Religion/Festivals

Question 1

Official church

Answer 1

• England: Church of England - a Protestant Church, existed since the Reformation in 1530s.
• Scotland: Church of Scotland -
• No Church in Wales or N Ireland

Question 2

Church of England

Answer 2

• Established by King Henry VIII so that the monarch has the authority on religious matter
• Roles in the Church:
  * Spiritual leader = Archbishops of Canterbury
  * other senior church officials
  
  • The monarch has the right to select these roles, but usually the choice is made by the Prime Minister

Question 3

Patron saint’s Days

Answer 3

1 March: St David’s Day, Wales
17 March: St Patrick’s Day, N Ireland
23 April: St George’s Day, England
30 Nov: St Andrew’s Day, Scotland

Only Scotland & N Ireland have their patron saint’s day as an official holiday

Question 4

Easter

Answer 4

Mar/Apr
• symbols of new life + celebrate re-birth of Jesus

• Good Friday = Jesus’s death
• Easter Sunday = rising from death
• Easter Monday - bank holiday

Question 5

Lent / Ash Wednesday

Answer 5

• 40 days before Easter
• Signifies the time to start preparing for Easter
• Christians can mark their forehead with ash as a symbol of death & sorrow for sin - usually performed in church

1 day before Lent = Shrove Tuesday (or Pancake Day)

Question 6

Diwali

Answer 6

Oct/Nov - 5 days long
•  Festival of Lights
•  also a celebration of good over evil & gaining knowledge
•  celebration by Hindus and Sikhs
•  big celebration in Leicester

Question 7

Hanukkah

Answer 7

Nov/Dec - 8 days long
• To remember the Jews’ struggle for religious freedom
• 1 candle is lit for 24 hrs on a stand (called menorah) over the 8 days (i.e. 8 candles are lit in the span of Hannukah

Question 8

Eid al-Fitr

Answer 8

• Celebrates the end of Ramadan, when Muslims have faster for a month
• They thank Allah for giving them the strength to complete the fast

Question 9

Eid ul Adha

Answer 9

• remembers that prophet Ibrahim was willing to sacrifice his son when God ordered him to.
• reminds Muslims of their commitment to God by sacrificing an animal to eat during this festival in a slaughterhouse

Question 10

Vaisakhi (also known as Baisakhi)

Answer 10

** 14 April **

• Sikh festival
• to celebrate the founding of Sikh community called Khalsa
• usually celebrate with parade, dancing & singing

Question 11

New Year’s Eve

Answer 11

** 31 Dec **

• In Scotland NYE is also known as Hogmanay
  * For some Scottish, it is considered as a bigger holiday than Xmas

(2 Jan is a bank holiday)

Question 12

Valentine’s Day

Answer 12

** 14 Feb **

• lovers exchange cards & gifts

Question 13

Aprils Fool’s

Answer 13

** 1 Apr **

• plays jokes until midday

Question 14

Mothering Sunday (Mother’s Day)

Answer 14

• 3 Sundays before Easter (~Mar-ish)

Question 15

Father’s Day

Answer 15

• 3rd Sunday in June

Question 16

Halloween

Answer 16

** 31 Oct **

• ancient festival & has roots in the pagan festival to mark the beginning of winter

*pagan = a person, an unconverted member of a people or nation who does not practice Christianity, Judaism, or Islam

Question 17

Bonfire Night

Answer 17

** 5 Nov **

• celebration of an event failed to take place in 1605
• Guy Fawkes led a Catholic group to kill the Protestant king with a bomb in the House of Parliament. But the assassination failed

Question 18

Remembrance Day

Answer 18

** 11/11 **

• commemorates those who died fighting for the UK & allies in WW1, ending on 11 / 11 / 1918
• symbol: red poppies found on battlefields
• at 11am on the day, we take 2 mins silence & wreaths are laid at Cenotaph in Whitehall, London

Question 19

Bank holidays

Answer 19

• normally no religious significance
• begin at:
  * the beginning of May
  * late May or early June
  * in Aug

• In N Ireland, the anniversary of the Battle of the Boyne in July is also treated as a bank holiday