Eduqas Alevel RS Christianity 4C Advent + Easter

What does the 25th December mark

It marks the birth of Jesus, although no one actually knows the birth of jesus but it is believed that this date was picked to mark the roman solstice festivities of dies natalis solis which is believed to be the birth of the sun (this is where candles and evergreen candles come from at Christmas)

What is advent

A period of preparation before Christmas, it starts 4 Sundays before Christmas and means coming and signals the start of the liturgical calendar. The liturgical colour is purple and signals new comings and symbols royalty

What does advent mark

1. Preparation for the birth of Jesus as a baby boy

2. Preparation for Parousia (the second coming of Christ)

what are some general practices that the western churches have around advent

1. usually they are dressed in purple during the period of advent, blue for protestants as a sign of hope.

2. the third candle of advent is known as the Gaudete candle which is translated to rejoice. This is when the third candle is lit on the advent wreath, rose coloured

3. the fourth candle is known as the angle candle as this represents the annunciation where Mary found out she was pregnant

4. the middle candle is lit on Christmas Eve/ day

5. advent calendars originate from Germany in the 19th/20th century

6. it was once custom that you fast during advent but that has been abandoned but its still a time of reflection and pen intense, many christians go to confession more often during advent

7. between the 17th and 23rd of December the Great Advent O Antiphons is often sung at evening prayers each day which speaks about Jesus’ qualities

what do the eastern churches do for advent

- celebrate on the 7th of January not the 25th December this is due to the use of the old Julian calendar

- the American orthodox church celebrates on the 6th of January

- in the eastern church advent is referred to as Nativity Fast, it lasts 40 days and goes up to the 6th Jan

- during Nativity Fast, certain foods are avoided such as meat, fish, oil, wine and dairy produces as they are seen as luxurious and expensive foods

- the eve of Nativity fast is known as paramony which is known as preparation. No solid food is eaten until the first star is seen in the sky

- there is no emphasis on parousia or the second coming and the nativity fast does not mark the start of the liturgical calendar as it does in the western church

- Red and gold are used as the central colours and during the nativity fast there are feast days to celebrate certain saints

what is the epiphany

the day when the meji visited Jesus on the 6th of January, the 19th of jan for Eastern Orthodox. They celebrate the baptism of Jesus rather than the kings visiting

what does the western church do to celebrate Christmas

Gold vestments are worn and purple is taken down. They focus on celebrating the incarnation and the anticipation of his second coming, paroisuia.

- in Wales traditionally they have a service between 3 and 6 am on Christmas morning. Traditionally only men could sing but women can now too

- Christingle services are popular now too and mean light of the world, members are given a orange with a candle and sweets to show how all corners of the world are reached by Gods love

- At Christmas there are three eucharist services, midnight mass, dawn on Christmas Day and finally the Christmas service.

- Exchanging gifts is a popular way of celebrating but this has lead to an increase in commercialism

what does eastern orthodox churches do to celebrate christmas

on the eve of nativity fast there is a service that takes place all night. They focus on the importance off the incarnation because through this the resurrection and crucifixion could happen

- the order of the service:

1. the hours - biblical readings each hour to show the importance and power of Jesus' birth

2. vespers - 8 biblical readings celebrating the incarnation and phropheices

3. the liturgy of St Basil the great - the past people were baptised in the body of christ

4. the vigil starts with a service of prayers

5. matins - christ is born is sung whilst congregation worship the nativity

- the church is decorated in red and gold

is easter of christmas more important - easter

- easter is less commercialised

- easter should be the most important because it started the importance if forgivnes of sins and proved the way to heaven. There are earthly implications of Jesus' actions at easter but not for christmas

- easter proves that the incarnation is real

- easter is covered in 4 gospels (christmas having 2) there is also a clearer narrative and order of events such as the days of holy week have more certainty compared to the run up to Christmas

- there is a reason people wear crucifixion's around their neck to commemorate and remember the important event in their faith

- Easter hasnt lost as much of its meaning like christmas has, Christmas has become more commercialised than easter

- Buultmann argues that easter is about arising faith in the individual meaning it is an important event, not on a large scale but on an individual scale

is easter of christmas more important - Christmas

- without Jesus' birth which is celebrated at Christmas there would be no resurrection. Jesus is the light of the world, without his birth then there would be no forgiveness of sins and Jesus would not have resurrected and ascended into heaven

- Advent marks the start of the liturgical calendar in the western churches, so this must be of more importance than easter, it is an intensive period of preparation, 4 weeks shows the intensity and importance of the event

- for most of society christmas is more important than easter especially in the UK, both religious and non religious tend to celebrate christmas more than easter. Our culture is geared towards Christmas more than easter.

is easter of christmas more important - both equal

- they are both celebrating Jesus' life, without his birth there would be no easter, without easter no forgivness and not life after death

- they are both holidays within the uk and both curhcues are celebrated which show step important e of the events, they both have an important story

- both festivals confirm that Jesus is God incarnate both have significant super natural evidence

- they are both important but easter should be more important due to the long lasting earthy effects it had e.g forgivness and heaven

what are matins

the morning service of the church (Eastern Orthodox)

what are vespers

evening prayers where the evening psalm is chanted

what are the similarities for easter between the eastern and western churches

1. Easter celebrates the resurrection of Jesus Christ

2. It is the foundational belief within christianity

3. christ's defeat over death signals new life after death for us an the freedom from Sin.

4. It is celebrated on different dates both in Eastern and Western churches. (THE EO CHRUCH USES THE OLD JULIAN CALENDAR WHEREAS THE WO USES THE GREGORIAN CALENDAR)

5. Vernal Equinox is when the data is decided for Easter. Leading to Easter being on different dates. Most churches are moving towards the Gregorian time

what is lent

A 40 day period of intense preparation for the celebration of easter.

Western Church: lent

- Last 40 days and nights in the lead up to Easter

- Remembers the time Jesus fasted in the desert for 40 days/ nights

- Begins on Ash Wednesday and it is a time for preparation for the ressurection

- It is tradition to fast and give up luxuries, people attend confession more often. Flowers and decorative items are removed from the church and the liturgical colour is purple.

- 4th Sunday = Laetare Sunday = rejoice, some priests wear rose coloured vestments on this day

- 5th Sunday = passion Sunday = marks the start of the last two weeks

- 6th Sunday = Palm Sunday which marks Jesus' entry into Jerusalem and palms are used to decorate the church, this is one week before good Friday

- Good Friday, congregation goes around the station of the cross

Western Church: Easter

Vigil held on Holy Saturday. Paschal candle is lit to symbolise Jesus' resurrection. Statues that were covered during lent are now uncovered. Joyous celebration, the liturgical colour is white and gold and flowers are used

Eastern church: The Great Lent

- Great Lent is the most important time to fast in their church calendar and they are expected to fast

- Great Lent starts on Clean Monday which is a day for spiritual cleansing and strict fasting starts

- Week 2 of the great lent commemorates St Gregory of Palamas

- Week 3 and 4 have all night vigils and venertration at the cross where the priest brings the cross to the centre of the church

- Week 5 on Saturday is debated to the Mother of God, songs are sung to Mary and everyone stands

- Week 6 Great lent ends on the Friday and is followed by the Lazarus

Holy week starts on Palm Sunday and the blessing of the Palms are sung at the matins on Sunday morning. Great Thursday celebrates the establishment of the eucharist through the last supper. Great Friday has a cloth icon called The Epitaphios is places on a tomb reflecting Jesus’ tomb. This represents the cloth that Jesus was wrapped in when he died, the tomb is sprinkled with roses and water. On Great Saturday the mood is low and the colour is black until the gospel reading where the colour is changed to white and the mood changes from sorrow to joy. Bay leaves are placed around the church to symbol victory over death

Eastern Church: Easter

Paschal Vigil takes place at midnight on Easter Saturday, Epitaphios is placed on the altar, it will remain there until the ascension, 40 days later.

The lights are switched off and the are out until the stroke of midnight when the resurrection is proclaimed. Candle is lit at midnight, congregants hold candles and all precess around the church chanting together.

The priest stands at the front of closed doors of etch church and makes the sign of the cross, church bells and percussion instruments sound and the Easter Matins begin followed by two more services

Priest then blesses the Paschal eggs and foods that have been forbidden during the fast. The congregation share an agape meal. The gospel of John is read in many languages to symbolise the universality of Christianity.

The following week is called Bright week because there is no fasting and the iconostasis doors are opened to symbolise the door of the tomb being rolled away.

The different emphasis of Easter in the EC and the WC make it a different celebration: Different celebration

- Friday seem to have a different focus: EC copy specific elements such as the laying of the cloth to represent the cloth Jesus was wrapped in whereas catholics do not to this but they do go around the stations of the cross

- Orthodox have a much more strict set of rules that they follow such as having to fast, it is so much more of a affect on them making it different between the two churches

- different liturgical colours

- different in focus on the Sundays leading up to easter, catholics have elements such as peace and joy whereas eastern has a focus on different people such as Mary

The different emphasis of Easter in the EC and the WC make it a different celebration: same celebration

- Both celebrate the Friday of Jesus' death and mourn, colours change in the church and both fast - no eucharist

- Both have the same aspects of fasting either full or partial such as not eating red meat

- Both celebrate the resurrection and use biblical stimulus based on human interpretation

- seen across christianity such as a difference in baptism and Eucharist just shows how power and politics might have influenced but theologically they are the same

- lent is the same length, both use time in desert

- both have the central paschal candle

The different emphasis of Easter in the EC and the WC make it a different celebration: same belief but differ due to culture and not religion

- Easter is different between the two churches because the prep stages are different but the belief is the same, they both count down the days until death and resurrection

- both use eggs just with a different central focus, they both aim to be centred around Easter. It depends on society for that with EO using them to symbolise the blood shed but also the new life. there is no theological rule