1.
All Souls Day (film)
–
All Souls Day, or All Souls Day, Dia de los Muertos, is a 2005 zombie film written by Mark A. Altman and directed by Jeremy Kasten. It premiered at the 2005 Slamdance Film Festival, and the Sci Fi Channel played it on June 11,2005, there is also an uncut version on DVD. In a small Mexican town, Vargas Diaz uncovers a hidden Aztec temple deep in the nearby mine, luring the townspeople in, he blows up the entrance, trapping those inside forever. In exchange for the sacrificing the townspeople, Vargas receives eternal life, years later, a college couple vacationing in Mexico comes across the town, empty of people. After accidentally running into what appears to be a funeral procession, with nothing to appease the dead, they return to kill the transgressors. Calling two of their friends for help, the four are left to fight off the hordes of the undead besieging their hotel. It aired on the Sci Fi Channel on June 11,2005, anchor Bay released it on DVD in the US on January 17,2006. Dennis Harvey of Variety wrote that it appears to laugh at its own cliches. Brad Miska of Bloody Disgusting rated it 1/5 stars and called the execution breathtakingly bad despite the interesting premise, scott Weinberg of DVD Talk rated it 3/5 stars and recommended it to hardcore horror fans, who are likely to enjoy the campy aspects. David Johnson of DVD Verdict wrote that the film has too many campy scenes, All Souls Day at the Internet Movie Database All Souls Day at AllMovie
2.
William-Adolphe Bouguereau
–
William-Adolphe Bouguereau was a French academic painter and traditionalist. In his realistic genre paintings he used mythological themes, making modern interpretations of classical subjects, during his life he enjoyed significant popularity in France and the United States, was given numerous official honors, and received top prices for his work. As the quintessential salon painter of his generation, he was reviled by the Impressionist avant-garde, by the early twentieth century, Bouguereau and his art fell out of favor with the public, due in part to changing tastes. In the 1980s, a revival of interest in figure painting led to a rediscovery of Bouguereau, throughout the course of his life, Bouguereau executed 822 known finished paintings, although the whereabouts of many are still unknown. William-Adolphe Bouguereau was born in La Rochelle, France, on November 30,1825, into a family of wine, the son of Théodore Bouguereau and Marie Bonnin, known as Adeline, William was brought up a Catholic. He had a brother, Alfred, and a younger sister, Marie. The family moved to Saint-Martin-de-Ré in 1832, another sibling was born in 1834, Kitty. At 12 the boy went to Mortagne to stay with his uncle Eugène, a priest, in 1839 he was sent to study the priesthood at a Catholic college in Pons. Here he was taught to draw and paint by Louis Sage who had studied under Ingres, William reluctantly left his studies to return to his family, now residing in Bordeaux. Here the boy met a local artist, Charles Marionneau, William also worked as a shop assistant, hand-colouring lithographs and making small paintings that were reproduced using chromolithography. He was soon the best pupil in his class and decided to become an artist in Paris, to fund the move, he sold portraits -33 oils in three months. All were unsigned and only one has been traced and he arrived in Paris aged 20 in March 1846. Bouguereau became a student at the École des Beaux-Arts, to supplement his formal training in drawing, he attended anatomical dissections and studied historical costumes and archeology. He was admitted to the studio of François-Édouard Picot, where he studied painting in the academic style and he also studied classical literature, which influenced his subject choice for the rest of his career. In April 1848 the young artist entered the Prix de Rome contest, soon after work began there were riots in Paris and Bouguereau enrolled in the National Guard. After an unsuccessful attempt to win the prize, he entered again in 1849, following 106 days of competition he again failed to win. His third attempt commenced in April 1850 and five months later he heard he had won a joint first prize, along with other category winners, William set off for Rome in December and finally arrived at the Villa Medici in January 1851. He explored the city, making sketches and watercolours as he went and he walked to Naples and on to Capri, Amalfi and Pompeii
3.
Roman Catholicism
–
The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church or the Universal Church, is the largest Christian church, with more than 1.28 billion members worldwide. As one of the oldest religious institutions in the world, it has played a prominent role in the history, headed by the Bishop of Rome, known as the Pope, the churchs doctrines are summarised in the Nicene Creed and the Apostles Creed. Its central administration is located in Vatican City, enclaved within Rome, the Catholic Church is notable within Western Christianity for its sacred tradition and seven sacraments. It teaches that it is the one church founded by Jesus Christ, that its bishops are the successors of Christs apostles. The Catholic Church maintains that the doctrine on faith and morals that it declares as definitive is infallible. The Latin Church, the Eastern Catholic Churches, as well as such as mendicant orders and enclosed monastic orders. Among the sacraments, the one is the Eucharist, celebrated liturgically in the Mass. The church teaches that through consecration by a priest the sacrificial bread and wine become the body, the Catholic Church practises closed communion, with only baptised members in a state of grace ordinarily permitted to receive the Eucharist. The Virgin Mary is venerated in the Catholic Church as Queen of Heaven and is honoured in numerous Marian devotions. The Catholic Church has influenced Western philosophy, science, art and culture, Catholic spiritual teaching includes spreading the Gospel while Catholic social teaching emphasises support for the sick, the poor and the afflicted through the corporal and spiritual works of mercy. The Catholic Church is the largest non-government provider of education and medical services in the world, from the late 20th century, the Catholic Church has been criticised for its doctrines on sexuality, its refusal to ordain women and its handling of sexual abuse cases. Catholic was first used to describe the church in the early 2nd century, the first known use of the phrase the catholic church occurred in the letter from Saint Ignatius of Antioch to the Smyrnaeans, written about 110 AD. In the Catechetical Discourses of Saint Cyril of Jerusalem, the name Catholic Church was used to distinguish it from other groups that call themselves the church. The use of the adjective Roman to describe the Church as governed especially by the Bishop of Rome became more widespread after the Fall of the Western Roman Empire and into the Early Middle Ages. Catholic Church is the name used in the Catechism of the Catholic Church. The Catholic Church follows an episcopal polity, led by bishops who have received the sacrament of Holy Orders who are given formal jurisdictions of governance within the church. Ultimately leading the entire Catholic Church is the Bishop of Rome, commonly called the pope, in parallel to the diocesan structure are a variety of religious institutes that function autonomously, often subject only to the authority of the pope, though sometimes subject to the local bishop. Most religious institutes only have male or female members but some have both, additionally, lay members aid many liturgical functions during worship services
4.
Eastern Orthodox Church
–
The Eastern Orthodox Church teaches that it is the One, Holy, Catholic and Apostolic Church established by Jesus Christ in his Great Commission to the apostles. It practices what it understands to be the original Christian faith, the Eastern Orthodox Church is a communion of autocephalous churches, each typically governed by a Holy Synod. It teaches that all bishops are equal by virtue of their ordination, prior to the Council of Chalcedon in AD451, the Eastern Orthodox had also shared communion with the Oriental Orthodox churches, separating primarily over differences in Christology. Eastern Orthodoxy spread throughout the Roman and later Eastern Roman Empires and beyond, playing a prominent role in European, Near Eastern, Slavic, and some African cultures. As a result, the term Greek Orthodox has sometimes used to describe all of Eastern Orthodoxy in general. However, the appellation Greek was never in use and was gradually abandoned by the non-Greek-speaking Eastern Orthodox churches. Its most prominent episcopal see is Constantinople, there are also many in other parts of the world, formed through immigration, conversion and missionary activity. The official name of the Eastern Orthodox Church is the Orthodox Catholic Church and it is the name by which the church refers to itself in its liturgical or canonical texts, in official publications, and in official contexts or administrative documents. Orthodox teachers refer to the Church as Catholic and this name and longer variants containing Catholic are also recognized and referenced in other books and publications by secular or non-Orthodox writers. The common name of the Church, Eastern Orthodox Church, is a shortened practicality that helps to avoid confusions in casual use, for this reason, the eastern churches were sometimes identified as Greek, even before the great schism. After 1054, Greek Orthodox or Greek Catholic marked a church as being in communion with Constantinople and this identification with Greek, however, became increasingly confusing with time. Missionaries brought Orthodoxy to many regions without ethnic Greeks, where the Greek language was not spoken. Today, many of those same Roman churches remain, while a large number of Orthodox are not of Greek national origin. Eastern, then, indicates the element in the Churchs origin and development, while Orthodox indicates the faith. While the Church continues officially to call itself Catholic, for reasons of universality, the first known use of the phrase the catholic church occurred in a letter written about 110 AD from one Greek church to another. Quote of St Ignatius to the Smyrnaeans, Wheresoever the bishop shall appear, there let the people be, even as where Jesus may be, thus, almost from the very beginning, Christians referred to the Church as the One, Holy, Catholic and Apostolic Church. The Orthodox Church claims that it is today the continuation and preservation of that same Church, a number of other Christian churches also make a similar claim, the Roman Catholic Church, the Anglican Communion, the Assyrian Church and the Oriental Orthodox Churches. The Church of England separated from the Roman Catholic Church, not directly from the Orthodox Church, the depth of this meaning in the Orthodox Church is registered first in its use of the word Orthodox itself, a union of Greek orthos and doxa
5.
Anglicanism
–
Anglicanism is a tradition within Christianity comprising the Church of England and churches which are historically tied to it or hold similar beliefs, worship practices and church structures. The word Anglican originates in ecclesia anglicana, a medieval Latin phrase dating to the Magna Carta and before, adherents of Anglicanism are called Anglicans. As the name suggests, the churches of the Anglican Communion are linked by bonds of tradition, affection and they are in full communion with the See of Canterbury, and thus the Archbishop of Canterbury, in his person, is a unique focus of Anglican unity. He calls the once-a-decade Lambeth Conference, chairs the meeting of primates, Anglicans base their Christian faith on the Bible, traditions of the apostolic Church, apostolic succession, and writings of the Church Fathers. Anglicanism forms one of the branches of Western Christianity, having declared its independence from the Holy See at the time of the Elizabethan Religious Settlement. Many of the new Anglican formularies of the mid-16th century corresponded closely to those of contemporary Protestantism, the word Anglican originates in ecclesia anglicana, a medieval Latin phrase dating to at least 1246 that means the English Church. Adherents of Anglicanism are called Anglicans, as an adjective, Anglican is used to describe the people, institutions and churches, as well as the liturgical traditions and theological concepts developed by the Church of England. As a noun, an Anglican is a member of a church in the Anglican Communion, the word is also used by followers of separated groups which have left the communion or have been founded separately from it, although this is sometimes considered as a misuse. The word Anglicanism came into being in the 19th century, although the term Anglican is found referring to the Church of England as far back as the 16th century, its use did not become general until the latter half of the 19th century. Elsewhere, however, the term Anglican Church came to be preferred as it distinguished these churches from others that maintain an episcopal polity, as such, it is often referred to as being a via media between these traditions. Anglicans understand the Old and New Testaments as containing all necessary for salvation and as being the rule. Reason and Tradition are seen as means to interpret Scripture. Anglicans understand the Apostles Creed as the symbol and the Nicene Creed as the sufficient statement of the Christian faith. Anglicans celebrate the sacraments, with special emphasis being given to the Eucharist, also called Holy Communion. Unique to Anglicanism is the Book of Common Prayer, the collection of services that worshippers in most Anglican churches used for centuries and it was called common prayer originally because it was intended for use in all Church of England churches which had previously followed differing local liturgies. The term was kept when the church became international because all Anglicans used to share in its use around the world, in 1549, the first Book of Common Prayer was compiled by Thomas Cranmer, who was then Archbishop of Canterbury. The founding of Christianity in Britain is commonly attributed to Joseph of Arimathea, according to Anglican legend, Saint Alban, who was executed in 209 AD, is the first Christian martyr in the British Isles. A new culture emerged around the Irish Sea among the Celtic peoples with Celtic Christianity at its core, what resulted was a form of Christianity distinct from Rome in many traditions and practices
6.
Protestantism
–
Protestantism is a form of Christianity which originated with the Reformation, a movement against what its followers considered to be errors in the Roman Catholic Church. It is one of the three divisions of Christendom, together with Roman Catholicism and Orthodoxy. The term derives from the letter of protestation from German Lutheran princes in 1529 against an edict of the Diet of Speyer condemning the teachings of Martin Luther as heretical. Although there were earlier breaks from or attempts to reform the Roman Catholic Church—notably by Peter Waldo, John Wycliffe, Protestants reject the notion of papal supremacy and deny the Roman Catholic doctrine of transubstantiation, but disagree among themselves regarding the real presence of Christ in the Eucharist. The Five solae summarize the reformers basic differences in theological beliefs, in the 16th century, Lutheranism spread from Germany into Denmark, Norway, Sweden, Finland, the Baltic states, and Iceland. Reformed churches were founded in Germany, Hungary, the Netherlands, Scotland, Switzerland and France by such reformers as John Calvin, Huldrych Zwingli, the political separation of the Church of England from Rome under King Henry VIII brought England and Wales into this broad Reformation movement. Protestants developed their own culture, which made major contributions in education, the humanities and sciences, the political and social order, the economy and the arts, some Protestant denominations do have a worldwide scope and distribution of membership, while others are confined to a single country. A majority of Protestants are members of a handful of families, Adventism, Anglicanism, Baptist churches, Reformed churches, Lutheranism, Methodism. Nondenominational, evangelical, charismatic, independent and other churches are on the rise, and constitute a significant part of Protestant Christianity. Six princes of the Holy Roman Empire and rulers of fourteen Imperial Free Cities, the edict reversed concessions made to the Lutherans with the approval of Holy Roman Emperor Charles V three years earlier. During the Reformation, the term was used outside of the German politics. The word evangelical, which refers to the gospel, was more widely used for those involved in the religious movement. Nowadays, this word is still preferred among some of the historical Protestant denominations in the Lutheran and Calvinist traditions in Europe, above all the term is used by Protestant bodies in the German-speaking area, such as the EKD. In continental Europe, an Evangelical is either a Lutheran or a Calvinist, the German word evangelisch means Protestant, and is different from the German evangelikal, which refers to churches shaped by Evangelicalism. The English word evangelical usually refers to Evangelical Protestant churches, and it traces its roots back to the Puritans in England, where Evangelicalism originated, and then was brought to the United States. Protestantism as a term is now used in contradistinction to the other major Christian traditions, i. e. Roman Catholicism. Initially, Protestant became a term to mean any adherent to the Reformation movement in Germany and was taken up by Lutherans. Even though Martin Luther himself insisted on Christian or Evangelical as the only acceptable names for individuals who professed Christ, French and Swiss Protestants preferred the word reformed, which became a popular, neutral and alternative name for Calvinists
7.
Saturday of Souls
–
Saturday of Souls is a day set aside for commemoration of the dead within the liturgical year of the Eastern Orthodox and Greek-Catholic Churches. Saturday is a day for prayer for the dead, because Christ lay dead in the Tomb on Saturday. In the Bulgarian Orthodox Church there is a commemoration of the dead on the Saturday before the feast of Saint Michael the Archangel—8 November and these days are devoted to prayer for departed relatives and others among the faithful who might not be commemorated specifically as Saints. The Divine Services on these days have special hymns added to them to commemorate the departed, after the service, the priest blesses the koliva and it is then eaten as a memorial by all present. All Orthodox and Byzantine Catholics observe Soul Saturdays on Meatfare Saturday, the second, third, and fourth Saturdays of Great Lent, other Orthodox, such as the Serbian Orthodox, observe commemorations of the dead on the Saturdays before August 8 and before October 24. The Russians observe memorials on the Saturdays closest to October 26, another memorial day, Radonitsa, does not fall on a Saturday, but on either Monday or Tuesday of the second week after Pascha. Prayer for the dead Panikhida Koliva All Souls Day Photo, Ektenia during Panikhida Photo, Blessing Kolyva at the end of a Panikhida
8.
Day of the Dead
–
Day of the Dead is a Mexican holiday celebrated throughout Mexico, in particular the Central and South regions, and by people of Mexican ancestry living in other places, especially the United States. It is acknowledged internationally in many other cultures, the multi-day holiday focuses on gatherings of family and friends to pray for and remember friends and family members who have died, and help support their spiritual journey. In 2008, the tradition was inscribed in the Representative List of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity by UNESCO, the holiday is sometimes called Día de los Muertos in Anglophone countries, a back-translation of its original name, Día de Muertos. It is particularly celebrated in Mexico where the day is a public holiday, prior to Spanish colonization in the 16th century, the celebration took place at the beginning of summer. Gradually, it was associated with October 31, November 1 and November 2 to coincide with the Western Christian triduum of Allhallowtide, All Saints Eve, All Saints Day, visitors also leave possessions of the deceased at the graves. Scholars trace the origins of the modern Mexican holiday to indigenous observances dating back hundreds of years, the holiday has spread throughout the world, being absorbed within other deep traditions for honoring the dead. It has become a symbol and as such is taught in the nations schools. Many families celebrate a traditional All Saints Day associated with the Catholic Church, originally, the Day of the Dead as such was not celebrated in northern Mexico, where it was unknown until the 20th century because its indigenous people had different traditions. The people and the church rejected it as a day related to syncretizing pagan elements with Catholic Christianity and they held the traditional All Saints Day in the same way as other Christians in the world. There was limited Mesoamerican influence in region, and relatively few indigenous inhabitants from the regions of Southern Mexico. The Mexican Day of the Dead celebration is similar to other societies observances of a time to honor the dead. The Spanish tradition, for instance, includes festivals and parades, the Day of the Dead celebrations in Mexico developed from ancient traditions among its pre-Columbian cultures. Rituals celebrating the deaths of ancestors had been observed by these civilizations perhaps for as long as 2, 500–3,000 years. The festival that developed into the modern Day of the Dead fell in the month of the Aztec calendar, about the beginning of August. The festivities were dedicated to the known as the Lady of the Dead. By the late 20th century in most regions of Mexico, practices had developed to honor dead children and infants on November 1, and to honor deceased adults on November 2. November 1 is generally referred to as Día de los Inocentes but also as Día de los Angelitos, the intent is to encourage visits by the souls, so the souls will hear the prayers and the comments of the living directed to them. Celebrations can take a humorous tone, as celebrants remember funny events, plans for the day are made throughout the year, including gathering the goods to be offered to the dead
9.
Halloween
–
It begins the three-day observance of Allhallowtide, the time in the liturgical year dedicated to remembering the dead, including saints, martyrs, and all the faithful departed. Some academics, however, support the view that Halloween began independently as a solely Christian holiday. Some Christians historically abstained from meat on All Hallows Eve, a reflected in the eating of certain foods on this vigil day, including apples, potato pancakes. The word Halloween or Halloween dates to about 1745 and is of Christian origin, the word Halloween means hallowed evening or holy evening. It comes from a Scottish term for All Hallows Eve, in Scots, the word eve is even, and this is contracted to een or een. Over time, Hallow Een evolved into Halloween, although the phrase All Hallows is found in Old English All Hallows Eve is itself not seen until 1556. Todays Halloween customs are thought to have influenced by folk customs and beliefs from the Celtic-speaking countries. Samhain was the first and most important of the four days in the medieval Gaelic calendar and was celebrated on 31 October–1 November in Ireland, Scotland. A kindred festival was held at the time of year by the Brittonic Celts, called Calan Gaeaf in Wales, Kalan Gwav in Cornwall and Kalan Goañv in Brittany. For the Celts, the day ended and began at sunset, Samhain and Calan Gaeaf are mentioned in some of the earliest Irish and Welsh literature. The names have been used by historians to refer to Celtic Halloween customs up until the 19th century, samhain/Calan Gaeaf marked the end of the harvest season and beginning of winter or the darker half of the year. Like Beltane/Calan Mai, it was seen as a liminal time and this meant the Aos Sí, the spirits or fairies, could more easily come into our world and were particularly active. Most scholars see the Aos Sí as degraded versions of ancient gods whose power remained active in the minds even after they had been officially replaced by later religious beliefs. The Aos Sí were both respected and feared, with individuals often invoking the protection of God when approaching their dwellings, at Samhain, it was believed that the Aos Sí needed to be propitiated to ensure that the people and their livestock survived the winter. Offerings of food and drink, or portions of the crops, were left outside for the Aos Sí, the souls of the dead were also said to revisit their homes seeking hospitality. Places were set at the table and by the fire to welcome them. The belief that the souls of the return home on one night of the year. In 19th century Ireland, candles would be lit and prayers offered for the souls of the dead
10.
All Saints' Day
–
All Saints Day, also known as All Hallows Day, Hallowmas, Feast of All Saints, or Solemnity of All Saints, is a Christian festival celebrated in honour of all the saints, known and unknown. In Western Christianity, it is celebrated on 1 November by the Roman Catholic Church, the Anglican Communion, the Methodist Church, the Lutheran Church, the Eastern Orthodox Church and associated Eastern Catholic churches celebrate it on the first Sunday after Pentecost. Oriental Orthodox churches of Chaldea and associated Eastern Catholic churches celebrate All Saints Day on the first Friday after Easter, Christian celebration of All Saints Day and All Souls Day stems from a belief that there is a powerful spiritual bond between those in heaven, and the living. In Catholic theology, the day commemorates all those who have attained the vision in Heaven. It is a holiday in many historically Catholic countries. In Methodist theology, All Saints Day revolves around giving God solemn thanks for the lives and deaths of his saints, including those who are famous or obscure. In the Western Christian practice, the celebration begins at Vespers on the evening of 31 October, All Hallows Eve. It is thus the day before All Souls Day, which commemorates the faithful departed, in many traditions, All Saints Day is part of the triduum of Allhallowtide, which lasts three days from 31 October to 2 November inclusive. In the British Isles, it is known that churches were already celebrating All Saints on 1 November at the beginning of the 8th century to coincide or replace the Celtic festival of Samhain. However, Ronald Hutton points out that, according to Óengus of Tallaght and he suggests that 1 November date was a Germanic rather than a Celtic idea. The Eastern Orthodox Church, following the Byzantine tradition, commemorates all saints collectively on the first Sunday after Pentecost, the feast of All Saints achieved great prominence in the 9th century, in the reign of the Byzantine Emperor Leo VI the Wise. His wife, Empress Theophano – commemorated on 16 December – lived a devout life, after her death in 893, her husband built a church, intending to dedicate it to her. When he was forbidden to do so, he decided to dedicate it to All Saints, so if his wife were in fact one of the righteous. According to tradition, it was Leo who expanded the feast from a commemoration of All Martyrs to a commemoration of All Saints. This Sunday marks the close of the Paschal season, to the normal Sunday services are added special scriptural readings and hymns to all the saints from the Pentecostarion. In the late spring, the Sunday following Pentecost Saturday is set aside as a commemoration of all locally venerated saints, such as All Saints of America, All Saints of Mount Athos, etc. The third Sunday after Pentecost may be observed for even more localised saints, such as All Saints of St. Petersburg, or for saints of a particular type, such as New Martyrs of the Turkish Yoke. In addition to the Mondays mentioned above, Saturdays throughout the year are days for general commemoration of all saints, the celebration of November 1 in Lebanon as a holiday is simply the influence of Western Catholic orders present in Lebanon and is not Maronite in origin
11.
Samhain
–
Samhain is a Gaelic festival marking the end of the harvest season and the beginning of winter or the darker half of the year. Traditionally, it is celebrated from 31 October to 1 November, as the Celtic day began and this is about halfway between the autumn equinox and the winter solstice. It is one of the four Gaelic seasonal festivals, along with Imbolc, Bealtaine, historically, it was widely observed throughout Ireland, Scotland and the Isle of Man. Similar festivals are held at the time of year in other Celtic lands, for example the Brythonic Calan Gaeaf, Kalan Gwav. Samhain is believed to have Celtic pagan origins and there is evidence it has been an important date since ancient times, the Mound of the Hostages, a Neolithic passage tomb at the Hill of Tara, is aligned with the Samhain sunrise. It is mentioned in some of the earliest Irish literature and many important events in Irish mythology happen or begin on Samhain and it was the time when cattle were brought back down from the summer pastures and when livestock were slaughtered for the winter. As at Bealtaine, special bonfires were lit and these were deemed to have protective and cleansing powers and there were rituals involving them. Like Bealtaine, Samhain was seen as a time, when the boundary between this world and the Otherworld could more easily be crossed. This meant the Aos Sí, the spirits or fairies, could easily come into our world. Most scholars see the Aos Sí as remnants of the pagan gods, at Samhain, it was believed that the Aos Sí needed to be propitiated to ensure that the people and their livestock survived the winter. Offerings of food and drink were left outside for them, the souls of the dead were also thought to revisit their homes seeking hospitality. Feasts were had, at which the souls of dead kin were beckoned to attend, mumming and guising were part of the festival, and involved people going door-to-door in costume, often reciting verses in exchange for food. The costumes may have been a way of imitating, and disguising oneself from, divination rituals and games were also a big part of the festival and often involved nuts and apples. In the late 19th century, Sir John Rhys and Sir James Frazer suggested that it was the Celtic New Year, in the 9th century AD, Western Christianity shifted the date of All Saints Day to 1 November, while 2 November later became All Souls Day. Over time, Samhain and All Saints/All Souls merged to create the modern Halloween, historians have used the name Samhain to refer to Gaelic Halloween customs up until the 19th century. Since the later 20th century, Celtic neopagans and Wiccans have observed Samhain, or something based on it, Neopagans in the Southern Hemisphere often celebrate Samhain at the other end of the year. In Modern Irish the name is Samhain, in Scottish Gaelic Samhainn/Samhuinn and these are also the names of November in each language, shortened from Mí na Samhna, Mì na Samhna and Mee Houney. The night of 31 October is Oíche Shamhna, Oidhche Shamhna and Oie Houney,1 November, or the whole festival, may be called Lá Samhna, Là Samhna and Laa Houney, all meaning Samhain day
12.
Blue Christmas (holiday)
–
Blue Christmas, also called the Longest Night in the Western Christian tradition, is a day in the Advent season marking the longest night of the year. On this day, some hold a church service that honours people who have lost loved ones in that year. The Holy Eucharist is traditionally a part of the service of worship on this day, some churches hold a service of worship on the longest night of the year, which falls on or about December 21st, the Winter Solstice. There is an interesting convergence for this day as it is also the traditional feast day for Saint Thomas the Apostle, allhallowtide St Lucys Day Totensonntag Blue Christmas Resources - Church Health Reader Blue Christmas by the General Board of Discipleship Blue Christmas Liturgy by The Reverend Nancy C
13.
Christianity
–
Christianity is a Abrahamic monotheistic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus Christ, who serves as the focal point for the religion. It is the worlds largest religion, with over 2.4 billion followers, or 33% of the global population, Christians believe that Jesus is the Son of God and the savior of humanity whose coming as the Messiah was prophesied in the Old Testament. Christian theology is summarized in creeds such as the Apostles Creed and his incarnation, earthly ministry, crucifixion, and resurrection are often referred to as the gospel, meaning good news. The term gospel also refers to accounts of Jesuss life and teaching, four of which—Matthew, Mark, Luke. Christianity is an Abrahamic religion that began as a Second Temple Judaic sect in the mid-1st century, following the Age of Discovery, Christianity spread to the Americas, Australasia, sub-Saharan Africa, and the rest of the world through missionary work and colonization. Christianity has played a prominent role in the shaping of Western civilization, throughout its history, Christianity has weathered schisms and theological disputes that have resulted in many distinct churches and denominations. Worldwide, the three largest branches of Christianity are the Catholic Church, the Eastern Orthodox Church, and the denominations of Protestantism. There are many important differences of interpretation and opinion of the Bible, concise doctrinal statements or confessions of religious beliefs are known as creeds. They began as baptismal formulae and were expanded during the Christological controversies of the 4th and 5th centuries to become statements of faith. Many evangelical Protestants reject creeds as definitive statements of faith, even agreeing with some or all of the substance of the creeds. The Baptists have been non-creedal in that they have not sought to establish binding authoritative confessions of faith on one another. Also rejecting creeds are groups with roots in the Restoration Movement, such as the Christian Church, the Evangelical Christian Church in Canada, the Apostles Creed is the most widely accepted statement of the articles of Christian faith. It is also used by Presbyterians, Methodists, and Congregationalists and this particular creed was developed between the 2nd and 9th centuries. Its central doctrines are those of the Trinity and God the Creator, each of the doctrines found in this creed can be traced to statements current in the apostolic period. The creed was used as a summary of Christian doctrine for baptismal candidates in the churches of Rome. Most Christians accept the use of creeds, and subscribe to at least one of the mentioned above. The central tenet of Christianity is the belief in Jesus as the Son of God, Christians believe that Jesus, as the Messiah, was anointed by God as savior of humanity, and hold that Jesus coming was the fulfillment of messianic prophecies of the Old Testament. The Christian concept of the Messiah differs significantly from the contemporary Jewish concept, Jesus, having become fully human, suffered the pains and temptations of a mortal man, but did not sin
14.
Soul
–
In many religious, philosophical and mythological traditions, the soul is the incorporeal essence of a living being. Depending on the system, a soul can either be mortal or immortal. In Judeo-Christianity, only human beings have immortal souls, for example, the Catholic theologian Thomas Aquinas attributed soul to all organisms but argued that only human souls are immortal. Other religions hold that all organisms have souls, as did Aristotle, while some teach that even non-biological entities possess souls. The latter belief is called animism, Greek philosophers, such as Socrates, Plato, and Aristotle, understood that the soul must have a logical faculty, the exercise of which was the most divine of human actions. Anima mundi is the concept of a world soul connecting all living organisms on planet Earth, the Modern English word soul, derived from Old English sáwol, sáwel, was first attested in the 8th-century poem Beowulf v.2820 and in the Vespasian Psalter 77.50. Further etymology of the Germanic word is uncertain, the Koine Greek word ψυχή psychē, life, spirit, consciousness, is derived from a verb meaning to cool, to blow, and hence refers to the breath, as opposed to σῶμα, meaning body. Vulgate, et nolite timere eos qui occidunt corpus animam autem non possunt occidere sed potius eum timete qui potest et animam et corpus perdere in gehennam. Authorized King James Version And fear not them which kill the body, but are not able to kill the soul, vulgate Creavitque Deus cete grandia, et omnem animam viventem atque motabilem. KJV And God created great whales, and every living creature that moveth, Paul of Tarsus used ψυχή and πνεῦμα specifically to distinguish between the Jewish notions of נפש nephesh and רוח ruah. The ancient Greeks used the word alive for the concept of being ensouled, the soul was considered the incorporeal or spiritual breath that animates the living organism. Francis M. Cornford quotes Pindar by saying that the soul sleeps while the limbs are active, but when one is sleeping, the soul is active and reveals an award of joy or sorrow drawing near in dreams. Erwin Rohde writes that an early pre-Pythagorean belief presented the soul as lifeless when it departed the body, drawing on the words of his teacher Socrates, Plato considered the psyche to be the essence of a person, being that which decides how we behave. He considered this essence to be an incorporeal, eternal occupant of our being, Socrates says that even after death, the soul exists and is able to think. He believed that as bodies die, the soul is reborn in subsequent bodies and Plato believed this as well, however. Thymos is located near the chest region and is related to anger, eros is located in the stomach and is related to ones desires. Plato also compares the three parts of the soul or psyche to a caste system. According to Platos theory, the soul is essentially the same thing as a states class system because, to function well
15.
Western Christianity
–
Western Christianity consists of the Latin Church of the Catholic Church, and a variety of Protestant denominations. The name has applied in order to distinguish these from Eastern Christianity. Today, the distinction between Western and Eastern Christianity is not nearly as absolute, due to the spread of missionary activities, migrations. The adjectives Western Christianity and Eastern Christianity are thus used to refer to historical origins rather than present geographical locations. For most of its history the church in Europe has been divided between the Latin-speaking west, whose centre was Rome, and the Greek-speaking east, whose centre was Constantinople. Cultural differences and political rivalry created tensions between the two churches, leading to disagreement over doctrine and ecclesiology and ultimately to schism, like Eastern Christianity, Western Christianity traces its roots, directly or indirectly, to the apostles and other early preachers of the religion. In Western Christianitys original area Latin was the principal language, Christian writers in Latin had more influence there than those who wrote in Greek, Syriac, or other Eastern languages. With the last-named form of Eastern Christianity, reunion agreements were signed at the Second Council of Lyon and the Council of Florence, but these proved ineffective. The rise of Protestantism led to divisions within Western Christianity, which still persist, and wars—for example. In and after the Age of Discovery, Europeans spread Western Christianity to the New World, Roman Catholicism came to the Americas, Africa, Asia, Australia and the Pacific. Protestantism, including Anglicanism, came to North America, Australia-Pacific and this Western version also has the additional phrase God from God, which was in the Creed as adopted by the First Council of Nicaea, but which was dropped by the First Council of Constantinople. The date of Easter usually differs between Eastern and Western Christianity, because the calculations are based on the Julian calendar and Gregorian calendar respectively, for example, the Church of England continued to observe Easter on the same date as the Eastern Church until 1753. Even the dates of other Christian holidays differ between Eastern and Western Christianity, Western Christianity makes up about 90% of Christians worldwide, with the Roman Catholic Church accounting for over half and various Protestant denominations making up another 40%. Hussite movements of 15th century Bohemia preceded the main Protestant uprising by 100 years and evolved into several small Protestant churches, waldensians survived also, but blended into the Reformed tradition
16.
Allhallowtide
–
Allhallowtide is a time to remember the dead, including martyrs, saints, and all faithful departed Christians. The present date of Hallowmas and thus also of its vigil was established for Rome perhaps by Pope Gregory III and was made of obligation throughout the Frankish Empire by Louis the Pious in 835. Elsewhere, other dates were observed even later, with the date in Ireland being 20 April. In the early 11th century, the date of All Souls Day was popularized, after Abbot Odilo established it as a day for the monks of Cluny. The word Allhallowtide was first used in 1471, and is derived from two words, the Old English word halig, meaning saint, and the word tide, the latter part of the word Hallowmas is derived from the word Mass. The words hallow and saint are synonyms, the Christian attitude towards the death of martyrs is first exemplified in the New Testament, which records that after the beheading of St. John the Baptist, his disciples respectfully buried him. Stephen was likewise given a Christian burial by his fellow-Christians after he had been stoned to death by a mob. D, Odilo of Cluny popularized the day to pray for All Souls, forming the third day of the triduum of Allhallowtide. The octave of Allhallowtide, lasting eight days was established by Pope Sixtus IV in 1430 for the whole Western Church, the octave, however was eliminated in the 1955 reforms of the Catholic Church, although it continues to be observed by many Anglicans. The faithful may obtain a Plenary Indulgence by visiting a cemetery. In the United Kingdom, the Church of England, mother church of the Anglican Communion, All Hallows Eve, often contracted as Halloween, is the eve of All Hallows, and the first day of the Allhallowtide. On All Hallows Eve, Christians traditionally believed that the veil between the world and the afterlife thinned. In order to prevent recognition by a soul, people would don masks or costumes to disguise their identities, in North America, the Christian Church traditionally observed Halloween through a vigil when worshippers would prepare themselves with prayers and fasting prior to the feast day itself. This church service is known as the Vigil of All Hallows or the Vigil of All Saints, an initiative known as Night of Light seeks to further spread the Vigil of All Hallows throughout Christendom. After the service, suitable festivities and entertainments often follow, as well as a visit to the graveyard or cemetery, the second day of Allhallowtide is known as All Saints Day, All Hallows, or Hallowmas. Occurring on November 1, it is a principal feast of the church year, in some Christian denominations, All Saints Day may be celebrated on the Sunday following November 1. All Saints Day is a day to honour all the saints and martyrs. All Hallows is a universal Christian holy day, but it has an importance in the Anglican Church, Catholic Church. The liturgical colour of All Saints Day is white, which is symbolic of victory, while honouring the Church Triumphant, All Hallows seeks to especially honour the blessed who have not been canonized and who have no special feast day
17.
Churches Militant, Penitent, and Triumphant
–
These divisions are known as the three states of the Church, especially within Catholic ecclesiology. In systems of theology which reject the doctrine of Purgatory, such as Low-Church Lutheranism, the Churches Militant and Triumphant are together known as the two states of the Church. The members of the Church Militant, i. e. those Christians on earth, are engaged in warfare against sin in order that. The term penitent means repenting, being sorry and those who constitute the Church Penitent are in Purgatory to satisfy whatever portion of the temporal punishment due for their sins was not satisfied before death. They are in a process of purging their imperfections before entering heaven and it is held that all members of the Church Penitent will eventually join the Church Triumphant. The alternate term suffering emphasizes the nature of experience in Purgatory. The other alternative, expectant, emphasizes that the souls of Purgatory are awaiting expectantly the beatific vision of heaven, the term triumphant, means exulting, rejoicing exceedingly, taken from a figurative usage of triumphus, originally designating the Roman triumph. Those who constitute the Church Triumphant rejoice eternally in the glory of God, anglicans believe that. the Church on earth is united with the Church in heaven. They speak of the Church Militant here on earth and the Church triumphant in heaven and they worship God together with angels and archangels, and with all the company of heaven. The Catholic Church commemorates the Church Triumphant and the Church Penitent in its liturgy on two days, All Saints Day on November 1 and All Souls Day on November 2. These terms are not used in the Catechism of the Catholic Church, however, the teaching these terms represent is precisely restated, quoting Lumen gentium, The three states of the Church. When the Lord comes in glory, and all his angels with him, death will be no more, but at the present time some of his disciples are pilgrims on earth. Others have died and are being purified, while others are in glory, contemplating in full light, God himself triune and one. Eric Lund, a Lutheran professor, described an analogy relating the Old Testament to the New Testament, fire was transferred from the outer one to the inner one. God also assembled a twofold church, the militant and the church triumphant. The fire of love will someday be transferred from the militant to the church triumphant. As such, within Lutheranism, That is called the Church militant, which in life is still fighting, under the banner of Christ, against Satan, the world. It defines the Church Militant as inclusive of all Christian denominations, among them Methodism, Presbyterianism, Baptist churches, Congregational churches, Anglicanism, among many others
18.
Purgatory
–
The notion of Purgatory is associated particularly with the Latin Rite of the Catholic Church, Anglicans of the Anglo-Catholic tradition generally also hold to the belief. Judaism also believes in the possibility of purification and may even use the word purgatory to present its understanding of the meaning of Gehenna. However, the concept of soul purification may be denied in these other faith traditions. The same practice appears in traditions, such as the medieval Chinese Buddhist practice of making offerings on behalf of the dead. Roman Catholics consider the teaching on Purgatory, but not the imaginative accretions, of the early Church Fathers, Origen says that He who comes to be saved, comes to be saved through fire that burns away sins and worldliness like lead, leaving behind only pure gold. St. Ambrose of Milan speaks of a kind of baptism of fire which is located at the entrance to Heaven, and through which all must pass, at the end of the world. By this he meant that attachments to sin, habits of sin, and even venial sins could be removed in Purgatory, but not mortal sin, which, according to Catholic doctrine, causes eternal damnation. The Catholic Church gives the name Purgatory to the purification of all who die in Gods grace and friendship. Though Purgatory is often pictured as a rather than a process of purification. According to Catholic belief, immediately after death, a person undergoes judgment in which the eternal destiny is specified. Some are eternally united with God in Heaven, envisioned as a paradise of eternal joy, conversely, others reach a state called Hell, that is eternal separation from God often envisioned as an abode of never ending, fiery torment, a fire sometimes considered to be metaphorical. In addition to accepting the states of heaven and hell, Catholicism envisages a third state before being admitted to heaven, such souls, ultimately destined to be united with God in heaven, must first be cleansed through purgatory – a state of purification. Through purgatory, souls achieve the necessary to enter the joy of heaven. Mortal sin incurs both temporal punishment and eternal punishment, venial sin incurs only temporal punishment, the Catholic Church makes a distinction between these two types of sin. According to Catholicism, purification from our sinful tendencies can occur during life, the situation has been compared to that of someone who needs to be cleansed of any addiction. As from any addiction, rehabilitation from the disordered affection for created goods will be a gradual and it can be advanced during life by voluntary self-mortification and penance and by deeds of generosity that show love of God rather than of creatures. After death, a process can be recognized as a still necessary preparation for entering the divine presence. The writings of Saint Catherine of Genoa explain, As for paradise, whoever wishes to enter, does so
19.
Saint
–
A saint, also historically known as a hallow, is a term used for a person who is recognized as having an exceptional degree of holiness or likeness to God. Depending on the context and denomination, the term also retains its original Christian meaning, as any believer who is in Christ and in whom Christ dwells, whether in Heaven or on Earth. Depending on the religion, saints are recognized either by official ecclesiastical declaration, the English word saint comes from the Latin sanctus. The word translated the Greek ἅγιος, which derives from the verb ἁγιάζω, the word ἅγιος appears 229 times in the Greek New Testament, and its English translation 60 times in the corresponding text of the King James Version of the Bible. In the New Testament, saint did not denote the deceased who had recognized as especially holy or emulable. Many religions also use similar concepts to venerate persons worthy of some honor, the anthropologist Lawrence Babb in an article about Sathya Sai Baba asks the question Who is a saint. These saintly figures, he asserts, are the points of spiritual force-fields. They exert powerful attractive influence on followers but touch the lives of others in transforming ways as well. In the Bible, only one person is called a saint, They envied Moses also in the camp. The apostle Paul declared himself to be less than the least of all saints in Ephesians 3,8, in the Catholic Church, a saint is anyone in Heaven, whether recognized on Earth or not. There are many persons that the Church believes to be in Heaven who have not been formally canonized, sometimes the word saint also denotes living Christians. They remind us that the Church is holy, can never stop being holy and is called to show the holiness of God by living the life of Christ, the Catholic Church teaches that it does not make or create saints, but rather recognizes them. Proofs of heroicity required in the process of beatification will serve to illustrate in detail the general principles exposed above upon proof of their holiness or likeness to God. On 3 January 993, Pope John XV became the first pope to proclaim a person a saint, on the petition of the German ruler, before that time, the popular cults, or venerations, of saints had been local and spontaneous. Pope John XVIII subsequently permitted a cult of five Polish martyrs, walter of Pontoise was the last person in Western Europe to be canonized by an authority other than the Pope, Hugh de Boves, the Archbishop of Rouen, canonized him in 1153. Thenceforth a decree of Pope Alexander III in 1170 reserved the prerogative of canonization to the Pope, one source claims that there are over 10,000 named saints and beatified people from history, the Roman Martyrology and Orthodox sources, but no definitive head count. Alban Butler published Lives of the Saints in 1756, including a total of 1,486 saints, the latest revision of this book, edited by Rev. Herbert Thurston, SJ and British author Donald Attwater, contains the lives of 2,565 saints. Monsignor Robert Sarno, an official of the Congregation for the Causes of Saints of the Holy See, expressed that it is impossible to give an exact number of saints
20.
Liturgy
–
Liturgy is the customary public worship performed by a religious group, according to its beliefs, customs and traditions. As a religious phenomenon, liturgy is a response to and participation in. Ritualization may be associated with events such as birth, coming of age, marriage. It thus forms the basis for establishing a relationship with a divine agency, methods of dress, preparation of food, application of cosmetics or other hygienic practices are all considered liturgical activities. Technically speaking, liturgy is a subset of ritual, when ritual is undertaken to participate in a divine act or assist a divine action, it is liturgy. If the ritual does not have this purpose it is not liturgy, a daily activity such as the Muslim salah and Jewish synagogue services would be ritual but not liturgy. If the Temple were re-established, the ritual undertaken by the Judaic priesthood within the Temple would be liturgy, for a simple definition, liturgy is basically the pattern/way of worship the worshippers, worship. So you could use orthodox liturgy which would have different aspects to the Eucharistic liturgy or the catholic liturgy. The word liturgy, derived from the term in ancient Greek, leitourgia. In origin it signified the often expensive offerings wealthy Greeks made in service to the people, and thus to the polis, through the leitourgia, the rich carried a financial burden and were correspondingly rewarded with honours and prestige. The leitourgia were assigned by the polis, the State and Roman Empire, the performance of such supported the patrons standing among the elite and the popular at large. The holder of a Hellenic leitourgia was not taxed a specific sum, but was entrusted with a particular ritual, however groups of rich citizens were assigned to pay for expenses such as civic amenities and even payment of warships. Eventually, under the Roman Empire, such obligations, known as munera, devolved into a competitive, Buddhist liturgy is a formalized service of veneration and worship performed within a Buddhist Sangha community in nearly every traditional denomination and sect in the Buddhist world. It is often done once or more times a day and can vary among the Theravada, Mahayana, the liturgy mainly consists of chanting or reciting a sutra or passages from a sutras, a mantra, and several gathas. Depending on what practice the practitioner wishes to undertake, it can be done at a temple or at home, the liturgy is almost always performed in front of an object or objects of veneration and accompanied by offerings of light, incense, water and food. Jewish liturgy are the prayer recitations that form part of the observance of Rabbinic Judaism and these prayers, often with instructions and commentary, are found in the siddur, the traditional Jewish prayer book. In general, Jewish men are obligated to pray three times a day within specific time ranges, while, according to the Talmud, women are only required to pray once daily, as they are generally exempted from obligations that are time dependent. Additional prayers, Musaf are recited by Orthodox and Conservative congregations on Shabbat, major Jewish holidays, a fifth prayer service, Neila, is recited only on Yom Kippur, the Day of Atonement
21.
Latin Church
–
The Latin Church, commonly called Roman Catholic Church, sometimes Western Church, is the largest autonomous particular church sui iuris within the Catholic Church, applying Latin liturgical rites. There are 24 such sui iuris particular churches within the Catholic Church, all the other particular churches sui iuris, of which there are 23, originated farther east and are, therefore, collectively known as the Eastern Catholic Churches. Because of the migrations, members of all of these particular churches sui iuris are no longer confined to their areas of origin. A person is a member of or belongs to a particular church, a person also inherits or is of, a particular patrimony or rite. Since the rite has liturgical, theological, spiritual and disciplinary elements, Particular churches that inherit and perpetuate a particular patrimony are identified by metonymy with that patrimony. Accordingly, rite has been defined as a division of the Christian church using a distinctive liturgy, is considered equal to the Latin rite within the Church. It thus used the rite as a technical designation of what may now be called a particular church. Church or rite is used as a single heading in the United States Library of Congress classification of works. The last known use was Pope Pius XII in Humani generis who taught that the Mystical Body of Christ and the Roman Catholic Church are one. Most ecclesiologists - experts in the theology of the Church itself - instead use Roman Catholic to refer exclusively to the Latin Church. The reasons for this are that each of the 24 Catholic Churches sui iuris have a modifier - Maronite, Ukrainian, Roman, etc. - and that Latin and Roman are virtually interchangeable. Further, as Adrian Fortescue noted in his article in the 1910 Catholic Encyclopedia, today, the most common Latin liturgical rites are the Roman Rite, the Ambrosian Rite, the Mozarabic Rite, and variations of the Roman Rite. The 23 Eastern Catholic Churches share five families of liturgical rites, the Latin liturgical rites, like the Armenian, are used only in a single sui iuris particular church. In the Eastern Churches these sacraments are usually administered immediately after baptism, celibacy, as a consequence of the duty to observe perfect continence, is obligatory for priests in the Latin Church. Rare exceptions are permitted for men who, after ministering as clergy in other churches and this contrasts with the discipline in most Eastern Catholic Churches. In the Latin Church, a man may not be admitted even to the diaconate unless he is legitimately destined to remain a deacon. Marriage after ordination is not possible, and attempting it can result in canonical penalties, Latin Mass Church of Rome Particular church General Roman Calendar Eastern Catholic Churches Catholic Encyclopedia, Latin Church
22.
Personal ordinariate
–
The ordinariates were established in order to enable groups of Anglicans to join the Catholic Church while preserving elements of their liturgical and spiritual patrimony. It is also the name given to all three in the official yearbook of the Holy See and is a name the ordinariates themselves use. Ordinariates for former Anglicans is a sometimes used by the ordinariates themselves, by news sources of the Holy See. This terminology, however, does not mean that an ordinariates membership exclusively comprises former Anglicans, Anglican ordinariates is often used by newspapers, such as the Church of England Newspaper and the Canadian Catholic Register. It is also used by communities belonging to the ordinariates. The name does not imply that the members of an ordinariate are still Anglicans, no longer part of any other communion. Many of these Anglican Use Catholics had left the Episcopal Church because of womens ordination especially to the episcopate, revisions of the liturgy, the discussions that led to the granting of the 1980 pastoral provision raised some of the ideas that came to fruition in the decision of 2009. One was the setting up of a structure for former Anglicans similar to the military ordinariate, in October 2007 the Traditional Anglican Communion presented to the Holy See a petition for full union in corporate form with the Roman Catholic Church. This worldwide grouping, under a single primate, of churches of Anglican tradition and it was formed over a number of issues, including liturgical revisions, the ordination of women and open homosexuals as priests, the sanctioning of homosexuality and the importance of tradition. The request thus became a basis for the decision, announced by Cardinal Levada on 20 October 2009, provision was made for ordination as Catholic priests of married former Anglican clergy, but for historical and ecumenical reasons married men could not be ordained as bishops. The ordinary, who will usually be appointed from among former Anglican clergy, a number of Anglican groups soon petitioned the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith for acceptance into ordinariates. On 12 March 2010, the Anglican Catholic Church of Canada formally requested the erection of an ordinariate in Canada, the Anglican Catholic Church in Australia and Forward in Faith Australia, mostly members of the Anglican Church of Australia, jointly applied for an ordinariate in Australia. However, two later left the denomination over the issue. The Church of Torres Strait, another province of the Traditional Anglican Communion in Australia, covering parts of Northern Queensland, a majority of the 17 clergy of the Traditional Anglican Church supported a petition for acceptance into the Roman Catholic ordinariate. Accordingly, the ordinariates identify as Anglican culturally, but as Catholic theologically and ecclesiologically, membership in the ordinariates, however, is not restricted exclusively to former Anglicans. The rites of the ordinariates are characterised by revisions of Anglican rites approved by the Holy See for their use, however, Anglicans who join the Catholic Church are not obliged to become members of an ordinariate and can choose to belong to the Latin diocese of residence. In either form they are received by profession of faith. The rite of reception would normally include the sacraments of Confirmation
23.
Pope Benedict XVI
–
Pope Benedict XVI reigned as Pope of the Catholic Church from 2005 to 2013. He was elected pope on 19 April 2005, was inaugurated on 24 April 2005, Benedicts election occurred in a papal conclave following the death of Pope John Paul II. Ordained as a priest in 1951 in his native Bavaria, Ratzinger established himself as a highly regarded university theologian by the late 1950s and was appointed a professor in 1958. In 1981, he was appointed Prefect of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, from 2002 until his election as Pope, he was also Dean of the College of Cardinals. He was originally a liberal theologian, but adopted conservative views after 1968 and his prolific writings defend traditional Catholic doctrine and values. During his papacy, Benedict XVI advocated a return to fundamental Christian values to counter the increased secularisation of many Western countries and he views relativisms denial of objective truth, and the denial of moral truths in particular, as the central problem of the 21st century. He taught the importance of both the Catholic Church and an understanding of Gods redemptive love, Pope Benedict also revived a number of traditions, including elevating the Tridentine Mass to a more prominent position. He strengthened the relationship between the Catholic Church and art, promoted the use of Latin, and reintroduced traditional papal garments and he has been described as the main intellectual force in the Church since the mid-1980s. On 11 February 2013, Benedict announced his resignation in a speech in Latin before the cardinals, citing a lack of strength of mind and his resignation became effective on 28 February 2013. He is the first pope to resign since Pope Gregory XII in 1415, as pope emeritus, Benedict retains the style of His Holiness, and the title of Pope, and continues to dress in the papal colour of white. He was succeeded by Pope Francis on 13 March 2013, in his retirement, Benedict XVI has made occasional public appearances alongside Pope Francis. Joseph Aloisius Ratzinger was born on 16 April, Holy Saturday,1927, at Schulstraße 11, at 8,30 in the morning in his parents home in Marktl, Bavaria and he was baptised the same day. He was the third and youngest child of Joseph Ratzinger, Sr. a police officer and his mothers family was originally from South Tyrol. Pope Benedict XVIs brother, Georg Ratzinger, a priest and former director of the Regensburger Domspatzen choir, is still alive and his sister, Maria Ratzinger, who never married, managed Cardinal Ratzingers household until her death in 1991. Their grand-uncle was the German politician Georg Ratzinger, at the age of five, Ratzinger was in a group of children who welcomed the visiting Cardinal Archbishop of Munich with flowers. Struck by the distinctive garb, he later announced the very same day that he wanted to be a cardinal. He attended the school in Aschau am Inn, which was renamed in his honour in 2009. Ratzingers family, especially his father, bitterly resented the Nazis, in 1941, one of Ratzingers cousins, a 14-year-old boy with Down syndrome, was taken away by the Nazi regime and murdered during the Action T4 campaign of Nazi eugenics
24.
Church of England
–
The Church of England is the state church of England. The Archbishop of Canterbury is the most senior cleric, although the monarch is the supreme governor, the Church of England is also the mother church of the international Anglican Communion. It dates its establishment as a church to the 6th-century Gregorian mission to Kent led by Augustine of Canterbury. The English church renounced papal authority when Henry VIII sought to secure an annulment from Catherine of Aragon in the 1530s, the English Reformation accelerated under Edward VIs regents before a brief restoration of papal authority under Queen Mary I and King Philip. This is expressed in its emphasis on the teachings of the early Church Fathers, as formalised in the Apostles, Nicene, in the earlier phase of the English Reformation there were both Catholic martyrs and radical Protestant martyrs. The later phases saw the Penal Laws punish Roman Catholic and nonconforming Protestants, in the 17th century, political and religious disputes raised the Puritan and Presbyterian faction to control of the church, but this ended with the Restoration. Papal recognition of George III in 1766 led to religious tolerance. Since the English Reformation, the Church of England has used a liturgy in English, the church contains several doctrinal strands, the main three known as Anglo-Catholic, Evangelical and Broad Church. Tensions between theological conservatives and progressives find expression in debates over the ordination of women and homosexuality, the church includes both liberal and conservative clergy and members. The governing structure of the church is based on dioceses, each presided over by a bishop, within each diocese are local parishes. The General Synod of the Church of England is the body for the church and comprises bishops, other clergy. Its measures must be approved by both Houses of Parliament, according to tradition, Christianity arrived in Britain in the 1st or 2nd century, during which time southern Britain became part of the Roman Empire. The earliest historical evidence of Christianity among the native Britons is found in the writings of such early Christian Fathers as Tertullian, three Romano-British bishops, including Restitutus, are known to have been present at the Council of Arles in 314. Others attended the Council of Sardica in 347 and that of Ariminum in 360, Britain was the home of Pelagius, who opposed Augustine of Hippos doctrine of original sin. Consequently, in 597, Pope Gregory I sent the prior of the Abbey of St Andrews from Rome to evangelise the Angles and this event is known as the Gregorian mission and is the date the Church of England generally marks as the beginning of its formal history. A later archbishop, the Greek Theodore of Tarsus, also contributed to the organisation of Christianity in England, the Church of England has been in continuous existence since the days of St Augustine, with the Archbishop of Canterbury as its episcopal head. Despite the various disruptions of the Reformation and the English Civil War, while some Celtic Christian practices were changed at the Synod of Whitby, the Christian Church in the British Isles was under papal authority from earliest times. The Synod of Whitby established the Roman date for Easter and the Roman style of monastic tonsure in Britain and this meeting of the ecclesiastics with Roman customs with local bishops was summoned in 664 at Saint Hildas double monastery of Streonshalh, later called Whitby Abbey
25.
Resurrection of the dead
–
Predominantly in Christian eschatology, the term is used to support the belief that the dead will be brought back to life in connection with end times. Various other forms of this concept can also be found in other eschatologies, namely, Islamic, Jewish, early Christian church fathers defended the resurrection of the dead against the pagan belief that the immortal soul went to the underworld immediately after death. Currently, however, it is a popular Christian belief that the souls of the go to Heaven. At the close of the period, the modern era brought a shift in Christian thinking from an emphasis on the resurrection of the body back to the immortality of the soul. This shift was a result of a change in the zeitgeist, as a reaction to the Renaissance, andré Dartigues has observed that especially “from the 17th to the 19th century, the language of popular piety no longer evoked the resurrection of the soul but everlasting life. Although theological textbooks still mentioned resurrection, they dealt with it as a question more than as an existential problem. ”This shift was supported not by any scripture. Deism allowed for a supreme being, such as the philosophical first cause, Deism, which was largely led by rationality and reason, could allow a belief in the immortality of the soul, but not necessarily in the resurrection of the dead. In Christian theology, it was widely believed that to rise on Judgment Day the body had to be whole. An Act of Parliament from the reign of King Henry VIII stipulated that only the corpses of executed murderers could be used for dissection, restricting the supply to the cadavers of murderers was seen as an extra punishment for the crime. If one believes dismemberment stopped the possibility of resurrection of a body on judgment day. Attitudes towards this issue changed very slowly in the United Kingdom and were not manifested in law until the passing of the Anatomy Act in 1832. For much of the British population it was not until the 20th century that the link between the body and resurrection was finally broken as cremation was only legal in 1902. The Gospel of Matthew introduces the expression ἀναστάσεως τῶν νεκρῶν, which is used in a monologue by Jesus who speaks to the crowds about the resurrection called simply, ῇ ἀναστάσει. This type of resurrection refers to the raising up the dead, all men, at the end of this present age, in Acts of the Apostles the expression ἀναστάσεως νεκρῶν was used by the Apostles and Paul the Apostle to defend the doctrine of the resurrection. Paul brought up the resurrection in his trial before Ananias ben Nedebaios, the expression was variously used in reference to a general resurrection at the end of this present age. In the First Epistle to the Corinthians chapter 15, ἀνάστασις νεκρῶν is used for the resurrection of the dead. In vv.54,55, Paul the Apostle is conveyed as quoting from the book of Hosea 13,14 where he speaks of the abolition of death, by rendering Sheol powerless would mean to loosen its hold on those in it, implying the emptying of gravedom. Using the Sign of Jonah in Mathew 16 and Luke 11, in Acts of the Apostles chapters 4,17,23 and 24, the Apostles and Paul of Tarsus argued in support of the doctrine
26.
Communion of saints
–
They are all part of a single mystical body, with Christ as the head, in which each member contributes to the good of all and shares in the welfare of all. Belief in the communion of saints is affirmed in the Apostles Creed, the doctrine of the communion of saints is based on 1 Corinthians 12, where Paul compares Christians to a single body. Bishops have the authority to lead a diocese, the words translated into English as saints can refer to Christians, who, whatever their personal sanctity as individuals, are called holy because they are consecrated to God and Christ. This usage of the saints is found some fifty times in the New Testament. The Heidelberg Catechism defends this view, citing Romans 8,32,1 Corinthians 6,17 and 1 John 1,3 to claim that all members of Christ have communion with him, and are recipients of all his gifts. The persons who are linked in this communion include those who have died, in Catholic terminology, the communion of saints is thus said to comprise the church militant, the church penitent, and the church triumphant. The damned are not a part of the communion of saints, roman Catholic and Orthodox churches refer to this doctrine in support of the practice of praying for the dead. The Anglican tradition has been ambivalent about prayers for the dead historically, sometimes embracing, protestantism, which rejects such doctrines as purgatory and the intercession of saints, necessarily has different definitions of the communion of saints. Martin Luther defined the phrase thus, The communion of saints and this is of one piece with the preceding. Formerly it was not in the creed, someone wanted to explain the first term, catholic church communio sanctorum, which in German means a congregation of saints, that is, a congregation made up only of saints. Christian church and congregation of saints are one and the same thing, from the forty-second proposition condemned, and the twenty-ninth question asked, by Martin V at Constance, we also know that Wyclif and Hus had gone far towards denying the dogma itself. But the communion of saints became an issue only at the time of the Reformation. The Reformed churches generally maintain the Lutheran identification of the communion of saints with the body of believers, the double and often conflicting influence of Luther and Calvin, with a lingering memory of Catholic orthodoxy, is felt in the Anglican Confessions. Protestant theologians, just as Protestant confessions, waver between the Lutheran and the Calvinistic view. D, the Communion of Saints First Reformed Presbyterian Church, Cambridge, Massachusetts, Sermon Notes - Communion of Saints Herbermann, Charles, ed
27.
Byzantine Rite
–
It has also been employed, although less frequently, in the Anglican Communion and Lutheran churches. Its development began during the century in Constantinople and it is now the second most-used rite in Christendom after the Roman Rite. Traditionally, the stands throughout the whole service, and an iconostasis separates the sanctuary from the nave of the church. The faithful are very active in their worship, making frequent bows and prostrations, also, traditionally, the major clergy and monks neither shave nor cut their hair or beards. Scripture plays a role in Byzantine worship, with not only daily readings. The entire psalter is read each week, and twice weekly during Great Lent, fasting is stricter than in the Roman rite. On fast days, the faithful give up not only meat, but also dairy products, and on many fast days they also give up fish, wine, the rite observes four fasting seasons, Great Lent, Nativity Fast, Apostles Fast and Dormition Fast. In addition, most Wednesdays and Fridays throughout the year are fast days, there are two ancient liturgical traditions from which all of the Eastern Rites developed, the Alexandrian rite in Egypt and the Antiochene Rite in Syria. These two Rites developed directly from practices of the Early Church, of these two traditions, the Rite of Constantinople developed from the Antiochene Rite. Prior to the see of Constantinoples elevation to the dignity of patriarch by the Second Ecumenical Council in 381, with the councils elevation of Constantinople to primacy in the East, with the words The Bishop of Constantinople. Further developments continued to occur, centered mostly around Constantinople and Mount Athos, monasticism played an important role in the development of the rituals. In Constantinople, the work of the monastery of the Studion greatly enriched the liturgical traditions, iconography continued to develop and a canon of traditional patterns evolved which still influences Eastern religious art to this day. Historical events have also influenced the development of the liturgy, the great Christological and Trinitarian controversies of Late Antiquity are reflected in the glorifications of the Trinity heard in the numerous ekphonies encountered during the services. All liturgical rites change and develop over time, as new saints are canonized, new hymns are composed, as new needs arise, new prayers are written. The rite also profits from the fact that the Christian East is not so centralized in ecclesiastical polity as the West and this allows for greater diversity, and as members of one church visit another, a natural cross-pollination occurs with resultant enrichment on all sides. In spite of its emphasis on tradition, the Byzantine Rite comprises a constantly growing and expanding ritual. The tradition of the Church of Constantinople ascribes the oldest of its two main Divine Liturgies to St. Basil the Great, Metropolitan of Cæsarea in Cappadocia and this tradition is confirmed by the witness of several ancient authors, some of whom were contemporaries. It is certain that St. St. Basil himself speaks on several occasions of the changes he made in the services of Cæsarea. Basil had as his goal the streamlining of the services to make them more cohesive and attractive to the faithful
28.
Eastern Catholic
–
The Melkite and Italo-Greek churches also have claims of perpetual communion. Full communion constitutes mutual sacramental sharing between the Eastern Catholic Churches and the Latin Church, including Eucharistic intercommunion, notably, Eastern Catholic churches have different traditions concerning clerical celibacy than the Latin Church, in general, Eastern Catholic Churches allow the ordination of married men as priests. Eastern Catholic churches have their origins in the Middle East, East Africa, Eastern Europe, Latin Catholics in the Middle East, on the other hand, are traditionally served by the Latin Patriarchate of Jerusalem. The Eastern Catholic churches are instead distinct particular churches sui iuris, although maintain full, there are different meanings of the word rite. Apart from its reference to the patrimony of a particular church. The rites treated in CCEO, unless stated, are those that arise from the Alexandrian, Antiochene. The Second Vatican Council spoke of Eastern Catholic Churches as particular Churches or rites, in 1999, the United States National Conference of Catholic Bishops stated, We have been accustomed to speaking of the Latin Rite or the Eastern Rites to designate these different Churches. Canon 112 of the Code of Canon Law uses the phrase autonomous ritual Churches to designate the various Churches, and a writer in a periodical of January 2006 declared, The Eastern Churches are still mistakenly called Eastern-rite Churches, a reference to their various liturgical histories. They are most properly called Eastern Churches, or Eastern Catholic Churches, however, the term rite continues to be used. The 1983 CIC forbids a Latin bishop to ordain, without permission of the Holy See, Pope Benedict XVI wrote, in his 2007 motu proprio Summorum Pontificum, that any Catholic priest of the Latin rite, under certain conditions, may use either edition of the Roman Missal. The term Uniat or Uniate applies to Eastern Catholic churches previously part of Eastern or Oriental Orthodox churches or of the Assyrian Church of the East. The term is considered to have a derogatory connotation, though it was occasionally used by Latin. Official Catholic documents no longer use the due to its perceived negative overtones. According to John Erickson of Saint Vladimirs Orthodox Theological Seminary, The term uniate itself, Eastern Rite Catholic also was no longer in vogue because it might suggest that the Catholics in question differed from Latins only in the externals of worship. The Second Vatican Council affirmed rather that Eastern Catholics constituted churches whose vocation was to provide a bridge to the churches of the East. Communion between Christian churches has been broken over matters of faith, whereby each side accused the other of heresy or departure from the true faith, communion has been broken also because of disagreement about questions of authority or the legitimacy of the election of a particular bishop. In these latter cases each side accused the other of schism, Major breaches of communion, In 431 the Churches that accepted the teaching of the Council of Ephesus classified as heretics those who rejected the Councils statements. The Church of the East, which was mainly under the Sassanid Empire and it later experienced a period of great expansion in Asia before collapsing after the Mongol invasion of the Middle East in the 14th century
29.
Jesus
–
In Christology, the Person of Christ refers to the study of the human and divine natures of Jesus Christ as they co-exist within one person. There is no discussion in the New Testament regarding the dual nature of the Person of Christ as both divine and human. Hence, since the days of Christianity theologians have debated various approaches to the understanding of these natures. In the period following the Apostolic Age, specific beliefs such as Arianism and Docetism were criticized. On the other end of the spectrum, Docetism argued that Jesus physical body was an illusion, docetic teachings were attacked by St. Ignatius of Antioch and were eventually abandoned by proto-orthodox Christians. However, after the First Council of Nicaea in 325 the Logos, historically in the Alexandrian school of christology, Jesus Christ is the eternal Logos paradoxically humanized in history, a divine Person who became enfleshed, uniting himself to the human nature. The views of these schools can be summarized as follows, Alexandria, Antioch, Logos assumes a specific human being The First Council of Ephesus in 431 debated a number of views regarding the Person of Christ. At the same gathering the council debated the doctrines of monophysitism or miaphysitism. The council rejected Nestorianism and adopted the term hypostatic union, referring to divine, the language used in the 431 declaration was further refined at the 451 Council of Chalcedon. However, the Chalcedon creed was not accepted by all Christians, because Saint Augustine died in 430 he did not participate in the Council of Ephesus in 431 or Chalcedon in 451, but his ideas had some impact on both councils. On the other hand, the major theological figure of the Middle Ages. The Third Council of Constantinople in 680 held that both divine and human wills exist in Jesus, with the divine will having precedence, leading and guiding the human will. John Calvin maintained that there was no element in the Person of Christ which could be separated from the person of The Word. Calvin also emphasized the importance of the Work of Christ in any attempt at understanding the Person of Christ, the study of the Person of Christ continued into the 20th century, with modern theologians such as Karl Rahner and Hans von Balthasar. Balthasar argued that the union of the human and divine natures of Christ was achieved not by the absorption of human attributes, thus in his view the divine nature of Christ was not affected by the human attributes and remained forever divine
30.
Church of the Holy Sepulchre
–
The Church of the Holy Sepulchre is a church in the Christian Quarter of the Old City of Jerusalem, a few steps away from the Muristan. The tomb is enclosed by the 18th-century shrine, called the Aedicule, within the church proper are the last four Stations of the Via Dolorosa, representing the final episodes of Jesus Passion. The main denominations sharing property over parts of the church are the Greek Orthodox, Armenian Orthodox and Roman Catholic, and to a lesser degree the Egyptian Copts, Syriacs and Ethiopians. According to Eusebius of Caesarea, the Roman emperor Hadrian in the 2nd century AD built a dedicated to the goddess Venus in order to bury the cave in which Jesus had been buried. The first Christian emperor, Constantine the Great, ordered in about 325/326 that the temple be replaced by a church, during the building of the Church, Constantines mother, Helena, is believed to have rediscovered the tomb. Socrates Scholasticus, in his Ecclesiastical History, gives a description of the discovery. The remains are enveloped by a marble sheath placed some 500 years before to protect the ledge from Ottoman attacks. However, there are several thick window wells extending through the marble sheath and they appear to reveal an underlying limestone rock, which may be part of the original living rock of the tomb. The church was starting in 325/326, and was consecrated on 13 September 335. From pilgrim reports it seems that the housing the tomb of Jesus was freestanding at first. Each year, the Eastern Orthodox Church celebrates the anniversary of the consecration of the Church of the Resurrection on 13 September and this building was damaged by fire in May of 614 when the Sassanid Empire, under Khosrau II, invaded Jerusalem and captured the True Cross. In 630, the Emperor Heraclius restored it and rebuilt the church after recapturing the city, after Jerusalem came under Arab rule, it remained a Christian church, with the early Muslim rulers protecting the citys Christian sites. A story reports that the Caliph Umar ibn al-Khattab visited the church and stopped to pray on the balcony and he feared that future generations would misinterpret this gesture, taking it as a pretext to turn the church into a mosque. Eutychius added that Umar wrote a decree prohibiting Muslims from praying at this location, the building suffered severe damage due to an earthquake in 746. Early in the century, another earthquake damaged the dome of the Anastasis. The damage was repaired in 810 by Patriarch Thomas, in the year 841, the church suffered a fire. In 935, the Orthodox Christians prevented the construction of a Muslim mosque adjacent the Church, in 938, a new fire damaged the inside of the basilica and came close to the rotunda. In 966, due to a defeat of Muslim armies in the region of Syria, the doors and roof were burnt, and the Patriarch John VII was murdered
31.
Holy Saturday
–
It is the day before Easter and the last day of Holy Week in which Christians prepare for Easter. It commemorates the day that Jesus Christs body lay in the tomb, Holy Saturday is sometimes referred to as Easter Saturday. Some authorities consider that incorrect, holding that the term is only correctly applied to the Saturday in Easter Week. On this day, the Blessed Virgin Mary as Our Lady of Sorrows is assigned the title Our Lady of Solitude, referring to her solace, in Roman Catholic churches, the chancel remains stripped completely bare while the administration of the sacraments is severely limited. Holy Communion, except for the Good Friday service, is only as Viaticum to the dying. Baptism, Penance, and Anointing of the Sick may be administered because they, in some Anglican churches, including the Episcopal Church in the United States, provision is made for a simple Liturgy of the Word on this day, with readings commemorating the burial of Christ. In the Moravian churches in North America, the day is known as Great Sabbath, the Anglican Book of Common Prayer uses Easter Eve to designate the day. Liturgically speaking, Holy Saturday lasts until 6pm or dusk, after which the Easter Vigil is celebrated, the rubrics state that the Easter Vigil must take place in the night, it must begin after nightfall and end before dawn. The service may start with a fire and the lighting of the new Paschal candle, some Anglican churches prefer to celebrate Easter and the lighting of the new Paschal candle at dawn on Easter Day. Baptisms may take place in service and Baptism vows are often renewed. In Eastern Orthodoxy this day, known as Holy and Great Saturday, is also called The Great Sabbath since it is on this day that Christ rested physically in the tomb. But it is believed that it was on this day he performed in spirit the Harrowing of Hades. In the Coptic, Ethiopian and Eritrean Orthodox Churches, this day is known as Joyous Saturday, matins of Holy and Great Saturday takes the form of a funeral service for Christ. The entire service takes place around the Epitaphios, an icon in the form of a cloth embroidered with the image of Christ prepared for burial. The first part of the consists of chanting Psalm 118. The predominant theme of the service is not so much one of mourning, Thou bringest all things into being and Thou makest all things new, Observing the Sabbath rest, my Saviour, and restoring strength. This is the longest Divine Liturgy of the year and the latest. After the Little Entrance there are 15 Old Testament readings which recall the history of salvation, in the Russian tradition, just before the Gospel reading the hangings, altar cloths and vestments are changed from dark to bright and the deacon performs a censing of the church
32.
Paschal cycle
–
The Paschal cycle in the Eastern and Oriental Orthodox Churches, is the cycle of the moveable feasts built around Pascha. The cycle consists of ten weeks before and seven weeks after Pascha. The ten weeks before Pascha are known as the period of the Triodion and this period includes the three weeks preceding Great Lent, the forty days of Lent, and Holy Week. The 50 days following Pascha are called the Pentecostarion, the Sunday of each week has a special commemoration, named for the Gospel reading assigned to that day. Certain other weekdays have special commemorations of their own, the entire cycle revolves around Pascha. The weeks before Pascha end on Sunday and this is because everything in the Lenten period is looking forward towards Pascha. Starting on Pascha, the weeks again begin on Sunday, while the Pentecostarion closes after All Saints Sunday, the Paschal cycle continues throughout the entire year, until the beginning of the next Pre-Lenten period. The Tone of the Week, the Epistle and Gospel readings at the Divine Liturgy, and the 11 Matins Gospels with their accompanying hymns are dependent on it
33.
Great Lent
–
In many ways Great Lent is similar to Lent in Western Christianity. There are some differences in the timing of Lent and how it is practiced, One difference between Eastern Christianity and Western Christianity is the calculation of the date of Easter. Most years, the Eastern Pascha falls after the Western Easter, and it may be as much as five weeks later, occasionally, like Western Lent, Great Lent itself lasts for forty days, but in contrast to the West, Sundays are included in the count. Great Lent officially begins on Clean Monday, seven weeks before Pascha and runs for 40 contiguous days, the next day is called Lazarus Saturday, the day before Palm Sunday. Fasting continues throughout the week, known as Passion Week or Holy Week. The purpose of Great Lent is to prepare the faithful to not only commemorate, the totality of the Byzantine Rite life centers around the Resurrection. Lent is not for the sake of Lent itself, as fasting is not for the sake of fasting, rather, these are means by which and for which the individual believer prepares himself to reach for, accept and attain the calling of his Savior. Therefore, the significance of Great Lent is highly appraised, not only by the monks who increased the length of time of the Lent. The Orthodox lenten rules are the monastic rules, in the Byzantine Rite, asceticism is not exclusively for the professional religious, but for each layperson as well, according to their strength. As such, Great Lent is a sacred Institute of the Church to serve the individual believer in participating as a member of the Mystical Body of Christ and it provides each person an annual opportunity for self-examination and improving the standards of faith and morals in his Christian life. Through spending more time than usual in prayer and meditation on the Holy Scripture and the Holy Traditions of the Church, the foods traditionally abstained from are meat, fish, eggs and dairy products, wine, and oil. According to some traditions, only oil is abstained from, in others. Since strict fasting is canonically forbidden on the Sabbath and the Lords Day, wine, if the Great Feast of the Annunciation falls during Great Lent, then fish, wine and oil are permitted on that day. However meat and dairy are eschewed entirely until the fast is broken on Easter Sunday, besides the additional liturgical celebrations described below, Christians are expected to pay closer attention to and increase their private prayer. According to Byzantine Rite theology, when asceticism is increased, prayer must be increased also, the Church Fathers have referred to fasting without prayer as the fast of the demons since the demons do not eat according to their incorporeal nature, but neither do they pray. This is to illustrate that the season is anticipatory, leading up to the greatest Sunday of all. During the Great Fast, a service book is used, known as the Lenten Triodion. The Triodion begins during the Pre-Lenten period to supplement or replace portions of the regular services and this replacement begins gradually, initially affecting only the Epistle and Gospel readings, and gradually increases until Holy Week when it entirely replaces all other liturgical material
34.
Radonitsa
–
The Slavs, like many ancient peoples, had a tradition of visiting family members graves during the springtime and feasting together with them. After their conversion to Christianity, this custom transferred into the Russian Orthodox Church as the festival of Radonitsa, in Kievan Rus the local name is Krasnaya Gorka, and has the same meaning. It may seem strange to call a memorial for the joyful, but the Christian belief that lies behind this joy is the remembrance of Jesus Resurrection. Therefore, the first opportunity after Pascha to remember the dead is on the second Monday of Pascha. However, because in Orthodox countries, a number of follow the custom of fasting on Mondays. The practice of greeting the dead with the Resurrection is not merely a baptism of pagan practices, S. V. Bulgakov records the following, The commemoration of the departed after Pascha was also done in extreme antiquity. Although the Typikon does not prescribe any special prayers for the departed on these days, unlike the various Soul Saturdays throughout the year, there are no changes made to Vespers, Matins or the Divine Liturgy, to reflect this being a day of the dead. On this day, after Divine Liturgy, the priest will celebrate a Panikhida in the church, after which he will bless the paschal foods that the faithful have brought with them. The clergy, with incense and candles, will go in procession with the cross, followed by the faithful. At the graves, paschal hymns are chanted together with the usual litanies for the departed, the paschal foods will then be consumed with joy by the friends and relatives of the deceased. It is common to place an Easter egg, a symbol of Christs coming forth from the Tomb, on the graves of the departed, saluting them with the traditional paschal greeting, Christ is Risen. This practice is both to remind the faithful of the General Resurrection of the dead, and to announce the Resurrection of Christ to the departed, since weddings are forbidden during the Great Lenten Fast, as well as during Bright Week, with Radonitsa comes the time for weddings. Men and women traditionally give gifts to their in-laws, at Radonitsa, Panikhida Prayer for the Dead Koliva Paschal cycle Day of Rejoicing Orthodox synaxarion for Radonitsa Radonitsa History What is a Radonitsa. A modern Synaxarion for Radonitsa Photo, blessing paschal foods on Radonitsa Radonitsa by Gregory Orloff
35.
Octave of Easter
–
That Sunday is also known historically as St. Thomas Sunday, Quasimodo Sunday and Quasimodogeniti. Since 1970 Low Sunday has been known as the Second Sunday of Easter in the Roman Catholic Church. On 30 April 2000, it was designated as Divine Mercy Sunday by Pope John Paul II. The Octave of a feast refers to an eight-day festal period commencing with that feast, presently in the Roman Catholic Church, Easter is one of only two solemnities that carries an octave, the second being Christmas Day, although until recently many feasts had octaves. The name Quasimodo came from the Latin text of the traditional Introit for this day, from 1 Peter 2,2, roughly translated as As newborn babes desire the rational milk without guile. Literally, quasi modo means as if in manner, another name is Quasimodo Sunday, from the first words of the introit in Latin. Easter Week was known as ebdomada alba or in albis, because of the robes that those who had been baptized at the Easter Vigil used at the celebrations each day until Saturday. In the 1604 edition of the Tridentine Missal, but not in the original 1570 edition, the description in albis was applied also to the following Sunday, the octave day of Easter. The name in albis was dropped in the 1969 revision of the Roman Missal, in the third edition of this Missal, promulgated in 2000 but published only in 2002, the Sunday took what is now its official name, Second Sunday of Easter or of Divine Mercy. Interestingly, even the Churchmans Ordo Kalendar, which contains all saints and holy days, Divine Mercy Sunday is the culmination of the novena to the Divine Mercy of Jesus, a devotion given to St. The devotion was promoted by Pope John Paul II, who canonized St. Faustina. In Chile, mainly in Santiago Metropolitan Region, on Quasimodo Sunday is celebrated the Cuasimodo Feast, huasos in adorned carriages or bicycles accompany the priest to give communion to the infirm. Antipascha is the given to the eighth day of Pascha in the Eastern Orthodox, Coptic Orthodox. Thomas Sunday and Renewal Sunday are other names by which this Sunday is known, the latter name reflects that on that day the celebration of the Resurrection is repeated and renewed. The entire week from Pascha to Thomas Sunday, known as Bright Week, is considered to be one continuous day, the octave concludes in the Roman calendar with the celebration of Divine Mercy Sunday. Quasimodo, protagonist of the 1831 French novel Notre Dame de Paris by Victor Hugo, was abandoned on the doorsteps of Notre Dame Cathedral on the Sunday after Easter. Indeed, Quasimodo, one-eyed, hunchbacked, and bow-legged, could hardly be considered as anything more than an almost, Thomas Sunday Orthodox icon and synaxarium Herbermann, Charles, ed. Low Sunday
36.
Pentecost
–
The Christian holiday of Pentecost is celebrated 50 days from Easter Sunday, counting inclusive of Easter Sunday itself, i. e.49 days or 7 weeks after Easter Sunday. Therefore it always occurs on a Sunday and it is also the tenth day after Ascension Thursday, which itself is 40 days from Easter, counting inclusive of Easter Sunday itself. Subsequently, Pentecost may refer to the Pentecost of the New Testament, Shavuot is a significant event shared by Jews and Christians but Christians do not commonly celebrate it as a separate holiday. In the Christian liturgical year it became a feast commemorating what is described by some Christians as the Birthday of the Church. The holy day is also called White Sunday or Whitsunday, especially in the United Kingdom, the Monday after Pentecost is a legal holiday in many European nations. Pentecost is the old Greek and Latin name for the Jewish Festival of Weeks which can be found in the Hebrew Bible and it is called by that name in Exodus 34,22 and Deuteronomy 16,10. It is also called the Festival of Reaping in Exodus 23,16, Jews traditionally read the Book of Ruth at Pentecost, as the story links with the grain harvest theme of the festival. The Talmud refers to Shavuot as Atzeret, referring to the prohibition against work on this holiday and to the conclusion of the holiday, since Shavuot occurs 49 days after the first day of Passover, Hellenistic Jews gave it the name Pentecost. According to Jewish tradition, Pentecost commemorates Gods giving of the Ten Commandments at Mount Sinai,49 days after the Exodus, the Talmud derives this from a calculation based on Biblical texts. There is a Jewish tradition that King David was born and died at Pentecost, in the Apostle Peters first sermon, recorded in Acts 2, 14–39, he linked the life, death and Ascension of Jesus to King Davids death, burial and hope of immortality. The biblical narrative of Pentecost is given in the chapter of the Book of Acts. Present were about one hundred and twenty followers of Christ, including the Twelve Apostles, his mother Mary, various other women disciples and his brothers. Their reception of the Holy Spirit in the Upper Room is recounted in Acts 2, 1–6, And when the day of Pentecost was fully come, they were all with one accord in one place. And suddenly there came a sound from heaven as of a mighty wind. And there appeared unto them cloven tongues like as of fire, and they were all filled with the Holy Spirit, and began to speak with other languages, as the Spirit gave them utterance. And there were dwelling at Jerusalem Jews, devout men, out of every nation under heaven, Now when this was noised abroad, the multitude came together, and were confounded, because that every man heard them speak in his own language. He also mentions that it was the hour of the day. Acts 2,41 then reports, Then they that gladly received his word were baptized, Peter stated that this event was the beginning of a continual outpouring that would be available to all believers from that point on, Jews and Gentiles alike
37.
Demetrius of Thessaloniki
–
Saint Demetrios of Thessaloniki is a Christian martyr of the early 4th century AD. During the Middle Ages, he came to be revered as one of the most important Orthodox military saints and his feast day is 26 October for Eastern Orthodox Christians following the Gregorian calendar and 8 November for those following the Julian calendar. In the Roman Catholic church he is most commonly called Demetrios of Sermium, the spelling Demetrius is a romanization of the ancient Greek pronunciation, the Byzantine and Modern Greek pronunciation is romanized as Dimitrios or Demetrios. See Demetrios for more on the etymology of the name, in Russian, he is called Димитрий Солунский and was a patron saint of the Rurik dynasty from the late 11th century on. Izyaslav I of Kiev founded the first East Slavic monastery dedicated to this saint, the name Dimitry is in common use. The Bulgarian Orthodox Church reveres St. Demetrios on 26 October as Димитровден, the Romanian Orthodox Church revers St. Demetrios on 26 October as Sf. The Serbian Orthodox Church reveres St. Demetrios as Димитрије, having a feast of Mitrovdan on 8 November, the Macedonian Orthodox Church reveres St. Demetrios on 8 November as Митровден He is known among Albanian-speakers in Kosovo as Shmitri, and in Albania as Shën Dhimitri. He is known in Lebanon as Mar Dimitri or Mitri for short and he is known in the Coptic Church as St. Demetrios of Thessalonica. He is venerated in the Coptic Church on 8 November, the earliest written accounts of his life were compiled in the 9th century, although there are earlier images of him, and the 7th-century Miracles of Saint Demetrios collection. According to these accounts, Demetrios was born to pious Christian parents in Thessaloniki. His very large church in Thessaloniki, the Hagios Demetrios, dates from the mid-5th century, Thessaloniki remained a centre of his veneration, and he is the patron saint of the city. Hence later traditions about Demetrius regard him as a soldier in the Roman army, unsurprisingly, he was extremely popular in the Middle Ages. Some scholars believe that for four centuries after his death, St. Demetrios had no physical relics, what are still purported to be his remains subsequently appeared in Thessaloniki, but the local archbishop John, who compiled the first book of the Miracles ca. 610, was dismissive of their authenticity. These are now kept in Hagios Demetrios. According to believers, these relics were ascertained to be genuine after they started emitting a liquid and this gave the saint the epithet Myrovlētēs. This day is known as Demetrius Saturday, St. Demetrios was initially depicted in icons and mosaics as a young man in patterned robes with the distinctive tablion of the senatorial class across his chest. But an icon of the late 11th century in Saint Catherines Monastery on Mount Sinai shows him as before and this may be due to iconic depiction customs on how saints are depicted
38.
Michael (archangel)
–
Michael is an archangel in Judaism, Christianity, and Islam. In Roman Catholic, Eastern Orthodox, Anglican, and Lutheran traditions, he is called Saint Michael the Archangel, in the Oriental Orthodox and Eastern Orthodox traditions, he is called Taxiarch Archangel Michael or simply Archangel Michael. Michael is mentioned three times in the Book of Daniel, in the New Testament Michael leads Gods armies against Satans forces in the Book of Revelation, where during the war in heaven he defeats Satan. In the Epistle of Jude Michael is specifically referred to as the archangel Michael, by the 6th century, devotions to Archangel Michael were widespread both in the Eastern and Western Churches. Over time, teachings on Michael began to vary among Christian denominations, Michael is mentioned three times in the Hebrew Scriptures, all in the book of Daniel. The prophet Daniel experiences a vision after having undergone a period of fasting, Daniel 10, 13-21 describes Daniels vision of an angel who identifies Michael as the protector of Israel. At Daniel 12,1, Daniel is informed that Michael will arise during the time of the end, the Book of Revelation describes a war in heaven in which Michael, being stronger, defeats Satan. After the conflict, Satan is thrown to earth along with the fallen angels, in the Epistle of Jude 1,9, Michael is referred to as an archangel when he again confronts Satan. A reference to an archangel also appears in the First Epistle to the Thessalonians 4,16 and this archangel who heralds the second coming of Christ is not named, but is often associated with Michael. Michael, is one of the two mentioned in the Quran, alongside Jibreel. In the Quran, Michael is mentioned only, in Sura 2,98, Whoever is an enemy to God, and His angels and His messengers. Then, God is an enemy to the disbelievers, some Muslims believe that the reference in Sura 11,69 is Michael, one of the three angels who visited Abraham. Michaels enmity with Samael dates from the time when the latter was thrown down from heaven, Samael took hold of the wings of Michael, whom he wished to bring down with him in his fall, but Michael was saved by God. But appeal to Michael seems to have more common in ancient times. Thus Jeremiah is said to have addressed a prayer to him, the rabbis declare that Michael entered upon his role of defender at the time of the biblical patriarchs. Thus, according to Rabbi Eliezer ben Jacob, it was Michael who rescued Abraham from the furnace into which he had been thrown by Nimrod. It was Michael, the one that had escaped, who told Abraham that Lot had been taken captive, and he announced to Sarah that she would bear a son and he rescued Lot at the destruction of Sodom. It is said that Michael prevented Isaac from being sacrificed by his father by substituting a ram in his place, later Michael prevented Laban from harming Jacob
39.
Serbian Orthodox Church
–
The Serbian Orthodox Church is one of the autocephalous Eastern Orthodox Christian churches. It is the second oldest Slavic Orthodox Church in the world, the Serbian Orthodox Church comprises the majority of population in Serbia, Montenegro, and the Republika Srpska entity of Bosnia and Herzegovina. It is organized into metropolises and eparchies located primarily in Serbia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Montenegro and Croatia, the Serbian Orthodox Church is an autocephalous, or ecclesiastically independent, member of the Orthodox communion. Serbian Patriarch serves as first among equals in his church, the current patriarch is Irinej, the Church achieved autocephalous status in 1219 under the leadership of St. Sava, becoming independent Archbishopric of Žiča. Its status was elevated to that of a patriarchate in 1346 and this patriarchate was abolished by the Ottoman Turks in 1766. The modern Serbian Orthodox Church was re-established in 1920 after the unification of the Patriarchate of Karlovci, the Metropolitanate of Belgrade, Christianity spread to the Balkans beginning in the 1st century. Florus and Laurus are venerated as Christian martyrs of the 2nd century, Constantine the Great, born in Niš, was the first Christian Roman Emperor. Several bishops seated in what is today Serbia participated in the First Council of Nicaea, in 380, Eastern Roman Emperor Theodosius decreed that his subjects would be Christians according to the Council of Nicea formula. Greek was used in the Byzantine church, while the Roman church used Latin, with the definite split in 395, the line in Europe ran south along the Drina river. Tim Judah says that the Roman split resulted in that Serbs are Orthodox, among old Christian heritage is the Archbishopric of Justiniana Prima, established in 535, which had jurisdiction over the whole of present-day Serbia. However, the Archbishopric did not last, as the Slavs and Avars destroyed the region sometime after 602, in 731 Leo III attached Illyricum and Southern Italy to Patriarch Anastasius of Constantinople, transferring the papal authority to the Eastern Church. Slavs invaded and settled the Balkans in the 6th and 7th centuries, the history of the early medieval Serbian Principality is recorded in the work De Administrando Imperio, compiled by the Byzantine Emperor Constantine VII Porphyrogenitus. The DAI drew information on the Serbs from, among others, the Serbs were said to have received the protection of Emperor Heraclius, and Porphyrogenitus stressed that the Serbs had always been under Imperial rule. The Christianization was due partly to Byzantine and subsequent Bulgarian influence, at least during the rule of Kocel in Pannonia, communications between Serbia and Great Moravia, where Methodius was active, must have been possible. This fact, the pope was presumably aware of, when planning Methodius diocese as well as that of the Dalmatian coast, there is a possibility that some Cyrillomethodian pupils reached Serbia in the 870s, perhaps even sent by Methodius himself. Serbia was accounted Christian as of about 870, the first Serbian bishopric was founded at Ras, near modern Novi Pazar on the Ibar river. According to Vlasto, the affiliation is uncertain, it may have been under the subordination of either Split or Durazzo. The early Ras church can be dated to the 9th–10th century, the names of Serbian rulers through Mutimir are Slavic dithematic names, per the Old Slavic tradition
40.
John the Baptist
–
John the Baptist, also known as John the Baptizer, was a Jewish itinerant preacher in the early first century AD. John is revered as a religious figure in Christianity, Islam, the Baháí Faith. He is called a prophet by all of these traditions, and is honoured as a saint in many Christian traditions, John used baptism as the central symbol or sacrament of his messianic movement. Most scholars agree that John baptized Jesus, scholars generally believe Jesus was a follower or disciple of John and several New Testament accounts report that some of Jesus early followers had previously been followers of John. John the Baptist is also mentioned by the Jewish historian Josephus, according to the New Testament, John anticipated a messianic figure greater than himself. Christians commonly refer to John as the precursor or forerunner of Jesus, John is also identified with the prophet Elijah. John the Baptist is mentioned in all four canonical Gospels and the non-canonical Gospel of the Nazarenes, the Synoptic Gospels describe John baptising Jesus, in the Gospel of John it is implied in John 1, 32-34. The Gospel of Mark introduces John as a fulfilment of a prophecy from the Book of Isaiah about a messenger being sent ahead, John is described as wearing clothes of camels hair, living on locusts and wild honey. John proclaims baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sin, and says another will come after him who will not baptize with water, Jesus comes to John, and is baptized by him in the river Jordan. The account describes how, as he emerges from the water, the heavens open, a voice from heaven then says, You are my Son, the Beloved, with you I am well pleased. Later in the gospel there is an account of Johns death and it is introduced by an incident where the Tetrarch Herod Antipas, hearing stories about Jesus, imagines that this is John the Baptist raised from the dead. It then explains that John had rebuked Herod for marrying Herodias, Herodias demands his execution, but Herod, who liked to listen to John, is reluctant to do so because he fears him, knowing he is a righteous and holy man. The account then describes how Herods daughter Herodias dances before Herod, when the girl asks her mother what she should request, she is told to demand the head of John the Baptist. Reluctantly, Herod orders the beheading of John, and his head is delivered to her, at her request, Johns disciples take the body away and bury it in a tomb. There are a number of difficulties with this passage, the Gospel wrongly identifies Antipas as King and the ex-husband of Herodias is named as Philip, but he is known to have been called Herod. Although the wording clearly implies the girl was the daughter of Herodias, many texts describe her as Herods daughter, Herodias. Since these texts are early and significant and the reading is difficult, many see this as the original version, corrected in later versions and in Matthew. Josephus says that Herodias had a daughter by the name of Salome, scholars have speculated about the origins of the story
_-_The_Day_of_the_Dead_(1859).jpg)
One or more of the preceding sentences incorporates text from a publication now in the public domain: Herbermann, Charles, ed. (1907). "All Souls' Day". Catholic Encyclopedia. 1. New York: Robert Appleton.
One or more of the preceding sentences incorporates text from a publication now in the 
