Welcome to CEIE’s Religious Calendar at TIO

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February - March

February 2024

Thursday, February 1

• World Hijab Day
  Founded by Nazma Khan, this day aims to promote religious tolerance and understanding by inviting women (non-Hijabi Muslims/non-Muslims) to experience wearing the hijab for a day.

• Imbolc (Feast of Torches or Lughnassad) [through February 2] – Pagan (Wiccan)
  As inhabitants of this Earth, we are at the mercy of the seasons. From harvesting foods to tending to livestock, the weather and hours of sunlight determine how and when we conduct ourselves to survive. And while modern practices such as greenhouses, factory farming and hydroponics create conditions less dependent on temperatures, the need to agriculturally align ourselves with the divisions of our calendar year remains necessary.

Friday, February 2

• Saint Brighid of Kildare – Christianity

  Saint Brigid was born Brigit, and shares a name with a Celtic goddess from whom many legends and folk customs are associated. There is much debate over her birthparents, but it is widely believed her mother was Brocca, a Christian baptized by Saint Patrick, and her father was Dubthach, a Leinster chieftain. Brocca was a slave, therefore Brigid was born into slavery.

Saturday, February 3

• Four Chaplains Sunday – Interfaith
  A commemoration of four U.S. Army chaplains—Rabbi Alexander D. Goode, Rev. George L. Fox, Fr. John P. Washington, and Rev. Clark V. Poling—who died while saving soldiers from drowning when their troop transport ship, the U.S.A.T. Dorchester, was torpedoed by a Nazi U-boat in 1943.  The four chaplains are remembered for their courage and their spirit of interfaith collaboration in service to humanity.

• Setsunbun-sai – Shintō
  A family celebration of the end of winter; beans are thrown into rooms of a house for good luck, with the shout, “Devils out, Fortune in!”

• Saint Blaise Day – Christianity
  Saint Blaise is recognised as the saint of throat disease or 'The Blessing of the Throats' in the Roman Catholic Church. He is also the saint of wool combers and is considered as one of the 'Holy Helpers' of which there are only fourteen. These helpers were called upon to help during the time of plague, in the hope they'd cure those that were ill.

Tuesday, February 6 

• Lailat al Miraj [through February 7] - Islam
  Lailat al Miraj celebrates the Prophet Muhammad’s nighttime journey from Mecca to Jerusalem, where he then ascended to heaven.

Wednesday, February 7

• Mulk – Bahá’í
  Beginning of the eighteenth month of the Bahá’í year, the name “Mulk” means “dominion.”  

Saturday, February10

• Chinese / Vietnamese / Korean New Year – Buddhism / Confucianism / Taoism
  The first day after the new moon is a religious and cultural festival for Korean, Vietnamese, and Chinese persons, marking the first day of the year. This year is the Year of the Wood Dragon.

• Birthday of Maitreya Bodhisattva – Buddhism [Pure Land schools]
  Marking the birth of Maitreya, who will come at the end of time to renew the pristine Buddhist teachings. 

Monday, February 13

• Mardi Gras – Christianity
  Mardi Gras refers to events of the Carnival celebration, beginning on or after the Christian feasts of the Epiphany (Three Kings Day) and culminating on the day before Ash Wednesday, which is known as Shrove Tuesday. Mardi Gras is French for “Fat Tuesday,” reflecting the practice of the last night of eating rich, fatty foods before the ritual Lenten sacrifices and fasting of the Lenten season.

Friday, February 14

• Vasant Panchami – Hinduism
  This day is celebrated to worship the divine Goddess Saraswati. The festival marks the initial preparations for the arrival of spring and is celebrated in different ways throughout India

• Valentine’s Day – Western Christianity
  A celebration of love originally connected to the Roman Christian martyr who died in 269 C.E.

• Ash Wednesday – Christianity (Western churches)
  The beginning of Lent, a forty-day period (excluding Sundays) in which Christians pray, repent, fast and reflect on Jesus’ final journey to Jerusalem. It is a preparatory period for Holy Week and Easter; on this day, believers often receive an ashen cross on their foreheads to mark their repentance and mortality.

Saturday, February 15

• Nirvana Day – Buddhism
  In northern Buddhist traditions, this day marks the anniversary of the historical Buddha’s death in ca. 486 B.C.E. and his subsequent entrance into enlightenment or Nirvana.  In southern Buddhist traditions, the Buddha’s death is commemorated during Visakha.

Sunday, February 18

• Maha Shivaratri – Hinduism
  This festival marks a remembrance of “overcoming darkness and ignorance” in life. As the waning moon transforms into the new moon, it is observed by remembering Shiva and chanting prayers, fasting, and meditating on ethics and virtues such as honesty, non-injury to others, charity, forgiveness.

Saturday, February 24

• Lantern Festival – Taoism
  This festival marks the end of the new year’s celebration in China, with the entrance of the first full moon.  Children venture out to temples with paper lanterns, solving riddles written on the lanterns.

• Maghi Purnima – Hinduism
  Maghi Purnima in India, or Magha Purnima, is the day of the full moon that occurs in the Hindu calendar month of Magha. Many devotees worship the Moon, and some Hindis use this day to commemorate the founder of Buddhism, Gautama Buddha.

• Lailat al Bara'ah – Islam
  Also known as Lailat Al Baraah, Barat, Shab-e-Bara or Night of Forgiveness, during this holy day Muslims seek forgiveness for sins. They spend the night in special prayers. It is regarded as one of the most sacred nights on the Islamic calendar.

Sunday, February 25

• ‘Alá – Bahá’í
  The beginning of the nineteenth and final month, meaning “loftiness,” and also of a 19-day fast in preparation for Naw Rúz [see March 21].  Adult believers in good health abstain from food and drink from dawn to dusk.

Monday, February 26

• Ayyám-i-Há [through February 29] – Bahá’í
  Ayyam-i-Ha, or the Intercalary Days, is a period dedicated to socializing, being hospitable, giving generously to the poor and needy, and preparing for the upcoming month of fasting. Depending on the year, Ayyam-i-Ha will vary in its duration and it is composed of the excess of days that fall outside of the 19 months of 19 days: the Badi Calendar.

March 2024

Friday, March 1

• Saint David of Wales Day – Christian
  This day is a celebration of not only St. David, but also Wales as a whole. St. David was revered for his teachings, founded several monastic settlements and churches, and is believed to have performed miracles during his life. Traditional festivities include wearing daffodils and leeks, recognized symbols of Wales and Saint David, respectively, eating traditional Welsh food including cawl and Welsh rarebit, and women wearing traditional Welsh dress.

Sunday, March 10

• Ramadān begins [through April 9] – Islam
  A holy month of fasting and prayer, in which all adult and physically competent Muslims abstain from food, water, and sexual relations from dawn to sunset. Ramadān ends on April 9th.

Monnday, March 11

• Ghambar Hamaspathmaedem, Fravardegan, or Muktad [through March 2o] – Zoroastrianism
  A celebration of the creation of human beings and a commemoration of souls who have died. Prayers are offered to the fravashis (the divine spark within each human, which lives forever), asking for their blessings and protection.

Thursday, March 14

• Memorial of Shan-tao (Zendō) – Buddhism
  Anniversary of the death of a Chinese Pure Land Buddhist priest who died in 681 C.E. He taught that enlightenment could occur simply through repetition of the name of Amitabha or Amida Buddha (nianfo or nembutsu), and is honored as the Fifth Patriarch of that Buddhist school.

Friday, March 15

• Sri Ramakrishna Jayanti – Hinduism
  A celebration of the birth of the teacher of Swami Vivekananda, who introduced Hinduism to the United States at the first Parliament of the World’s Religions in Chicago in 1893.

Sunday, March 17

• Saint Patrick’s Day – Christianity (Western churches)
  A commemoration of the missionary bishop who evangelized Ireland in the fifth century C.E.

• Cheesefare Sunday [Forgiveness Sunday] – Christianity (Eastern churches)
  This feast marks the last day of eating dairy products prior to Holy Pascha (also known as Easter). The Great Fast or Great Lent begins at sundown and is marked by forty days of vegetarian fasting, intense prayer, and almsgiving in preparation for Holy Week. The following day is known as Clean Monday.

Monday, March 18

• Week of Prayer for Christian Unity – Christian [through January 25]
  The Week of Prayer for Christian Unity has a history of over 100 years , in which Christians around the world have taken part in an octave of prayer for visible Christian unity.

• Bodhi Day – Buddhism
  Bodhi Day celebrates the day the “Historic Buddha”, aka Siddhartha Gautama, Sakyamuni Buddha, achieved enlightenment. There are really two Bodhi Days each year. The “Secular” Bodhi Day, celebrated on a fixed date in much of the Western World and Japan, is December 8. The other Bodhi Day is based on the lunar calendar so, like Easter, the date changes year to year.

Tuesday, March 19

• Ostara — Pagan
  Ostara takes place on the Spring Equinox. In 2024, this is March 19th in the Northern hemisphere and September 21st in the Southern hemisphere. Ostara marks the moment in the wheel of the year where the balance between light and dark is restored. Pagan celebrations during this holiday have themes of balance, renewal, and rebirth.

• Feast of Saint Joseph– Christian
  Celebrated every year on March 19th, this is the principal feast day of Saint Joseph, husband of the Virgin Mary and earthly father of Jesus Christ. It has the rank of a solemnity in the Catholic Church. It is also the day Italy celebrates Father’s Day and when those with the name is Joseph or Josephine, celebrate their onomastico.

Saturday, March 23

• Purim [through February 24] – Judaism
  Purim is celebrated every year on the 14th of the Hebrew month of Adar (late winter/early spring). It is a celebration of the Jews’ rescue from an evil plot to destroy them while they were living in Persia, the events of which are recorded in the Hebrew biblical book of Esther. The holiday includes reading the Megillah (the scroll of Esther), exchanging gifts, and special pastries called hamantashen.

Sunday, March 24

• Orthodox Sunday – Christianity (Eastern churches)
  A celebration of the restoration of icons, which had been banned from Byzantine churches in the seventh century. The Christian empress Theodora ordered them restored in 843 C.E.

Monday, March 25

• Hola Mohalla — Sikhism
  "Hola Mohalla is a Sikh festival that takes place on the first of the lunar month of Chet. It follows Holi by one day; Hola is the masculine form of the feminine sounding Holi. In contrast to Holi, when people shower each other in colored powder Hola Mohalla is an occasion for Sikhs to demonstrate their martial skills in simulated battles.

• Feast of the Annunciation – Christianity (Western and Eastern churches)
  This festival marks the visit of the Archangel Gabriel to Mary of Nazareth and Mary’s faithful response to God’s plan by consenting to be Jesus’ mother.   

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