Today is Easter Sunday, a Christian holiday and this year by unusual coincidence, a major holiday of Judaism and Islam will be observed on or around the same time. The last time this happened was over 30 years ago (1991).
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| Our best wishes to those celebrating: Happy Easter, Happy Passover or Blessed Ramadan |
The Holy Week began with Palm Sunday on April 10 through to Maundy Thursday on April 14 and Good Friday on April 15. The same day the Jewish observance of Passover (Pesach) started at sundown and will end a week later at sundown, April 23. Passover commemorates the exodus of the Israelites from Egypt and the end of their slavery.
While Passover and Easter usually occur close together in early spring, they're not always celebrated the same date. This year, both major religious celebrations occur during Islam's Holy Month of Ramadan.
Muslims celebrate the month of Ramadan (Eid al-Fitr) which begin the evening of April 1 and will end the evening of May 1. Ramadan is one of the five main pillars of the Islam faith which commemorates the first revelation of Islam's founder and main prophet, Muhammad.
This year's overlap of all three religious holidays is unusual since each faith follows a different calendar. The Christian calendar is set by the course of the sun and widely used in the Western world. The Islamic calendar is aligned with the moon and the lunar year. Twelve months in a solar year is 365 days, but only 354 days in the lunar year.
Grenville and I will celebrate at home in NH without family visits or egg coloring this year. Instead, phone calls will be made to wish family & friends a happy celebration. We'll attend a service, watch the 1948 film Easter Parade, and enjoy a home-cooked meal just we two.
Comments are off. We hope your day will be a good one, no matter how/where it's spent.
