Holidays: Religious and Secular, 2002
In the United States, there are 10 federal
holidays set by law. Four are set by date
(New Year's Day, Independence Day, Veterans
Day, and Christmas Day). The other six are
set by a day of the week and month: Martin
Luther King, Jr.'s Birthday, Washington's
Birthday, Memorial Day, Labor Day, Columbus
Day, and Thanksgiving. All but the last are
celebrated on Mondays to create three-day
weekends for federal employees. All Jewish
and Islamic holidays begin at sundown the
day before they are listed here.
New
Year's Day, Tues.,
Jan. 1. A federal holiday in the United
States, New Year's Day has its origin in
Roman times, when sacrifices were offered to
Janus, the two-faced Roman deity who looked
back on the past and forward to the future.
Epiphany
(from Greek epiphaneia,
“manifestation”), Sun., Jan. 6. Falls on
the 12th day after Christmas and
commemorates the manifestation of Jesus
Christ to the Gentiles, as represented by
the Magi, the baptism of Jesus, and the
miracle of the wine at the marriage feast at
Cana. One of the 3 major Christian
festivals, along with Christmas and Easter.
Epiphany originally marked the beginning of
the carnival season preceding Lent, and the
evening preceding it is known as Twelfth
Night.
Martin
Luther King, Jr.'s Birthday,
Mon., Jan. 21. (The actual date of
his birthday is Jan. 15.) A federal holiday
observed on the third Monday in January that
honors the late civil rights leader. It
became a federal holiday in 1986. In 1999,
New Hampshire became the last state to
officially honor the holiday.
Groundhog
Day, Sat., Feb. 2. Legend
has it that if the groundhog sees his
shadow, he'll return to his hole, and winter
will last another six weeks.
Lincoln's
Birthday, Tues.,
Feb. 12. A holiday in many states, this day
was first formally observed in Washington,
D.C., in 1866, when both houses of Congress
gathered for a memorial address in tribute
to the assassinated president.
Shrove
Tuesday, Feb.
12. Falls the day before Ash Wednesday and
marks the end of the carnival season, which
once began on Epiphany but is now usually
celebrated the last three days before Lent.
In France, the day is known as Mardi Gras
(Fat Tuesday), and Mardi Gras celebrations
are also held in several American cities,
particularly in New Orleans. The day is
sometimes called Pancake Tuesday by the
English because fats, which were prohibited
during Lent, had to be used up.
Ash
Wednesday, Feb.
13. The seventh Wednesday before Easter and
the first day of Lent, which lasts 40 days.
Having its origin sometime before A.D. 1000,
it is a day of public penance and is marked
in the Roman Catholic Church by the burning
of the palms blessed on the previous year's
Palm Sunday. With the ashes from the palms
the priest then marks a cross with his thumb
upon the forehead of each worshipper. The
Anglican Church and a few Protestant groups
in the United States also observe the day,
but generally without the use of ashes.
St.
Valentine's Day, Thurs.,
Feb. 14. This day is the festival of two
third-century martyrs, both named St.
Valentine. It is not known why this day is
associated with lovers. It may derive from
an old pagan festival, or it may have been
inspired by the belief that birds mate on
this day.
Washington's
Birthday, Mon.,
Feb. 18. (The actual date of his birthday is
Feb. 22.) A federal holiday observed the
third Monday in February. It is a common
misperception that the federal holiday was
changed to “Presidents' Day” and now
celebrates both Washington and Lincoln. Only
Washington is commemorated by the federal
holiday; 12 states, however, officially
celebrate “Presidents' Day.”
Eid
al-Adha, Sat.,
Feb. 23. Eid al-Adha, or the Feast of
Sacrifice, commemorates Abraham's
willingness to obey God by sacrificing his
son. Lasting for three days, it concludes
the annual Hajj, or pilgrimage to Mecca.
Muslims worldwide sacrifice a lamb or other
animal and distribute the meat to relatives
or the needy.
Purim
(Feast of Lots), Tues.,
Feb. 26. A day of joy and feasting
celebrating the deliverance of the Jews from
a massacre planned by the Persian minister
Haman. According to the Book of Esther, the
Jewish queen Esther interceded with her
husband, King Ahasuerus, to spare the life
of her uncle, Mordecai, and Haman was hanged
on the same gallows he had built for
Mordecai. The holiday is marked by the
reading of the Book of Esther (The Megillah),
and by the exchange of gifts, donations to
the poor, and the presentation of Purim
plays.
First
Day of Muharram, Fri.,
March 15. The month of Muharram marks the
beginning of the Islamic liturgical year. On
the tenth day of the month, many Muslims may
observe a day of fasting, known as Ashurah.
St.
Patrick's Day, Sun.,
March 17. St. Patrick, patron saint of
Ireland, has been honored in America since
the first days of the nation. Perhaps the
most notable part of the observance is the
annual St. Patrick's Day parade in New York
City.
Palm
Sunday, March
24. Observed the Sunday before Easter to
commemorate the entry of Jesus into
Jerusalem. The procession and the ceremonies
introducing the benediction of palms
probably had their origins in Jerusalem.
First
Day of Passover (Pesach), Thurs.,
March 28. The Feast of the Passover, also
called the Feast of Unleavened Bread,
commemorates the escape of the Jews from
Egypt. As the Jews fled, they ate unleavened
bread, and from that time the Jews have
allowed no leavening in their houses during
Passover, bread being replaced by matzoh.
Good
Friday, March
29. The Friday before Easter, it
commemorates the Crucifixion, which is
retold during services from the Gospel
according to St. John. A feature in Roman
Catholic churches is the Liturgy of the
Passion; there is no Consecration, the Host
having been consecrated the previous day.
The eating of hot-cross buns on this day is
said to have started in England.
Easter
Sunday, March
31. Observed in all Western Christian
churches, Easter commemorates the
Resurrection of Jesus. It is celebrated on
the first Sunday after the full moon that
occurs on or next after the vernal equinox
(fixed at March 21) and is therefore
celebrated between March 22 and April 25
inclusive. This date was fixed by the
Council of Nicaea in A.D. 325.
Orthodox
Easter (Pascha), Sun.,
May 5. The Orthodox church uses the same
formula to calculate Easter as the Western
church, but bases it on the traditional
Julian calendar instead of the more
contemporary Gregorian calendar. For this
reason Orthodox Easter generally falls on a
different date than the Western Christian
Easter.
Ascension
Day, Thurs.,
May 9. The Ascension of Jesus took place in
the presence of His apostles 40 days after
the Resurrection. It is traditionally
thought to have occurred on Mount Olivet in
Bethany.
Mother's
Day, Sun.,
May 12. Observed the second Sunday in May,
as proposed by Anna Jarvis of Philadelphia
in 1907. West Virginia was the first state
to recognize the holiday in 1910, and
President Woodrow Wilson officially
proclaimed Mother's Day a national holiday
in 1914.
First
Day of Shavuot (Hebrew Pentecost),
Fri., May 17. This festival,
sometimes called the Feast of Weeks, or of
Harvest, or of the First Fruits, falls 50
days after Passover and originally
celebrated the end of the seven-week
grain-harvesting season. In later tradition,
it also celebrated the giving of the Law to
Moses on Mount Sinai.
Pentecost
(Whitsunday), May
19. This day commemorates the descent of the
Holy Ghost upon the apostles 50 days after
the Resurrection. The sermon by the apostle
Peter, which led to the baptism of 3,000 who
professed belief, originated the ceremonies
that have since been followed.
“Whitsunday” is believed to have come
from “white Sunday” when, among the
English, white robes were worn by those
baptized on the day.
Mawlid
an-Nabi, Fri.,
May 24. This holiday celebrates the birthday
of Muhammad, the founder of Islam. It is
fixed as the 12th day of the month of Rabi I
in the Islamic calendar.
Memorial
Day, Mon.,
May 27. Memorial Day became a federal
holiday in 1971 that is observed on the last
Monday in May. It originated in 1868, when
Union General John A. Logan designated a day
in which the graves of Civil War soldiers
would be decorated. Originally known as
Decoration Day, the holiday was changed to
Memorial Day within twenty years, becoming a
holiday dedicated to the memory of all war
dead.
Flag
Day, Fri.,
June 14. This day commemorates the adoption
by the Continental Congress on June 14,
1777, of the Stars and Stripes as the U.S.
flag. Although it is a legal holiday only in
Pennsylvania, President Truman, on Aug. 3,
1949, signed a bill requesting the president
to call for its observance each year by
proclamation.
Father's
Day, Sun.,
June 16. Observed the third Sunday in June.
The exact origin of the holiday is not
clear, but it was first celebrated June 19,
1910, in Spokane, Wash. In 1966 President
Lyndon Johnson signed a proclamation making
Father's Day official.
Independence
Day, Thurs.,
July 4. The day of the adoption of the
Declaration of Independence in 1776,
celebrated in all states and territories.
The observance began the next year in
Philadelphia.
Labor
Day, Mon.,
Sept. 2. A federal holiday observed the
first Monday in September. Labor Day was
first celebrated in New York in 1882 under
the sponsorship of the Central Labor Union,
following the suggestion of Peter J.
McGuire, of the Knights of Labor, that the
day be set aside in honor of labor.
First
Day of Rosh Hashanah (Jewish New Year),
Sat., Sept. 7. This day marks
the beginning of the Jewish year 5763 and
opens the Ten Days of Penitence, which close
with Yom Kippur.
Yom
Kippur (Day of Atonement), Mon.,
Sept. 16. This day marks the end of the Ten
Days of Penitence that began with Rosh
Hashanah. It is described in Leviticus as a
“Sabbath of rest,” and synagogue
services begin the preceding sundown, resume
the following morning, and continue to
sundown.
First
Day of Sukkot (Feast of Tabernacles),
Sat., Sept. 21. This
festival, also known as the Feast of the
Ingathering, originally celebrated the fruit
harvest, and the name comes from the booths
or tabernacles in which the Jews lived
during the harvest, although one tradition
traces it to the shelters used by the Jews
in their wandering through the wilderness.
During the festival many Jews build small
huts in their backyards or on the roofs of
their houses.
Simchat
Torah (Rejoicing of the Law), Sun.,
Sept. 29. This joyous holiday falls on the
eighth day of Sukkot. It marks the end of
the year's reading of the Torah (Five Books
of Moses) in the synagogue every Saturday
and the beginning of the new cycle of
reading.
Columbus
Day, Mon.,
Oct. 14. A federal holiday, observed the
second Monday in October, it commemorates
Christopher Columbus's landing in the New
World in 1492. Quite likely the first
celebration of Columbus Day was that
organized in 1792 by the Society of St.
Tammany, or the Columbian Order, widely
known as Tammany Hall.
Halloween,
Thurs., Oct. 31. Eve of All
Saints' Day, formerly called All Hallows and
Hallowmass. Halloween is traditionally
associated in some countries with customs
such as bonfires, masquerading, and the
telling of ghost stories. These are old
Celtic practices marking the beginning of
winter.
All
Saints' Day, Fri.,
Nov. 1. A Roman Catholic and Anglican
holiday celebrating all saints, known and
unknown.
Election
Day (legal
holiday in certain states), Tues., Nov. 5.
Since 1845, by act of Congress, the first
Tuesday after the first Monday in November
is the date for choosing presidential
electors. State elections are also generally
held on this day.
First
Day of Ramadan, Wed.,
Nov. 6. This day marks the beginning of a
month-long fast that all Muslims must keep
during the daylight hours. It commemorates
the first revelation of the Qur'an.
Following the last day of Ramadan, Eid
al-Fitr is celebrated on Fri., Dec. 6.
Veterans
Day, Mon.,
Nov. 11. Armistice Day, a federal holiday,
was established in 1926 to commemorate the
signing in 1918 of the armistice ending
World War I. On June 1, 1954, the name was
changed to Veterans Day to honor all men and
women who have served America in its armed
forces.
Thanksgiving,
Thurs., Nov. 28. A federal
holiday observed the fourth Thursday in
November by act of Congress (1941), it was
the first such national proclamation issued
by President Lincoln in 1863, on the urging
of Mrs. Sarah J. Hale, editor of Godey's
Lady's Book. Most Americans believe that
the holiday dates back to the day of thanks
ordered by Governor Bradford of Plymouth
Colony in New England in 1621, but scholars
point out that days of thanks stem from
ancient times.
First
Day of Hanukkah (Festival of Lights),
Sat., Nov. 30. This
festival was instituted by Judas Maccabaeus
in 165 B.C. to celebrate the purification of
the Temple of Jerusalem, which had been
desecrated three years earlier by Antiochus
Epiphanes, who set up a pagan altar and
offered sacrifices to Zeus Olympius. In
Jewish homes, a light is lighted on each
night of the eight-day festival.
First
Sunday of Advent, Dec.
1. Advent is the season in which the
faithful must prepare themselves for the
advent of the Savior on Christmas. The four
Sundays before Christmas are marked by
special church services.
Christmas
(Feast of the Nativity), Wed.,
Dec. 25. The most widely celebrated holiday
of the Christian year, Christmas is observed
as the anniversary of the birth of Jesus.
Christmas customs are centuries old. The
mistletoe, for example, comes from the
Druids, who, in hanging the mistletoe, hoped
for peace and good fortune. Use of such
plants as holly comes from the ancient
belief that such plants blossomed at
Christmas. Comparatively recent is the
Christmas tree, first set up in Germany in
the 17th century. The use of candles on
trees developed from the belief that candles
appeared by miracle on the trees at
Christmas. Colonial Manhattan Islanders
introduced the name Santa Claus, a
corruption of the Dutch name St. Nicholas,
who lived in fourth-century Asia Minor.
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