothers make sure that their children are safe and happy throughout their childhood. It is the unconditional love that a mother feels that drives these feelings. It is hard to describe the feeling that a mother has towards her children. In fact, most people do not understand unless they become a mother themselves. Raising children comes with its own share of frustrations, from the needy new born baby that requires regular care to the sullen teenager, a mother's job is anything but easy. A famous saying states that God could not be everywhere and so he invented mothers ", these words are a great inspiration to mothers across the world. When all is well, a mother puts her children before anything else, including their own comfort and happiness.

VALENTINES DAYSaint Valentine's Day (commonly shortened to Valentine's Day) is an annual commemoration held on February 14 celebrating love and affection between intimate companions. The day is named after one or more early Christian martyrs named Valentine and was established by Pope Gelasius I in AD 500. It is traditionally a day on which lovers express their love for each other by presenting flowers, offering confectionery, and sending greeting cards (known as "valentines"). The day first became associated with romantic love in the circle of Geoffrey Chaucer in the High Middle Ages, when the tradition of courtly love flourished.

Modern Valentine's Day symbols include the heart-shaped outline, doves, and the figure of the winged Cupid. Since the 19th century, handwritten valentines have largely given way to mass-produced greeting cards. The history of Valentine's Day and its patron saint is shrouded in mystery. But we do know that February has long been a month of romance. St. Valentine's Day, as we know it today, contains vestiges of both Christian and ancient Roman tradition. So, who was Saint Valentine and how did he become associated with this ancient rite? Today, the Catholic Church recognizes at least three different saints named Valentine or Valentinus, all of whom were martyred.

One legend contends that Valentine was a priest who served during the third century in Rome. When Emperor Claudius II decided that single men made better soldiers than those with wives and families, he outlawed marriage for young men his crop of potential soldiers. Valentine, realizing the injustice of the decree, defied Claudius and continued to perform marriages for young lovers in secret. When Valentine's actions were discovered, Claudius ordered that he be put to death.While some believe that Valentine's Day is celebrated in the middle of February to commemorate the anniversary of Valentine's death or burial which probably occurred around 270 A.D others claim that the Christian church may have decided to celebrate Valentine's feast day in the middle of February in an effort to "christianize" celebrations of the pagan Lupercalia festivalLater, during the Middle Ages, it was commonly believed in France and England that February 14 was the beginning of birds' mating season, which added to the idea that the middle of February Valentine's Day should be a day for romance. The oldest known valentine still in existence today was a poem written by Charles, Duke of Orleans to his wife while he was imprisoned in the Tower of London following his capture at the Battle of Agincourt.In Great Britain, Valentine's Day began to be popularly celebrated around the seventeenth century. By the middle of the eighteenth century, it was common for friends and lovers in all social classes to exchange small tokens of affection or handwritten notes.

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