Feasts, Festivals, and (Non)fiction

As long as I can remember, I have been a Christian in regular church attendance. Each church I went to over the years celebrated special days differently. This was the case for both hugely important days (like Easter Sunday) and less-important days (like the Commemoration of Mark the Evangelist, which passed just a few days ago). It was an interesting task to relate this topic to reading and writing--check out some of the items below to add to your reading calendar! 

What's a (Theological) Feast?

According to Encyclopedia Britannica: a religious feast is a set period of time for commemoration, celebration, and (usually) eating for a particular annually remembered occurrence. Depending on the source, these days may be referred to as holy days. While the primary purpose of religious festivals is active remembrance, a secondary purpose is rest and refreshment.

From a secular perspective, people may celebrate particular theological feasts in different ways, to the extent that the celebrations are part of the local culture and social imaginary. One example is the putting up of multicolored outdoor lights the day after Halloween, through Christmas and sometimes until the snow melts. I notice that these celebrations are much more closely linked to the four seasons. Britannica notes that "holiday" derives from "holy day" and is often equated with the word "vacation" (literally, "day[s] away").

What's a (Theological) Festival?

The same as a feast, technically. We'll talk about lesser commemorations shortly.

What are some Common Feasts and Festivals Across Christian Traditions?

A United Nations source points out that feasts that all Christians celebrate are built around the church year, which is built around major events in Jesus' life. These days and seasons include Advent (40-day period immediately before Christmas), Christmas Day, Epiphany (the 8th day after Christmas Day), Lent (40-day period immediately before Easter), Holy Week (7-day period immediately before Easter), Easter Sunday, Ascension (40th day after Easter), and Pentecost (50th day after Easter).

Note that some of these feasts are fixed (always on the same day of the month) and some are movable (such as Easter). I can remember precisely one Easter--this year--that did not entail a winter coat and/or protection against precipitation.

Later in this post, I will explore some saints' feast days that differ across Christian traditions. Additional lesser commemorations for individual Christians can include the anniversary of their own baptism, confirmation, wedding anniversary, and funeral of a loved one.

What are Differences between Anglican and Lutheran Feasts and Festivals?

This section is intentionally narrow, because of the narrowness of my experience. My move from the LCMS to the ACNA was not as large as the moves some in our congregation have made; in particular, Baptist and Evangelical traditions are much farther away from Anglicanism. Do you remember the LCMS-ACNA dialogues about 10 years ago? The differences that stalled the dialogues did not entail feasts and festivals! However, it's still worthwhile to note some slight differences in how feast days are organized in the thought of parishioners and pastors in the two traditions.

The ACNA, having split from the Episcopal Church over heretical teaching on human sexuality, still uses the Book of Common Prayer for uniformity in worship. I've linked the Episcopal church year here, and the ACNA liturgical calendar here.. Notably, the website organizes feast days categorically rather than chronologically:

• Major feasts based on Easter
• Major feasts based on Christmas
• Minor feasts
• +Ember Days for fasting and praying for those in holy orders (deacons, priests, and bishops) 4 times per year. Those preparing for holy orders have additional duties on these days.
• +Optional observances (saints from biblical and church-history times)

The LCMS uses the Lutheran Service Book to guide worship, for those churches choosing to follow the Divine Service liturgy (actually, 5 settings are available in that hymnal). There is much more diversity (and disagreement) in worship compared to in the ACNA. In the hymnal and website, organization is chronological. I've noted just a few feasts and commemorations that, in my experience, were given more prominence in the LCMS than the ACNA congregations in which I've worshipped:

• Confession of St. peter
• St. Timothy
• Conversion of St. Paul
• St. Titus
• Nativity of St. John
• Martyrdom of St. John the Baptist
• Occasions including Christian education, supplication and prayer, and national or local tragedy

I've also noticed that the LCMS celebrates the day-before days (eves) for many major feasts, while these may or may not be noted in the ACNA liturgical calendar.

What does this have to do with reading and writing?

I see four connections between feasts, festivals, reading, and writing. Let's explore each of them below!

First, historical practice is the origin of feasts and festivals. Christianity is a faith heavily based on historical events. A historically-framed way of reading older texts is needed to properly understand the connection between the texts and what actually happened. How did authors in the first century AD use narrative and other styles to communicate? Why are there differences in the Gospel accounts? What are the implications of these?

Second, the way in which we write about our feasts and festivals shows a lot about our theology. Let's take as an example Easter, which commemorates the bodily resurrection of Jesus Christ from death after He was crucified. Alisa Childers has a take on this topic. I've been working through this topic in the larger context of what Christian "hope" means. Alisa's guest, Baptist scholar Jeremiah Johnston, has an accessible (176-page) book advocating historical support for bodily resurrection. Anglican bishop N. T. Wright has a much more thorough exploration of the cultural meaning of the events at the time.

With that background, think about what churches put in their bulletins and what denominational publications communicate to members, nonmembers, believers, and nonbelievers:

• What is the most important holiday of the church year?
• How does Easter connect to other church holidays?
• What does it mean for other doctrines if Jesus rose bodily from the dead, versus some other hypothesis?

Third, the liturgies of the Church year are written down so that we can practice them in unity with others in the tradition (see the first part of this video by Australian Anglican theologian Michael Bird on the relationship between unity, uniformity, and diversity). The Book of Common Prayer, which we read from weekly (Sunday Eucharist service) and hopefully daily (Daily Prayer for Individuals and Families) aligns lectionary readings to major feasts, festivals, and commemorations.

Finally, it's edifying to read extrabiblical historical documents on commemoration days. One that comes to mind is the Commemoration of Polycarp, celebrated on February 23. Polycarp was a bishop in the second century and knew the Apostle John personally. His writings indicate familiarity with Scripture as a whole, and he was responsible for making sure John's writings (the Gospel and 1-3 John) were transmitted accurately.

How do you participate in church feasts and festivals?