ST JOSEPH’S DAY, HUSBAND OF THE BLESSED VIRGIN MARY
19th March 2026
Christian
In some churches a feast day is held in honour of Joseph, who, together with Mary, was responsible for Jesus’ upbringing.
19th March 2026
Christian
In some churches a feast day is held in honour of Joseph, who, together with Mary, was responsible for Jesus’ upbringing.
29th March – 5th April 2026
Christian (Western Churches)
This is the most solemn week of the Christian year, in which Christians recall the events of the final week of the earthly life of Jesus.
29th March 2026 (Christian)
5th April 2026 (Christian Orthodox)
Palm Sunday is the final Sunday of Lent and the first day of Holy Week, when Christians remember Jesus’ triumphal entry into Jerusalem, where, later, he would be arrested and crucified. Many churches commemorate the day by processions, with the congregation carrying symbolic palm leaves (folded in the form of a cross) or branches of palm trees.
Five days before the Passover, Jesus came from Bethany to Jerusalem. Having sent two of His disciples to bring him a colt of a donkey, he sat upon it and entered the city. The gospels record his arrival, riding into the city on a donkey, while the crowds spread their cloaks and palm branches on the street and shouted ‘Hosanna to the Son of David’ and ‘Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord’ to honour him as their long-awaited Messiah and King.
During Palm Sunday services, palms are distributed to parishioners who carry them in a ritual procession into church. The palms are blessed and many people fashion them into small crosses or other items of personal devotion. These may be returned to the church, or kept for the year. Because the palms have been blessed, they may not be discarded as trash. In many cases they are collected at the church and incinerated to create the ashes that will be used in the following year’s Ash Wednesday observance.
The celebration of Palm Sunday originated in the Jerusalem Church, around the late fourth century. The ceremony consisted of prayers, hymns, and sermons recited by the clergy while the people walked to various holy sites throughout the city. At the final site, the place where Jesus ascended into heaven, the clergy read from the gospels concerning the entry of Jesus into Jerusalem. In the early evening they returned to the city reciting: ‘Blessed is He that comes in the name of the Lord.’ The children carried palm and olive branches as the people returned through the city back to the church, where they would hold evening services.
By the fifth century, the Palm Sunday celebration had spread as far as Constantinople. Changes made in the sixth and seventh centuries resulted in two new Palm Sunday traditions – the ritual blessing of the palms, and a morning procession instead of an evening one. Adopted by the Western Church in the eighth century, the celebration received the name ‘Dominica in Palmis,’ or ‘Palm Sunday’.
Today, Palm Sunday traditions in Roman Catholic churches are much the same as they have been since the tenth century. The ceremony begins with the blessing of the palms. The procession follows, then Mass is celebrated, and the Passion and the Benediction are sung. Afterwards, many people take the palms home and place them in houses, barns, and fields. The colours of the Mass on Palm Sunday are red and white, symbolizing the redemption in blood that Jesus paid for the world.
In Orthodox churches Palm Sunday is celebrated with the Divine Liturgy of Saint John Chrysostom, which is preceded by the Matins service. A Great Vespers is conducted on the preceding Saturday evening, according to the order prescribed in the Triodion. On this Sunday a basket containing the woven palm crosses is placed on a table in front of the icon of the Lord. The palms are then distributed to the faithful, as a blessing upon those who hold the palms in their hands.
In the simplest of terms, Palm Sunday is an occasion for reflecting on the final week of Jesus’ life. It is a time for Christians to prepare their hearts for the agony of His Passion and the joy of His Resurrection.
Matthew 21:1-11, Mark 11:1-11, Luke 19:28-40, John 12:12-19.
3rd April 2026
Christian (Western Churches)
This day commemorates the crucifixion of Jesus. Although essentially a sombre day, it is called ‘Good Friday’ since, for Christians, it is ‘God’s Friday’, and recalls how Jesus chose to give up his life for others. To Christians, the day is not just a historical event but commemorates the sacrificial death of Jesus, which, along with the resurrection, comprises the heart of the Christian faith.
Church services recall the account of Jesus’ death as given in the gospels. Jesus was questioned, beaten, and sentenced to death by the Roman governor Pontius Pilate. Soldiers placed a crown of thorns on his head with a sign that read ‘The King of the Jews’, and stripped him of his clothing. He was led to a place called Golgotha, where they nailed him to a cross along with two other criminals. He died on the cross that afternoon and was laid in a donated tomb, buried according to custom.
The celebration of Good Friday stems from ancient times. According to Egeria, writing in a 4th century letter to her ‘sisters’, Christians in Jerusalem spent Good Friday at the Church of the Holy Sepulchre, a large compound of courtyards and chapels built over the site of Jesus’ crucifixion, burial, and resurrection. In the morning they engaged in the Veneration of the Cross. From noon to three in the afternoon they attended a series of Bible readings, including the Passion story.
For Christians today, there is no Mass or Eucharist on Good Friday. Communion, if taken, comes from hosts consecrated on Holy Thursday. The major Good Friday worship service begins in the afternoon at 3:00 PM (the time Jesus is said to have died). It consists of seven sermons on the seven last words of Jesus. This service has become popular in many Protestant churches.
The Veneration of the Cross is another frequent practice, when Christians approach a wooden cross and venerate it, often by kneeling before it, or kissing part of it. On Good Friday many churches also celebrate the ‘Stations of the Cross’ (often called the ‘Way of the Cross’), a devotion in which fourteen events surrounding the death of Jesus are commemorated.
The Eastern Churches have different customs for the day they call ‘Great Friday’. Evening Prayer ends with a solemn veneration of the epitaphion, an embroidered veil containing scenes of Christ’s burial. Compline (Night Prayer) includes a lamentation as from the Virgin Mary. On Good Friday night, a symbolic burial of Christ is performed. In Russian Orthodox churches a silver coffin is placed in the church for the faithful to venerate the image of Jesus painted on the winding sheet or shroud.
The Church – stripped of its ornaments, the altar bare, and with the door of the empty tabernacle standing open – is as if it is in mourning. The organ is silent from Holy Thursday until the Alleluia at the Easter Vigil, as are all Church bells and other instruments, the only music during this period being an unaccompanied chant. Traditionally Good Friday was the day when everything was cleaned and whitewashed in preparation for Easter Sunday, but churches are not decorated on Good Friday – in some, pictures and statues are covered over. It is indeed a time of mourning.
Good Friday is an official fast day within the Roman Catholic Church. Fasting means eating only one (meatless) meal on this day. (Fish rather than meat is eaten on all Fridays). Hot cross buns, said to have originated at St Alban’s Abbey in 1361, are particularly associated with Good Friday.
The sacramental ‘mark’ of the cross is important to Catholic people to this day. They are anointed with it, at baptism and at confirmation, and the sign is used at the ordination of a priest or bishop. In the sacrament of the sick the priest anoints the person with the sign of the cross made with oil; and, on Ash Wednesday, foreheads are marked with the sign of the cross made with palm ashes.
The most common cross for Catholics is a crucifix – a cross with the image of Christ’s body nailed to it. Crucifixes are found in all Roman Catholic churches and chapels and are regularly carried in liturgical processions. This image is venerated by the faithful in a special ceremony on Good Friday.
Matthew 27:32-34, Mark 15:21-32, Luke 23:26-43, John 19:17-27.
4th April 2026
Christian (Western Churches)
This is the last day of Lent. Special services involving the lighting of the Paschal Candle and the renewal of baptismal vows take place in the evening in preparation for Easter.
5th April 2026
Christian (Western Churches)
Easter Day is the most important festival of the Christian year, since this is when Christians celebrate the resurrection of Jesus three days after his death by crucifixion in Jerusalem over 2000 years ago. For Christians, Easter is a day marked by special religious services and the gathering of family members together. Easter Candles are lit in churches on the eve of Easter Sunday, as a resurrection symbol of Christ as the light of the world, though some believe that these may have originated in the Pagan customs of lighting bonfires to welcome the rebirth/resurrection of the sun God.
Theologians of all Christian traditions regard Easter as the lynchpin of Christian belief, and view faith in the resurrection of Jesus as the determining factor in assessing orthodoxy. The annual rejoicing that ‘Christ is risen; He is risen indeed!’ is common to Eastern and Western traditions alike throughout the world.
Easter and the Jewish Passover are closely related, especially in the complex method of fixing the date of Easter. The resurrection of Jesus took place during the Passover. Christians of the Eastern church initially celebrated both holidays together, but the Passover can fall on any day of the week, and Christians of the Western church preferred to celebrate Easter on Sunday, the day of the resurrection.
The name Easter comes from Eostre (pronounced yo’ster), an ancient Anglo-Saxon goddess. In pagan times an annual spring festival was held in her honour. Some Easter customs have come from this and other pre-Christian spring festivals.
The Easter Bunny, a popular image of the festival, originated with the hare, an ancient symbol for the moon. According to legend, the bunny was originally a large, handsome bird belonging to Eostre, the Goddess of Spring. (Eostre is also known as Ostara, a Goddess of fertility who is celebrated at the time of the Spring equinox.) Eostre ‘resurrected’ the bird into a rabbit, which may explain why the Easter bunny builds a nest and fills it with (coloured) eggs. The first edible Easter bunnies were created in Germany during the early 1800s, made of pastry and sugar.
The white lily as a symbol of the resurrection and of purity has become the typical Easter flower. The Madonna lily was used for years as the Easter lily, but it often failed to bloom in time for Easter, and so the Bermuda, or white trumpet, lily is often used instead.
The egg is another popular symbol of Easter. Eggs were dyed and eaten during spring festivals in ancient Egypt, Persia, Greece and Rome. Coloured eggs were not, however, associated with Easter until the 15th century. Many churches today follow old traditions of colouring hard-boiled eggs and giving children little chocolate eggs as symbols of the resurrection.
Matthew 28:1-11, Mark 16:1-10, Luke 24:1-12, John 20:1-10.
20th April 2025
Christian (Orthodox)
Pascha is the name for Easter in Orthodox Christianity. Pascha is preceded by Great Lent, a time of prayer, fasting and penance, just as Easter in western Christianity is preceded by the Lenten season. Pascha is celebrated differently from Easter in that the service typically begins just before midnight with the Nocturne service, the Easter procession at midnight and then Easter matins, which are sung inside a church. The Pascha services are noteworthy for the canon hymns of St. John of Damascus. The service continues with the singing of the Easter hours and the divine liturgy and the Paschal Sermon of St. John Chrysostom. For fuller information, see: It is Pascha – not Easter!
For Orthodox Christians Easter Day is the most important festival of the Christian year, as this is when Christians celebrate the resurrection of Jesus. A vigil is kept during the preceding night, and the resurrection of Christ is greeted with the lighting of candles and the affirmation ‘Christ is risen’. Customs include colouring and decorating of hard-boiled eggs as symbols of new life – cracking them symbolises the opening of Christ’s tomb. All Orthodox Christian communities celebrate Easter and the associated cycle of festivals at the same time.
Theologians of all Christian traditions regard Easter as the lynchpin of Christian belief, and view faith in the resurrection of Jesus as the determining factor in assessing orthodoxy. The annual rejoicing that ‘Christ is risen; He is risen indeed!’ is common to Eastern and Western traditions alike throughout the world.
Matthew 28:1-11, Mark 16:1-10, Luke 24:1-12, John 20:1-10.
14th May 2026
Christian (40th day after Easter) Christian (Western Churches)
Ascension Day commemorates the last earthly appearance of the Risen Christ, who, according to Christian belief, ascended into heaven in the presence of many witnesses. It is one of the four most important dates in the Christian calendar. Observed generally by Catholics and Anglicans, it is also known as the Feast of Ascension, and occurs on the Thursday 40 days after Easter. It marks the end of the Easter season and falls ten days before Pentecost.
According to the accounts in the Gospel of Luke and the Acts of the Apostles, Jesus appeared to many of his disciples during the 40 days following his resurrection to instruct them on how to carry out his teachings. On the 40th day, he came again to the Apostles and led them out to the Mount of Olives where he instructed them to wait in Jerusalem for the promise of the Holy Spirit. Then, as they were watching, he ascended into the clouds.
According to Augustine of Hippo, one of the early church fathers, the Feast of Ascension originated with the Apostles. John Chrysostom and Gregory of Nyssa, contemporaries of Augustine, refer to it as being one of the oldest feasts practised by the Church, possibly going as far back as AD 68. There is no written evidence, however, of the Church honoring Ascension Day until Augustine’s time in the fourth century.
As an Ecumenical feast, Ascension Day is one of the six holy days where attendance at Mass is mandatory for Roman Catholics and Anglicans. The event is generally a one-day public commemoration, although the Church, in keeping with earlier traditions regarding festivals, offers devotions for seven days. The night before the feast, priests and deacons attend a vigil of prayers and scripture readings. On the day of the feast, Mass is celebrated and the Paschal candle, which was lit on Easter Sunday, is extinguished. Liturgies proclaiming the finished work of salvation and the ascension of the glorified Christ into Heaven are recited, followed later by evening prayers. At the end of the seven-day devotion, two additional days are kept by the priests, making a total of nine days (a novena). The novena allows for the preparation of Pentecost, which takes place the next day.
For many Christians, Ascension Day’s meaning provides a sense of hope that the glorious and triumphant return of Jesus is near. It is a reminder of the ever-present Spirit of God, watching over and protecting them as they spread the light of Jesus’ truth throughout the world
Ascension Day is associated across Britain with various festivals ranging from Well Dressing in Derbyshire to the Planting of the ‘Penny Hedge’ (or ‘Horngarth’) in the harbour at Whitby, Yorkshire. It is also the day for Beating the Bounds, or Boundaries, of a church’s parish. The custom was once found in almost every English parish, but now is only carried out in a few places. In modern times, it involves people in the locality walking around their farm, manorial, church or civil boundaries, pausing as they pass certain trees, walls and hedges that denote the extent of the boundary to exclaim, pray and ritually ‘beat’ particular landmarks with sticks.
In England, eggs laid on Ascension Day are said to ‘never go bad’ and will guarantee good luck for a household if placed in the roof. In Devon, it was an ancient belief that the clouds always formed into the familiar Christian image of a lamb on Ascension Day. If the weather is sunny on Ascension Day, the summer will be long and hot. If it rains on the day, crops will do badly and livestock will suffer from disease. According to Welsh superstition, it is unlucky to do any work on Ascension Day.
Mark 16:19-20, Luke 24:50-53, Acts of the Apostles 1:9-11.
10th – 16th May 2026
Christian
Initiated in 1945, this week is devoted to fund raising by members of various churches, mainly through house to house collections and sales of goods of various kinds. The money given is for work with the needy throughout the world. Christian Aid works in nearly 60 countries, helping people, regardless of religion or race, to improve their own lives and tackle the causes of poverty and injustice.
24th May 2026
Christian (Western and Orthodox Churches)
As the second most important festival in the Christian year, Pentecost is often seen as the ‘birthday’ of the Church, since this is when the disciples of Jesus first proclaimed the Gospel after receiving the gift of the Holy Spirit. It is named after the Jewish festival (Shavuot) on which this event happened, which is celebrated 50 days after Passover. The name comes from the Greek pentekoste, “fiftieth”. Pentecost for Christians accordingly falls on the Sunday 50 days after Easter. The alternative name of Whitsuntide comes from the custom of converts presenting themselves for baptism on this day dressed in white.
Clergy in church often wear robes with red in their design as a symbol of the flames in which the Bible says the Holy Spirit came to the early disciples. The symbols of Pentecost are those of the Holy Spirit and include the dove, the wind, the breath of God and flames. The Acts of the Apostles tells how the followers of Jesus found themselves speaking in foreign languages, inspired by the Holy Spirit. People passing by at first thought that they must be drunk, but the apostle Peter told the crowd that he and the other apostles were full of the Holy Spirit.
Pentecost is a special day for all Christian communities, but it is emphasised particularly by Pentecostal churches, which preach that the Holy Spirit is available to believers during all of their services.
The central Christian belief that God is three in one – Father, Son and Holy Spirit – is at the heart of Christian teaching about the nature of God and is central to preaching and teaching both at this time and on the following Sunday, Trinity Sunday. It is the belief in the divinity of Christ and the reality of the Holy Spirit which separates orthodox Christian faith from other monotheistic religions.
Acts of the Apostles 2:1-13.