Twenty-four Sundays after Pentecost, of which the first is Trinity
Sunday followed by Corpus Christi on the next Thursday
NOTE: If Easter is early there are fewer Sundays after Epiphany. If
Easter is late there are fewer Sundays after Pentecost.
CHRISTIAN HOLY DAYS AND RELIGIOUS OBSERVANCES
The RP will be directly involved in the planning and preparation for
services connected with holy days, religious observances, and other religious
occasions. The chaplain will give specific guidance regarding specific
preparation for these observances. These preparations should be planned
with the chaplain on a quarterly basis to allow time for procurement of any
special items that are to be used in the various religious services.
The Sabbath is observed on Sunday for most Christian faith groups.
There are some exceptions, however. The Seventh-Day Adventists celebrate
the Sabbath from sundown Friday to sundown Saturday.
Any conflict regarding the scheduling or use of facilities by the chapel
staff should be immediately addressed to the senior chaplain and/or the
petty officer in charge.
The major Christian holy days and religious observances among most
Christian bodies are described in the following paragraphs. The dates of
these holy days and observances may be either fixed or movable. Fixed dates
are determined by the solar calendar. Movable dates or feasts are determined
by a lunar calendar and may vary from year to year. Movable feasts are
indicated by an asterisk.
MAJOR CHRISTIAN HOLY DAYS
AND RELIGIOUS OBSERVANCES
New Year’s Day, January 1 —A Roman Catholic Holy Day.
Ecclesiastically the New Year celebrates the Feast of Circumcision.
Eastern Orthodox churches celebrate New Year’s Day on January 14
because they retain the Julian calendar, instead of the newer Gregorian
calendar used by the Western churches. (The Gregorian calendar has been
adopted by some of the Eastern churches, including the Ecumenical
Patriarchate, the Church of Greece, and the Church in the Americas, which
is under the Ecumenical Patriarchate.) The holidays of the Julian calendar
occur 13 days later than those of the Gregorian calendar: thus, Christmas is
celebrated on January 7 and New Year on January 14.
Feast of Epiphany, January 6—Falls the 12th day after Christmas and
commemorates the manifestation of Jesus as the Son of God, as represented
by the adoration of the Magi, the baptism of Jesus, and the miracle of the
wine at the marriage feast at Cana. Epiphany originally marked the
beginning of the carnival season preceding Lent, and the evening (sometimes
the eve) is known as Twelfth Night.
* Shrove Tuesday—Falls the day before Ash Wednesday and marks the
end of the carnival season, which once began on Epiphany but is now usually
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