Storytime Tapestry Newsletter

The newsletter devoted to spreading love and cultural awareness throughout the world.

Extra Special Treat – Hart Dowd

April 20, 2006

   Immigrants numbering in the hundreds of thousands each year left their homelands and arrived in Canada to begin new lives.   It is from joining our original Native Indian, English and French cultures together with this large infusion of our many new and diverse cultures that we are developing our own cultural “heritage” to the point that it exists today.  It is a heritage of which we can be exceedingly proud and on which we need to keep working, if we are to continue to improve our overall plan for Canada’s future generations.

Because we here in Canada now have so many cultures and religions, it would be impossible to touch on every celebration, but I hope to give you just a sampling of the rich and varied heritage that is now ours to share.

April

13-20 Passover (Judaism)  - submitted                                                                                16 Easter Protestant (Christianity)  - submitted
21 First Day of Ridvan (Baha’i)
21 Eastern Orthodox Good Friday
22 Arbour Day                                                                                                                             23 Eastern Orthodox Easter
25 Yom Hashoah:Holocaust Memorial Day
29 Ninth Day of Ridvan (Baha’i)

21 April  -  First Day of Ridv?n

Baha’u’llah was the founder of the Baha’i faith. The 12-day Festival of Ridvan commemorates Baha'u'llah's public declaration of His mission in the Garden of Ridvan in Baghdad in 1863. Many years later, Baha’u’llah designated that the Festival of Ridvan as "the Most Great Festival". During the Festival of Ridvan, Baha’is celebrates three Holy Days when all work is suspended- the first, ninth and twelfth days. These mark the days of Baha'u'llah's arrival, the arrival of his family and his departure. The Festival of Ridvan is usually observed with community gatherings for prayer and celebration on the three holy days. It is also a time when Baha’is all over the world elect their Local and National Spiritual Assemblies (LSA’s) and (NSA’s). April 21 marks the First Day of Ridvan (Paradise) starting at about 3 P.M. This day commemorates the day the Baha’u’llah arrived in Baghdad, and thus the beginning of the Festival. http://www.bellaonline.com/articles/art30139.asp; http://bahai-library.com/encyclopedia/ridvan.html

For our friends of the Baha’I faith, a twelve day festival called Ridvan (pronounced Rizwan) is the holiest time of the year.  Celebrated from April 21 to May 2, it is the time for the Baha’is to ponder the importance of their faith.  On the first, ninth, and twelfth days of Ridvan, work is suspended and children do not attend school.

Baha'is over the age of fifteen abstains from food and drink each day from sunrise to sunset. Bah?'?s believe that all the major religions are from God, and that fasting is an important part of religious life. The purpose of fasting is not for a person to suffer, but, by abstaining from food and drink, to be at least partially free from the constraints of the body and able to concentrate on things of the spirit. Bah?'?s often meet together at dawn during the Fast, to say prayers together and to share a meal. They will also quite often meet together to break their fast in the evening. The time of the Fast can be a time of joy for Baha’is. It is intended to be a time of prayer and of drawing closer to God.

21 April  -  Eastern Orthodox Good Friday

Good Friday is a holy day celebrated by Christians on the Friday before Easter. It commemorates the crucifixion of Jesus at Calvary. Mainstream Christian churches view Christ's crucifixion as a voluntary and vicarious act, and one by which, along with his resurrection on the third day, death itself was conquered. Since the time of the early Church, the day has been dedicated to penance, and prayer. Members of the Orthodox and Eastern Catholic Churches meet up to three times during the day for prayer: in the forenoon, to pray the Royal Hours appointed for that day; in the afternoon, the Vespers of Holy Friday; and in the evening, the Matins of Holy Saturday. Orthodox Christians treat this day as a fast day, spending the entire holiday fasting from all food, to the extent that their health permits. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Good_Friday

22 April  -  Arbour Day

 American tradition in the month of April has found its way to Canada.  Arbour Day, on April 22^nd, honors J. Sterling Morton, who back in 1855 promoted the idea of planting trees in his nearly barren state of Nebraska.  On April 22^nd of that year nearly one million trees were planted.  His idea was a popular one and now many communities across the United States and Canada choose this day to plant ceremonial trees and shrubs.

23 April  -  Eastern Orthodox Easter

Easter is an annual Christian festival commemorating the Resurrection of Jesus Christ, and is the principal feast of the Christian year. This is considered to be the most important of all Christian celebrations, as Christ’s death and resurrection is the primary act that fulfils the purpose of Christ's ministry on earth. Traditionally, on the evening before the holiday (Holy Saturday), celebrants observe a mass known as the Midnight Office. Immediately afterwards it is customary for the congregation to share a meal. On the afternoon of Easter Sunday it is often traditional to hold "Agape vespers". In this service, the priest and members of the congregation will often read a portion of the Gospel of John (20:19–25 or 19–31) in many different languages. As in Western Christianity, Eastern Orthodox Easter falls on the first Sunday after the first full moon on or after the vernal equinox. Unlike the Western Church, however, the Orthodox Church bases this date on the Julian calendar, rather than the Gregorian. Additionally, the Eastern Orthodox Church sets the date of Easter according to the actual, astronomical full moon and the actual equinox as observed along the meridian of Jerusalem, site of the Crucifixion and Resurrection as opposed to the fixed date of March 21st used by the Western Church. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Easter

25 April  -  Yom Hashoah: Holocaust Memorial Day

Although it has been celebrated in many countries on a national level for many years, January 27, 2006 will mark the first International Holocaust Memorial Day. The day was created to commemorate the liberation of Nazi concentration camps on January 27, 1945. It is a day designed to remember all the communities who suffered as a result of the Holocaust and Nazi persecution, and demonstrate that the Holocaust is relevant to everyone today. The Day provides a focus - through the international event and local events and activities – for people to think about the continuing repercussions of the Holocaust on our society. http://news.scotsman.com/index.cfm?id=139192006; http://www.hmd.org.uk/about/default.asp

29 April  -  Ninth Day of Ridv?n

The Festival of Ridvan is usually observed with community gatherings for prayer and celebration on the three holy days. It is also a time when Baha’is all over the world elect their Local and National Spiritual Assemblies.  April 29 marks the Ninth Day of Ridvan (Paradise), and the day that Baha’u’llah’s family arrived in Baghdad in 1863. http://www.bellaonline.com/articles/art30139.asp; http://bahai-library.com/encyclopedia/ridvan.html

*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^

Hartson Dowd

thedowds@telus.net