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Roman Catholis Holidays

Each of the four (4) Roman Catholic holidays discussed herein (Christmas, Easter, Lent and Good Friday) has its own history, meaning and importance. Similarly each has had its own evolution and the manner in which each is celebrated is decidedly different.

The Catholic holidays (holy days) and their traditions came from ancient Babylon (via the Babylonian "mysteries"), through Rome, and then through the Catholic church. All of the ancient civilizations (Egypt, Greece, Rome, India, and China) had beliefs, traditions, gods and goddesses that were related in some way to Babylon (Tennuchi).

In 313 AD the Roman emperor, Constantine, adopted the Christian faith and declared it to be the state religion. While he embraced Christianity, he retained many of the trappings of the former Pagan Roman beliefs as evidenced by figures on his coins and the continued use of traditional pagan titles (Tennuchi).

The Christian Church of the time became the Roman Catholic Church and it quickly began a practice of compromising with paganism. In this regard, the church was very quick to continue its practice of compromising with pagan beliefs as long as it could continue to add to the number of people it was converting to Christianity from paganism. This approach can still be witnessed today, especially in Central and South America where the "idols" of the ancient civilizations have been replaced by the statues of various saints (Tennuchi).

In 1644 English Parliament passed an act that forbade the observance of Christmas because it was considered to be a "heathen" holiday. The Puritans when first coming to America actually worked on their first Christmas. Circa 1660, the General Court of Massachusetts made a decree that anyone found observing Christmas, in any manner, including feasting and/or "excessive merriment," would be fined (Tennuchi).

There is no indication in the Bible that the early Christians observed Christmas. It is ...

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Roman Catholis Holidays. (1969, December 31). In LotsofEssays.com. Retrieved 05:45, March 19, 2024, from https://www.lotsofessays.com/viewpaper/1687603.html