During March this year, many religious days and events are going on. Events like Lent and Ramadan are going on right now. Some religious days this month are Saint Patrick’s Day, Palm Sunday, Good Friday, Easter, and the Memorial for Jesus.
So what are these days and how are they celebrated?
Catholic Christian Days- Saint Patrick’s Day, Lent, Palm Sunday, Good Friday, and Easter
Saint Patrick’s Day
Catholic Christians have Saint feast days very often. There’s one almost every day. These days, they honor (not worship) saints for their strong faith in God. These saints are role models for Catholics on how to live in their faith. When they have these feast days, they celebrate and remember the saints (who are now in Heaven with God) for their faith. They also celebrate the contributions the Saints made to the Catholic faith, like teaching, standing up for the faith, and living in it.
One of the feast days Catholics have in March and also a well-known day is Saint Patrick’s Day. Catholics celebrate Saint Patrick’s Day which is on March 17th. Even though, the day can be seen as a day of leprechauns, clovers, good luck, etc. Catholics celebrate and honor Saint Patrick who is what the day is named after and what it’s for. Saint Patrick was a Catholic bishop who lived during the 5th century. He spread God’s word and the Christian faith to Ireland. While he was there, he used shamrocks to explain the Holy Trinity. Catholics celebrate his evangelism (or spreading God’s word) to Ireland and the ministry he did there.
Lent
Another tradition Catholics have is Lent. During March Catholics do Lent when they choose to fast from something like food or watching TV. They also use it as a time for repentance and prayer. Catholics fast as another way of prayer. Catholics are disciplining themselves to pray by fasting in a way. This leads to a closer/intimate relationship with God. The season of Lent is a time of preparation for Easter. Lent starts on Ash Wednesday and ends on Holy Thursday. It is 40 days long.
Isabelle Lumamba, a ninth-grade SRA student describes some more details about her religion’s tradition of doing Lent. She explained, “There are also many other ways of fasting and prayer during Lent. We usually abstain from meat on Fridays because Friday is the day that Jesus died on the Cross for and because of our sins, and it is only fitting that that day that we repent for our sins and abstain or restrain from something we enjoy.”
Holy Week and Easter
Catholics also celebrate Holy Week which is from March 24 to March 30. Holy week is the week before Easter. The first day of it is Palm Sunday (when Jesus came in on a donkey and people waved palm branches). Then after several other special days, there is Holy Thursday (the Last Supper and the Institution of the Eucharist). Then the next day is Good Friday, the day Jesus died for the sins of others. Saturday, the next day after Good Friday is Holy Saturday. This was a day filled with sadness and also a waiting for Easter.
After that is Easter the most important and exciting day out of all of them, the day that Jesus rose from the grave and conquered death.
So with all of that, there are many Catholic days during March and it is a very exciting and fun season and also a very important one. There is a lot to celebrate, remember, and honor throughout this month. Also, these aren’t the only days Catholics celebrate, there are more throughout the year.
Lumamba informs, “It doesn’t end there because we celebrate Easter for another 50 days up until Pentecost (the descent of the Holy Spirit upon the apostles, empowering them to fulfill the mission Christ gave us which is the evangelize to the whole world, also known as the birthday of the Catholic Church).”
Lumamba concludes with why this season is very important to them. She described it this way, “This time of the year is probably the most important time of year for Catholics because it’s when Jesus gave us His Body and Blood during the Institution of the Eucharist (an important Sacrament for Catholics), when He died for our sins and resurrected from the dead, and Pentecost, when the Holy Spirit descended on the apostles, empowering them to fulfill the mission of the Catholic Church given from Jesus Christ.”
Protestant Christian Days- Saint Patrick’s Day, Palm Sunday, Good Friday, Easter
Protestant Christians celebrate a lot of the same days during March as Catholic Christians do, they just don’t do the feast days or lent. Christians celebrate Saint Patrick’s Day (celebrating Saint Patrick’s evangelism or the spreading of God’s word, to Ireland), Holy Week (the week before Easter), Palm Sunday (when Jesus came in on a donkey and palm branches were waved by the people), and Easter which is a day of celebrating Jesus rising from the dead and overcoming death. They also recognize Good Friday, which was when Jesus died for the sins of others.
Former Santa Rosa Academy graduate, Hannah McGaughey shared a little bit about what her church does for these days. She mentioned, “My church, Revival, celebrates Easter by reaching out to the community and inviting people to come hear the Gospel. We have a sunrise service and three other messages during the morning to talk about what Easter is and what it means for us. At the end of service, our Pastor leads individuals in a prayer to accept Jesus as their Savior. This day is a time for our church to think about Jesus’ crucifixion and resurrection along with the hope we can share with others in life beyond the grave.”
McGaughey also mentioned what her church does for Good Friday. She described, “Two days before Easter, we celebrate Good Friday through communion, drinking juice and eating bread as symbols of Jesus’ sacrifice and our acceptance of it as payment for our sin. We discuss the cross and what Jesus’ death means for all believers. Then Easter comes, and we look at the whole picture of what Jesus did in a way that family and loved ones and even strangers are brought together in celebration.”
Muslim Day- Ramadan
Muslims participate in Ramadan which is from March 11th to April 9th this year. This is the Holiest month for Muslims. This season is full of reflection, prayer, and fasting. They fast food from sunrise to sunset, so no food or water. Muslims will eat enough food early in the morning before the sun rises that will last them the whole day. That is called Suhoor. Then at night when the sun sets, they will eat food. Then there is Sunnah, which is when breaking the fast with dates (practices of Prophet Muhammad). Breaking fast is called Iftar. This season is a time filled with prayer, and also reading the Quran. They also donate to people in need during this month.
Jehovah’s Witness Day – Memorial for Jesus
Jehovah’s Witnesses recognize Jesus’ death by having a memorial for it around Good Friday, which is at the end of March this year. This day is very important to them, it’s the most important day of the year. This is because it was the day when Jesus died and gave his life as a sacrifice, so it’s very significant to them.
Maria (Bella) Burns, a ninth-grade student from SRA shares about what her religion does for the Memorial for Jesus. She described, “We start by saying a prayer and singing a song then we listen to a talk on the significance of his sacrifice, and they pray over the bread before passing it around the hall. Then we listen to a little more of the talk and a third prayer is said over the wine, which is also passed around. Finally, after the concluding comments, we sing another song and have the final prayer.”
Another reason why this day is so special to Jehovah’s Witnesses is because of how many people are coming to it.
Burns mentioned why this is special to them. She responded with, “One reason it is so special to us is because it is celebrated by all 8 million witnesses worldwide, progressively, throughout the day. Another important part of it is the special campaign that we hold beforehand where we give out thousands of invitations to others who aren’t Jehovah’s Witnesses to join us in attendance. I have a friend whose first-ever meeting was the Memorial. It’s a very special season for us!”
There are many different religious days during March this year and they all have a very special meaning to them. These days are filled with prayer, reflection, and celebration. Some days are for fasting and other days like feast days are for celebrating and honoring. All of these religious days have different traditions and are meaningful.
