Holy Holidays

This joyous, sparkling book opens the treasure chest of liturgical year to bring the creative power of the Divine into our ordinary lives here and now.

Holidaus and Holy Days gives you fascinating facts and background about all of the major and minor American holidays, including Jewish feast days. It is a valuable resource for any Christian -- and fun to read besides! Book jacket.

How did Sunday become the "Sabbath Day?" Why did St. Valentine become the patron saint of lovebirds? Most people happily participate in Mardi Gras, Halloween, and St. Patrick's Day with very little knowledge of the origins and meanings of those celebrations. Greg Tobin unearths the religious roots of the seemingly secular, offering historical trivia and the sometimes bizarre origins of the days throughout the year that bring people together. In these pages, readers will discover that: - Jesus was not born on Christmas Day. - The Easter Bunny is a deeply pagan tradition that simply could not be suppressed by the Church. Same with Easter eggs. - Mother's Day falls in early May, the month dedicated to Mary, the Mother of Christ and the Catholic symbol of motherhood. - Saint Patrick is not only the patron saint of Ireland but also Nigeria. and much more!

The author, a Benedictine monk who lives in the center of downtown Newark, New Jersey, invites the reader to join him on his daily walks as he points out dozens of often unnoticed connections between our holidays and the spiritual meaning of Advent and Christmas.

This well-researched book is an excellent resource for Christian parents and educators. Holidays: Holy or Hollow? discusses the pagan origins of some of our most celebrated days and the historic background of others, including: Ten governmentally recognized holidays, such as Independence Day Twelve non-official days, such as Valentines Day Holidays: Holy or Hollow? looks objectively at chosen holidays: Patriotically Historically Biblically Holidays: Holy or Hollow? appeals to Bible believers: Evangelical Fundamental Dispensational

For two thousand years, the Church Universal has celebrated the life of our Lord. At Christmas, we remember and celebrate his birth in a stable in Bethlehem. We watch him grow to a young boy who sat at the feet of the Temple leaders and spoke wonders they could not understand. We continue to watch him as he started his ministry and preached to his people of the promises of God to the people of Israel. After his three years of ministry, we prepare for his suffering and death, and grieve at the foolishness of the people who could not believe. We stand at his cross and watch as his disciples who followed him fled in fear for their lives, but three days later we rejoice with the faithful women who went to the grave to grieve the loss of their Lord. To their wonder, and ours, we rejoice in his resurrection and celebrate the life he has given us through his suffering, death and resurrection. We celebrate his ascension to Heaven, with his promise that he would be with his disciples in the Presence of the Spirit, to teach and prepare them for his return. Ten days after his Ascension, we witness and celebrate the Coming of the Spirit at Pentecost and rejoice in the birth of the Church. We hear the words of Peter and sit in wonder of all the Spirit promised. Then, suddenly, the Church stops its celebration. There is silence for six months, until in December we return to the stable in Bethlehem and start our celebration again. What have we forgotten; what do we neglect? What are we missing? Why has the celebration stopped at Pentecost? Where is the mature Church, the victorious Church. Where is the promised Return of our Lord in His Fathers Glory? Where is the Bridegroom? How much longer must the Bride wait? Come with us as we learn the Rest of the Story and discover all we have missed because our celebrations stop at Pentecost. God calls us to celebrate the entire story, from beginning to end. He promised his faithful remnant that he would return to them and they would dwell with him in His Presence. He promised the rejoicing would have no end. Come with us as we learn and celebrate the Rest of the Story! ------------------------------------ A great tragedy of modern evangelical Christianity is the failure to either appreciate or to properly interpret the incredible significance of Israels Feast Days. The prophetic content of the feast days is normally given barely a summary acknowledgement and then forgotten. Holly Snead has done the Christian community a great favor in bringing to the fore not only the typological significance of Israels festal calendar, but Gods faithfulness in bringing all those feast days to final fulfillment in Christs Parousia. What she brings to the reader is tremendous, and exciting, insight into how the NT writers applied Israel's feast days to the work of Christ. If you have never considered Israels New Moons, feast days and sabbaths as they relate to the End Times you owe it to yourself to read this book. Whatever you do, read the Appendices! These special studies are more than worth the price of the book all by themselves. Don K. Preston D. Div. President Preterist Research Institute www.eschatology.org

Holidays and Holy Days is the second collection in the popular song series for grades K-5, Favorite Sacred Songs for Children. Brimming with charming traditional favorites, newly arranged for unison and optional 2-part voices, it includes teaching suggestions and reproducible lyric/activity sheets for the children. Included are songs for Thanksgiving, Valentine's Day, Mother's or Father's Day (or baptism), Earth or Peace Sunday, Christmas and Easter, Advent and Epiphany, Ash Wednesday and Palm Sunday, Ascension and Christ the King, All Saints' Day and Pentecost, and a patriotic medley.