Christian festivals

Epiphany (also known as Twelfth Night)
6 January (18 January in Russia; 1 February in Ethiopia). The Epiphany (Epiphaneia: Greek for manifestation) celebrates three events that are all thought to have happened on this day: Jesus’s appearance as a newborn to the Magi (three wise men); Jesus’s baptism, when God acknowledged his son; Jesus’s first public miracle, when he turned water to wine in Galilee.

Ash Wednesday
The first day of Lent. Ash Wednesday is a day of repentance for Christians, when they make amends for the year’s sins before the fasting of Lent. Anglican and Roman Catholic churches hold ceremonies at which churchgoers’ foreheads are marked with crosses using ash.

Lent
The 44-day BEORE Good Friday (including Sundays). Lent is a period of fasting when Christians identify with Jesus Christ’s suffering. The day before the start of Lent is known as Shrove Tuesday of “Fat Tuesday” (Mardi Gras), when Christians traditionally eat up any leftover animal products (often in the form of pancakes), as these cannot be eaten during Lent.


Palm Sunday
The Sunday before Easter Sunday and the first day of Holy Week. Palm Sunday commemorates Jesus’s arrival in Jerusalem, when the crowd threw palm leaves in front of his donkey. Later that week, many in the cheering crowd were calling for Christ’s execution.


Maundy (or Holy) Thursday
The Thursday before Easter Sunday. Maundy Thursday commemorates the Last Supper, which established the ceremony of Holy Communion, when bread and wine became identified with Jesus’s body and blood. It was also the day when Jesus washed the feet of his disciples. At Roman Catholic Church services on Maundy Thursday the priest ceremonially washes 12 people’s feet.


Good Friday
The Friday before Easter Sunday. Good Friday (“good” meant “holy” in Early Modern English) commemorates the day when Jesus Christ was crucified. The symbol of the cross is an important part of church services on Good Friday, and churchgoers read the psalms and the gospels to remember Christ’s experience.


Easter Sunday
The Sunday that follows the first full moon after the 21 March (the spring equinox). Easter always falls between March 22 and April 25 in the Western calendar. Easter is up to two weeks later in Orthodox Churches. Easter Sunday is the most important day in the Christian calendar, as it celebrates Jesus’s resurrection from the dead. Easter Sunday is a day of joy for Christians.


Pentecost/Whitsunday
Fifty days after Easter Sunday. Pentecost celebrates the day the Holy Spirit entered the Apostles, enabling them to speak many new languages and spread the word of God. This event is considered by most Christians to mark the birth of the Church.


Christmas
Christmas is the celebration of the birth of Jesus on 25 December (6 January in Russia and 17 January in Ethiopia). It comes in midwinter, a time of the year when many faiths hold festivities.