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considered a time when a feast should be laid on for the supposed temporary visit from the souls of the dead. The
Orthodox tradition, deals rather with the zealous prayer for the dead, whom they believe are allowed to visit the living during 40 days after the moment of death, and always are greatly comforted and even saved from hell, through these prayers. In some Catholic traditions, the night is one when the graves of dead relatives are visited, with candles being lit, under a familiarly atmosphere, often including
36:
415:
In many early cultures, the day was considered to start at dusk. Similarly, in Celtic countries the year was considered to begin in winter at
Samhain, and it was thought that the start of the year was a time when the world of the dead met that of the living; rather than a sinister event, this was
126:
of some
Christian saints has been treated skeptically by a number of academics, either because there is a paucity of historical evidence for their origins, or due to resemblances to pre-Christian deities and festivals. Some such local saints, especially those dating to when regions were being
379:
in the fact that the sun's height in the sky and length of the day begins to decrease after the summer solstice and begins to increase after the winter solstice. "This solar cycle was completed by balancing Christ's conception and birth against the conception and birth of his cousin, John the
217:
on 14 February, commemorates three separate martyrs named
Valentinus. One is described as a priest at Rome, another as bishop of Interamna (modern Terni). Both apparently died sometime in the second half of the third century and were buried at different locations on the
541:"Hence it is that He was born on the day which is the shortest in our earthly reckoning and from which subsequent days begin to increase in length. He, therefore, who bent low and lifted us up chose the shortest day, yet the one whence light begins to increase".
424:, and is still held at about this date by the Orthodox churches, but in western Europe, churches began to hold it at the same time as the pre-Christian festivals commemorating the dead, and it was eventually moved officially, by
862:
Varro places the equinoxes and solstices at the midpoints of the seasons ... His dating for the beginnings of the four seasons are as follows: February 7 for spring, May 9 for summer, August 11 for autumn, and
November 10 for
326:
says "Her day and its traditions almost certainly are traceable to pre-Christian celebrations that took place at this time, on the first of May". Art historian Pamela Berger noted
Walpurga's association with
241:
can be traced to the
Lupercalia, and the claim seems to originate from misconceptions about the festivities. Jack Oruch says there is no written record of Gelasius ever intending a replacement of Lupercalia.
222:. The connection of the saints' feast day with popular romantic customs arose in the Middle Ages, when it was commonly believed that half way through the second month of the year, the birds began to pair.
309:
festival, which was also celebrated in much of northern Europe with the lighting of bonfires at night. A variety of festivals of pre-Christian origin had been celebrated at this time (halfway between the
305:
or
Walburga, celebrated on the night of 30 April and into 1 May. In Germany, the Netherlands, Czechia and Sweden, bonfires are lit on Walpurgis Night. The date coincided with an older
119:
and other churchmen deplored certain customs that from time to time seem to develop around the saints, such as the prolonged drinking of toasts, ostensibly in honor of the saint.
1099:
905:
250:
Christians generally regard Easter as the most important festival of the ecclesiastical calendar. It is also the oldest feast of
Christianity, and connected to the Jewish
60:
420:; many historians argue that this is clearly derived from the pre-Christian events. The Christian festival was originally held annually on the week after
490:
in AD 274. Gary
Forsythe, Professor of Ancient History, says "This celebration would have formed a welcome addition to the seven-day period of the
17:
348:
610:
496:(December 17–23), Rome's most joyous holiday season since Republican times, characterized by parties, banquets, and exchanges of gifts".
262:. In many non-English speaking countries the feast is called by some derivation of "pasch". The English term, according to the Venerable
193:
they were canonized (as "Barlaam and Josaphat") and assigned 27 November. The story was translated into Hebrew in the Middle Ages as
997:
909:
131:
and effectively desanctified by the Catholic Church after investigations led to doubts about their historicity. Others, such as
780:
Her feast day commemorates both the movement of her relics to Eichstatt and her canonization, both of which occurred on May 1.
695:
Thurston, Herbert. "St. Valentine." The Catholic Encyclopedia. Vol. 15. New York: Robert Appleton Company, 1912. 18 Jan. 2015
647:
529:'. Who indeed is so unconquered as Our Lord? Or, if they say that it is the birthday of the Sun, He is the Sun of Justice".
525:"Our Lord, too, is born in the month of December ... the eighth before the calends of January ... But they call it the '
135:, have had doubts raised about their historicity, but retain their position in part due to their historical importance.
731:
Holweck, Frederick. "Easter." The Catholic Encyclopedia. Vol. 5. New York: Robert Appleton Company, 1909. 18 Jan. 2015
1069:
1055:
1036:
773:
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599:
545:
Another theory suggests that Christmas was calculated as nine months after a date chosen as Christ's conception (the
78:
359:, both of which were marked by festivals. In the 4th century AD, the Christian church began marking 24 June as the
685:
Joseph Jacobs (ed. and inducer), Barlaam and Josaphat. English Lives of Buddha (David Nutt, London, 1896) xvi-xvii
360:
1094:
797:
115:, argued that one cannot equate the ancient cults of pagan gods with the later cults of the saints. However,
372:
1084:
96:
526:
1089:
51:
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The early Church linked Jesus Christ to the Sun and referred to him as the 'Sun of Righteousness' (
409:
238:
237:
and others find the hypothesis unconvincing: they say there is no proof that the modern customs of
226:
214:
459:. Liturgical historians generally agree that this part of the text was written in Rome in AD 336.
486:, the 'Invincible Sun'), held on the same date. This festival had been instituted by the emperor
182:
108:
708:
Henry Ansgar Kelly, in "Chaucer and the Cult of Saint Valentine" (Leiden: Brill) 1986, pp. 58-63
665:
994:
741:
671:
637:
518:
139:
355:, 24 June was the traditional date of the summer solstice and 25 December the date of the
8:
613:
Pagan Survivals, Superstitions and Popular Cultures in Early Medieval Pastoral Literature
571:
453:
The earliest evidence of Christ's birth being marked on December 25 is a sentence in the
381:
328:
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908:. National Trust for Places of Historic Interest or Natural Beauty. 2012. Archived from
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unclear origin and by and large a low quality jambalaya of sentences, not an article.
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The Goddess Obscured: Transformation of the Grain Protectress from Goddess to Saint
425:
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234:
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of grain, and suggested that her cult was adapted from pagan agrarian goddesses.
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286:(April 25) are a continuation and adaptation of the Roman agricultural festival,
143:
462:
A widely held theory is that the Church chose December 25 as Christ's birthday (
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explains why the winter solstice was a fitting day to celebrate Christ's birth:
432:
302:
1078:
730:
694:
566:
550:
311:
219:
1062:
The Christianization of Iceland: Priests, Power, and Social Change 1000-1300
930:
Bradshaw, Paul (2020). "The Dating of Christmas". In Larsen, Timothy (ed.).
371:, John the Baptist "was understood to be preparing the way for Jesus", with
1017:
664:
546:
481:
352:
323:
201:"). Thus the Buddhist story was turned into a Christian and Jewish legend.
190:
174:
123:
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Alfred Kellogg and Robert Cox, have claimed that the modern customs of
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The process was repeated in Southern Mexico, where the Aztec feast of
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287:
267:
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The Cult of the Saints: Its Rise and Function in Latin Christianity
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from October 31 through November 2 as a commemoration of the dead.
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198:
171:
113:
The Cult of the Saints: Its Rise and Function in Latin Christianity
506:
351:
in Europe aligned with sunrise or sunset on the solstice. In the
319:
306:
717:
Jack B. Oruch, "St. Valentine, Chaucer, and Spring in February"
950:
Time in Roman Religion: One Thousand Years of Religious History
858:
Time in Roman Religion: One Thousand Years of Religious History
417:
155:
186:
178:
177:, the term traditionally used to refer to Gautama before his
270:, a Teutonic goddess of the rising light of day and spring.
27:
Pre-Christian feast days adopted into the Christian calendar
263:
375:
stating "He must increase, but I must decrease"; this is
981:
A Dictionary of Biblical Tradition in English Literature
388:
celebrations and both are marked by lighting bonfires.
1100:
Supernatural beings identified with Christian saints
1029:
Christianizing the Roman Empire, AD 100 – 400
656:
826:Papadopoulos, Costas; Moyes, Holley, eds. (2021).
553:. This theory was first proposed by French writer
1044:Hellenic Religion and Christianization c. 370-529
1022:Dionysus: Archetypal Image of Indestructible Life
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794:Halloween and Other Festivals of Death and Life
517:associates Christ's birth with the birthday of
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318:) to mark the beginning of summer, including
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894:. University of Toronto Press. p. 83.
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845:. Manchester University Press. p. 85.
750:
662:
396:"Hallowtide", refers to the three days of
127:Christianized, have been removed from the
934:. Oxford University Press. pp. 4–10.
699:
631:
629:
435:in early August was syncretized into the
301:is the eve of the Christian feast day of
254:. Many terms relating to Easter, such as
181:. Barlaam and Ioasaph were placed in the
158:. The king-turned-monk Joasaphat (Arabic
79:Learn how and when to remove this message
956:
947:
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855:
735:
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1031:Yale University Press (paperback, 1986
978:
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384:(23 June) is intertwined with European
282:, the Greater Litanies of the Feast of
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509:. A Christian treatise attributed to
266:, is an Anglo-Saxon form relating to
258:are derived from the Hebrew term for
969:, Liturgical Press, 2004, pp. 80–81.
746:, Longmans, Green, and Company, 1907
675:. New York: Robert Appleton Company.
639:Mother Worship: Theme and Variations
636:Preston, James J. (1 October 2017).
99:of feasts from pre-Christian times.
29:
1048:Religions in the Graeco-Roman World
549:): March 25, the Roman date of the
408:that are traditionally observed in
361:birth day of Saint John the Baptist
322:in Ireland and Britain. Folklorist
24:
293:
25:
1111:
1064:(Oxford:Oxford University Press)
841:O'Neill, William Matthew (1976).
663:Herbermann, Charles, ed. (1913).
273:
150:versions, from the life story of
932:The Oxford Handbook of Christmas
860:. Routledge. pp. 123, 182.
533:A late fourth-century sermon by
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189:on 26 August, and in the Roman
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18:Christianized myths and imagery
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170:) also gets his name from the
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798:University of Tennessee Press
979:Jeffrey, David Lyle (1992).
890:Ó Carragáin, Éamonn (2005).
666:"Barlaam and Josaphat"
442:
343:has been observed since the
97:Christianized reformulations
7:
875:Billington, Sandra (2002).
560:
527:Birthday of the Unconquered
468:) to appropriate the Roman
54:. The specific problem is:
10:
1116:
1042:Trombley, Frank R., 1995.
1000:November 25, 2016, at the
877:The Concept of the Goddess
830:. Oxford University Press.
760:Melton, J. Gordon (2011).
721:, 56.3 (July 1981:534–565)
475:Dies Natalis Solis Invicti
446:
205:Christianization of feasts
103:Christianization of saints
1060:Vesteinsson, Orri, 2000.
952:. Routledge. p. 141.
879:. Routledge. p. 134.
744:The Legends of the Saints
652:– via Google Books.
245:
229:originate from the Roman
197:("The King's Son and the
983:. Eerdmans. p. 141.
967:The Origins of Christmas
577:
513:and dating to the early
948:Forsythe, Gary (2012).
856:Forsythe, Gary (2012).
811:Berger, Pamela (1985).
363:and 25 December as the
195:Ben-HaMelekh ve HaNazir
843:Time and the Calendars
792:Santino, Jack (1994).
762:Religious Celebrations
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501:
480:
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349:many ancient monuments
93:Christianized calendar
742:Delehaye, Hippolyte.
672:Catholic Encyclopedia
611:Filotas, Bernadette.
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239:Saint Valentine's Day
227:Saint Valentine's Day
215:Saint Valentine's Day
1095:Ancient Christianity
465:Dies Natalis Christi
410:Western Christianity
140:Barlaam and Josaphat
61:improve this article
50:to meet Knowledge's
1085:Liturgical calendar
1027:MacMullen, Ramsay,
892:Ritual and the Rood
642:. UNC Press Books.
572:Christianized sites
353:ancient Roman world
210:St. Valentine's Day
965:Kelly, Joseph F.,
906:"Tudor Hallowtide"
456:Chronograph of 354
369:Christian theology
365:birth day of Jesus
280:Hippolyte Delehaye
129:Calendar of Saints
117:Caesarius of Arles
649:978-1-4696-1020-7
515:fourth century AD
152:Siddartha Gautama
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377:symbolized
347:era, with
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443:Christmas
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398:Halloween
386:Midsummer
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367:. Within
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288:Robigalia
179:awakening
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766:ABC-CLIO
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284:St. Mark
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252:Passover
199:Nazirite
183:Orthodox
172:Sanskrit
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164:BĹ«dhasaf
160:YĹ«dhasaf
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507:Malachi
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