50+ Lifestyles

March Holidays

By Eloise Graham

Special Days with Religious Significance

Tuesday, March 20 will be the Spring Equinox. Equinox means equal night. There are twelve hours of daytime and twelve hours of night. Some pagan religions worship the spring/fall rquinoxes and summer/winter solstices. The Spring Equinox is viewed as a victory for a sun god, or a god of light that overcomes the darkness.

Passover, an important, biblically derived Jewish holiday begins on Friday, March 30. It commemorates the Jews being liberated from slavery in ancient Egypt. The Jewish calender determines the date of Passover. It commences on the 15th of the Hebrew month of Nisan. The holiday lasts seven or eight days. It is called Passover because of the tenth plague to hit Egypt. This plague was the death of all first-born children. However the Hebrew people were instructed to mark their door posts with sacrificial blood of a slaughtered lamb. The cloud of death would then pass over that home.

This year, Passover begins on the Christian holiday of Good Friday. The date of Passover is always near Holy Week. The Last Supper, Jesus’ last meal that he shared with his 12 disciples woudl have been the Jewish feast of the Passover. Matthew 26:17-19 – “On the first day of the Festival of Unleavened Bread, the disciples came to Jesus and aksed, ‘Where do you want us to make preparations for you to eat the Passover?’ He replied ‘Go into the city to a certain man and tell him that the Teacher says: My appointed time is near. I am going to celebrate the Passover with my disciples at your house.’ So the disciples did as Jesus had directed them and prepared the Passover.”

Christians will be observing Lent during the month of March. The Lenten season began on February 14, Ash Wednesday and lasts for 40 days ending on Thursday, March 29. The last week of March 2018 is known as Holy Week, commencing on Sunday, March 25 and ending on March 31.

Another March date is St. Patrick’s Day, Saturday, March 17. This is the “Day of Festival of Patrick” a celebration held on the anniversary of the death of St. Patrick. He was the foremost patron saint of Ireland. A missionary, he used a shamrock to explain the Trinity.

One other day I must share with you: Sunday, March 11. This is the beginning of daylight savings time.