Christianity Practices - Celebration and Role of the Church in the community Flashcards
What is ‘Advent’ and its significance?
- Beginning of Christmas celebrations
- Begins on 4th Sunday before Christmas day
- Start of liturgical church year for RCC and Anglicans
- Advent - arrival of the awaited - Jesus’s birth and Parousia (second coming)
- Wreaths with 4 candles, each one lit every Sunday
What occurs on Christmas day and the preceding events?
- Services held to celebrate Jesus’s birth - hymns, readings fro gospel and nativity
- Orthodox - 7th Jan - when Magi visited Jesus
- Many fast the day before Christmas to focus on others and prayer rather than themselves and worrying about food.
What is the importance of Christmas to Christians?
- Celebration of Jesus’s incarnation
- His birth gave Christians hope for a new beginning and a relationship between man and God with the hope of an eternal life with him in heaven.
What is the significance of Easter and what happens?
- Celebrated at the end of Holy Week
- Used to gain deeper understanding of Jesus’s suffering during his death and resurrection.
- RCC, Anglicans and Orthodox perform lent (40 days) abstaining from something, usually fasting to represent Gospel when Jesus spent 40 days fasting in the desert after baptism.
What is the significance of Ash Wednesday and what happens?
- Marks the start of lent, a Eucharist is performed
- Sign of cross marked on forehead with ash to give a visual reminder of the crucifixion and ascension of Jesus.
What are the names of the days in Holy Week?
Palm Sunday
Maundy Thursday
Good Friday
Easter weekend
What happens on Palm Sunday?
Sunday before Easter weekend, start of Holy Week
- Recalls Jesus riding a donkey into Jerusalem, the crowds welcomed him shouting save now and waving palm branches.
- Crosses made of palm leaves are given out to celebrate.
What happens on Maundy Thursday?
- Maundy - commandment - related to the commandment Jesus gave his disciples to love one another
- It is also when the Eucharist was established, Jesus also washed his disciples feet and some services are held on Maundy Thursday where feet are washed
- It is important to Christians as it is a reminder that Jesus served his people and Christians should emulate.
What happens on Good Friday?
- Marks Jesus’s crucifixion.
- Services start at midday and last 3 hours representing the time on the cross.
- Many denominations hold a service where Christians move around Church stopping at 14 places on the cross to pray.
- Jesus’s death is a great act of sacrifice and God’s mercy is shown as He got his own son killed.
Shows God’s love for humanity
What happens on Easter weekend?
- Time for joy as Jesus was resurrected and victory over sin is celebrated.
- Anglicans and RCC keep a service called the Easter virgil.
- Special candle called Paschal is lit and 5 drops of incense are dropped representing 5 wounds Jesus suffered on the cross.
- Each person takes a small candle and lights it from the Paschal and keeps it lit during the Eucharist.
- Important time of reflection as they have been saved by God.
What is a rite of passage, examples and importance?
- Ceremony marking the transition from one phase of life to another.
- Baptism, confirmation, marriage and funerals.
- God is spiritually involved and demonstrates obedience to God.
What is infant baptism?
RCC, Anglicans: Water sprinkled over or poured on baby’s head.
Orthodox: Child immersed in water to represent leaving behind life of sin and having a new Christian life. Parents should bring them up Christian until they can be confirmed
Non-conformists believe that there should only be adult baptism so they can make a decision.
What is confirmation?
- Baptised babies can confirm if they want to be Christian by having chrism oil on their forehead as a sign of the Holy Spirit’s richness
- RCC, Anglican, Orthodox, Methodist approve-
- Candidates have classes so they are informed about Christianity and the process of confirmation.
What is believers Baptism?
Non-conformist churches (Baptists), person choose ot have one showing they have free will to become a Christian.
- Adult asks for forgiveness and publicly commits to following Christianity and will wear white to symbolise purity.
What happens in a marriage?
RCC, Anglican
- Minister explains purpose of marriage
- Checks there is no lawful reason for the marriage not to happen.
- Couple exchange vows (promise to love and support one another until death) in front of God and the crowd
- Rings are symbols of commitment
- Eucharist after wedding.
