International Living, Marriage & Travel

Lent is one season where religion is very dominant especially in the culmination of Holy Week. It is supposed to be one week of abstinence and fasting by Catholics. There will be processions that can be participated in by anyone. And on Good Friday, tourists will surely be mesmerized by the penitents hitting their backs with sticks or chains as punishment. And there are some who have themselves nailed on the cross. It is one big spectacle in the northern provinces and even the locals are awaiting for that event. By the way, the Holy Week is availed by some for their leisure trip to the resorts so don’t be surprised to find swimming pools and beaches that are crowded.

People have their own beliefs, likes and dislikes. There are many all around the world who do like to be a part of any procession and prefer to spend the holiday with their family and enjoy.

We cannot force anyone to hold a certain belief or spend their time in a specified manner. We should let people do what they want to.

The only Religious holidays I know in my Country are Easter and Christmas. I've never seen anyone crucified on Good Friday but we do attend church services for Holy Communion. Christmas is just like a National Holiday since very few people go to Church.

Thank you for sharing about the Lent. I first heard about it from my ex-colleague as she is a Catholic. She talked about her challenge for the Lent in that year, that's how I knew about this. I am glad to learn more religious holidays since I started to learn Waldorf Education and I found out the good meaning behind each of these holidays, even Easter and Christmas. I'm happy to introduce and bring the good values to my children, instead of the commercialized values.

My country is specific about religious holidays - we celebrate all of them together. There are two Eids and New Year (Muslims), then Easter, Christmas and New Year for Catholics and Orthodox (we all celebrate New Year, I wrote it just as a distinction for Muslim' New Year). As we all are good neighbors we celebrate everything together. In cases of mixed marriages, people also celebrate all holidays. This is all very peaceful but there is a place in Bosnia, called Međugorje where people (Catholic) come to pray.People believe that Međugorje is place where The Virgin Mary was seen few decades ago. Most of them are going to church and pray but there are also individuals that whip themselves or get on their knees and 'walk' around like that. I find that a little fanatic, but anyone has theirs own way of being religious.

There are religious holidays in each and every country. The holidays vary in accordance with the predominant religion of that particular area. In our country, Diwali is one of the biggest festival. During the time of Diwali we get a minimum of 5 days holidays. All the schools, colleges and government offices remain closed at this time.

Holidays are important so as to allow the people to celebrate the festival to the fullest. It is the time when people can socialize, party and spend time with family and friends. Religious holidays also give time and space to celebrate and follow all the rituals related to the festival. This helps to keep the people to remain close to their culture.

Yes, religious holidays have become such an important part of contemporary culture, and they are left over from a Christianised culture. Christmas and Easter among other feasts are the most important Christian feasts- these mark the rhythms of life and these celebrations take place in mid-winter and there are spring celebrations as well.

Our country the Philippines has so many religious holidays like the Holy Week for Lenten Season, the Christmas seasons, among others. That kind of holidays are observed nationally. There are also local religious holidays like the fiesta, charter day of a certain cities and municipalities, and the tourism festivity like the Sinulog, MassKara Festival, Ati-atihan, Pasalamat Festival, among others.

These religious festivals or holidays are the best opportunity for the family member to be reunited once again.

There are so many religious holidays but the most waited among them all is just one month away from being celebrated and it's the Christmas holiday - The birth of Christ Jesus.

Just recently we had All Saints/Souls day here in our place. These days are not just religious holidays but national holidays as well. There was heavy traffic in our place and folks from all walks of life trooped to their beloved who has already gone ahead. The cemetery had a festive air to it and people were more happy-looking than anything else. My wife and I went thereon an early morning and prayed the rosary plus the usual prayers for the dead. Sometimes we wonder if people still prayed because it was all that really mattered for the souls, not the flowers and the gaities and other externals.