Miscellaneous March Holidays
Shrove "Fat" Tuesday
Ash Wednesday
Nowruz
Women's History Month
| 2018 date | February 13 |
|---|---|
| 2019 date | March 5 |
| 2020 date | February 25 |
| 2021 date | February 16 |
Shrove Tuesday (also known in Commonwealth countries and Ireland as Pancake Tuesday or Pancake Day) is the day in February or March immediately preceding Ash Wednesday (the first day of Lent), which is celebrated in some countries by consuming pancakes. In others, especially those where it is called Mardi Gras or some translation thereof, this is a carnival day, and also the last day of "fat eating" or "gorging" before the fasting period of Lent.
This moveable feast is determined by Easter. The expression "Shrove Tuesday" comes from the word shrive, meaning "absolve".[1] Shrove Tuesday is observed by many Christians, including Anglicans, Lutherans, Methodistsand Roman Catholics,[2] who "make a special point of self-examination, of considering what wrongs they need to repent, and what amendments of life or areas of spiritual growth they especially need to ask God's help in dealing with."[3]
As this is the last day of the liturgical season historically known as Shrovetide, before the penitential season of Lent, related popular practices, such as indulging in food that one gives up for the upcoming forty days, are associated with Shrove Tuesday celebrations. The term Mardi Gras is French for "Fat Tuesday", referring to the practice of the last night of eating richer, fatty foods before the ritual fasting of the Lenten season, which begins on Ash Wednesday.
Ash Wednesday
| 2018 date | February 14 |
|---|---|
| 2019 date | March 6[1] |
| 2020 date | February 26 |
| 2021 date | February 17 |
Ash Wednesday is a Christian holy day of prayer, fasting, even if it is not a holy day of obligation [2] It is preceded by Shrove Tuesdayand falls on the first day of Lent,[3] the six weeks of penitence before Easter. Ash Wednesday is traditionally observed by Western Christians, including Anglicans, Episcopalians, Lutherans, Old Catholics, Methodists, Presbyterians, some Baptists,[4] and most Latin Rite Roman Catholics.[note 1]
Because it is the first day of Lent, many Christians, on Ash Wednesday, often begin marking a Lenten calendar, praying a Lenten daily devotional, and abstaining from a luxury that they will not partake of until Easter arrives.[7]
Ash Wednesday derives its name from the placing of repentance ashes on the foreheads of participants to either the words "Repent, and believe in the Gospel" or the dictum "Remember that you are dust, and to dust you shall return."[8] The ashes may be prepared by burning palm leaves from the previous year's Palm Sunday celebrations.
| Date | March 19, 20, or 21 |
|---|---|
| 2018 date | Tuesday 20 March 2018 at 16:15 UTC * |
| 2019 date | Wednesday 20 March 2019 at 21:58 UTC * |
| 2020 date | Friday 20 March 2020 at 03:50 UTC * |
| 2021 date | Saturday 20 March 2021 at 09:37 UTC * |
Nowruz (Persian: نوروز Nowruz, [nouˈɾuːz]; literally "new day") (also spelled Norooz and Norouz) is the name of the Iranian New Year's Day,[16][17] also known as the Persian New Year,[18][19] which is celebrated worldwide by various ethno-linguistic groups.
Despite its Iranian and Zoroastrian origins, Nowruz has been celebrated by diverse communities. It has been celebrated for over 3,000 years in Western Asia, Central Asia, the Caucasus, the Black Sea Basin, and the Balkans.[20][21][22][23][24][25][26][27][28] It is a secularholiday for most celebrants that is enjoyed by people of several different faiths, but remains a holy day for Zoroastrians.[29]
Nowruz is the day of the vernal equinox, and marks the beginning of spring in the Northern Hemisphere. It marks the first day of the first month (Farvardin) of the Iranian calendar.[30] It usually occurs on March 21 or the previous or following day, depending on where it is observed. The moment the Sun crosses the celestial equator and equalizes night and day is calculated exactly every year, and families gather together to observe the rituals.
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In the United States, Women's History Month traces its beginnings back to the first International Women's Day in 1911. In 1978, the school district of Sonoma, California participated in Women's History Week, an event designed around the week of March 8 (International Women's Day). In 1979 a fifteen-day conference about women's history was held at Sarah Lawrence College from July 13 until July 29, chaired by historian Gerda Lerner.[2][3] It was co-sponsored by Sarah Lawrence College, the Women's Action Alliance, and the Smithsonian Institution.[2]When its participants learned about the success of the Sonoma County's Women's History Week celebration, they decided to initiate similar celebrations within their own organizations, communities, and school districts.[3] They also agreed to support an effort to secure a National Women's History Week.[3]
In February 1980, President Jimmy Carter issued a presidential proclamation declaring the week of March 8, 1980, as National Women's History Week.[3] The proclamation stated, "From the first settlers who came to our shores, from the first American Indian families who befriended them, men and women have worked together to build this nation. Too often the women were unsung and sometimes their contributions went unnoticed. But the achievements, leadership, courage, strength and love of the women who built America was as vital as that of the men whose names we know so well. As Dr. Gerda Lerner has noted, 'Women’s History is Women’s Right.' It is an essential and indispensable heritage from which we can draw pride, comfort, courage, and long-range vision. I ask my fellow Americans to recognize this heritage with appropriate activities during National Women’s History Week, March 2–8, 1980. I urge libraries, schools, and community organizations to focus their observances on the leaders who struggled for equality –Susan B. Anthony, Sojourner Truth, Lucy Stone, Lucretia Mott, Elizabeth Cady Stanton, Harriet Tubman, and Alice Paul. Understanding the true history of our country will help us to comprehend the need for full equality under the law for all our people. This goal can be achieved by ratifying the 27th Amendment to the United States Constitution, which states that 'Equality of Rights under the Law shall not be denied or abridged by the United States or by any state on account of sex.'"[3] Carter was referring to the Equal Rights Amendment, which was never ratified, not to the amendment which did become the 27th Amendment to the United States Constitution after his presidency.
In 1981, responding to the growing popularity of Women's History Week, Sen. Orrin Hatch (R-Utah) and Rep Barbara Mikulski (D-Maryland) co-sponsored the first Joint Congressional Resolution proclaiming a Women's History Week. Congress passed their resolution as Pub. L. 97-28, which authorized and requested the President to proclaim the week beginning March 7, 1982 as “Women’s History Week."[4] Throughout the next several years, Congress continued to pass joint resolutions designating a week in March as Women’s History Week.[4] Schools across the country also began to have their own local celebrations of Women's History Week and even Women's History Month. By 1986, fourteen states had declared March as Women's History Month.[3]
Women's History Month[edit]
In 1987, after being petitioned by the National Women's History Project, Congress passed Pub. L. 100-9 which designated the month of March 1987 as Women’s History Month.[4]Between 1988 and 1994, Congress passed additional resolutions requesting and authorizing the President to proclaim March of each year as Women’s History Month.[4] Since 1988, U.S. presidents have issued annual proclamations designating the month of March as Women’s History Month.
State departments of education also began to encourage celebrations of Women's History Month as a way to promote equality among the sexes in the classroom.[4] Maryland, Pennsylvania, Alaska, New York, Oregon, and other states developed and distributed curriculum materials in all of their public schools, which prompted educational events such as essay contests. Within a few years, thousands of schools and communities began to celebrate of Women's History Month. They planned engaging and stimulating programs about women's roles in history and society, with support and encouragement from governors, city councils, school boards, and the U.S. Congress.
In March 2011, the Obama administration released a report, Women in America: Indicators of Social and Economic Well-Being,[5] showing women's status in the U.S. in 2011 and how it had changed over time.[6] This report was the first comprehensive federal report on women since the report produced by the Commission on the Status of Women in 1963.[6]
Some organizations have issued statements marking Women's History Month, for example the Republican National Committee and the Democratic National Committee.[7][8]
A President's Commission on the Celebration of Women in History in America recently sponsored hearings in many parts of the country. The Women's Progress Commission will soon conduct hearings to promote interest in preserving areas that are relevant in American women's history. Some of the groups promoting this interest are state historical societies, women's organizations, and groups such as the Girl Scouts of the USA.
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Lent (Latin: Quadragesima, 'Fortieth') is a solemnity religious observance in the Catholic liturgical calendar that begins on Ash Wednesday and ends approximately six weeks later, before Easter Sunday. The purpose of Lent is the preparation of the believer for Easter through prayer, doing penance, repentance of sins, almsgiving, and denial of ego. This event is observed in the Anglican, Eastern Orthodox, Oriental Orthodox, Lutheran, Methodist, and Catholic Churches.[1][2][3] Some Anabaptist and evangelical churches also observe the Lenten season.[4][5]
The last week of Lent is Holy Week, starting with Palm Sunday. Following the New Testament story, Jesus' crucifixion is commemorated on Good Friday, and at the beginning of the next week the joyful celebration of Easter Sunday recalls the accounts of the Resurrection of Jesus Christ.
In Lent, many Christians commit to fasting, as well as giving up certain luxuries in order to replicate the account of the sacrifice of Jesus Christ's journey into the desert for 40 days.[6][7][8] Many Christians also add a Lenten spiritual discipline, such as reading a daily devotional or praying through a Lenten calendar, to draw themselves near to God.[9][10] The Stations of the Cross, a devotional commemoration of Christ's carrying the Cross and of his execution, are often observed. Many Roman Catholic and some Protestantchurches remove flowers from their altars, while crucifixes, religious statues, and other elaborate religious symbols are often veiled in violet fabrics in solemn observance of the event. Throughout Christendom, some adherents mark the season with the traditional abstention from the consumption of meat, most notably among Lutherans, Roman Catholics and Anglicans.[11][12][13]
Lent is traditionally described as lasting for 40 days, in commemoration of the 40 days Jesus spent fasting in the desert, according to the Gospels of Matthew, Mark and Luke, before beginning his public ministry, during which he endured temptation by Satan.[14][15]Depending on the Christian denomination and local custom, Lent ends on the evening of Holy Thursday[16] with Easter Vigil at sundown on Holy Saturday, on the morning of Easter Sunday, or at the midnight between them.
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World Sleep Day (the Friday before the northern hemisphere vernal equinox) is an annual event organized by the World Sleep Day Committee of the World Sleep Society, formerly World Association of Sleep Medicine (WASM), since 2008.[1] The goal is to celebrate the benefits of good and healthy sleep and to draw society's attention to the burden of sleep problems and their medical, educational, and social aspects, and to promote the prevention and management of sleep disorders.
Through World Sleep Day the World Sleep Society raises awareness of sleep disorders and their better understanding and prevention, and aims to reduce the burden of sleep problems on society, which threaten the health or quality of life of as much as 45% of the world's population [citation needed].
World Sleep Day is observed annually on the Friday before the March Equinox.[3] The first World Sleep Day was held on 14 March 2008. Events involving discussions, presentations of educational materials and exhibitions take place around the world and online.
| Year | Date | Slogan |
|---|---|---|
| 2008 | 14 March | 'Sleep well, live fully awake'[4] |
| 2009 | 20 March | 'Drive alert, arrive safe'[5] |
| 2010 | 19 March | 'Sleep Well, Stay Healthy'[6] |
| 2011 | 18 March | 'Sleep Well, Grow Healthy'[4][7] |
| 2012 | 16 March | 'Breathe Easily, Sleep Well'[8] |
| 2013 | 15 March | 'Good Sleep, Healthy Aging'[8] |
| 2014 | 14 March | 'Restful Sleep, Easy Breathing, Healthy Body'[8] |
| 2015 | 13 March | 'When sleep is sound, health and happiness abound' |
| 2016 | 18 March | 'Good Sleep is a Reachable Dream' |
| 2017 | 17 March | 'Sleep Soundly, Nurture Life' |
| 2018 | 16 March | 'Join the Sleep World, Preserve Your Rhythms to Enjoy Life' |
| 2019 | 15 March | 'Healthy Sleep, Healthy Aging' |
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The equinoctial Earth Day is celebrated on the March equinox (around March 20) to mark the precise moment of astronomical spring in the Northern Hemisphere, and of astronomical autumn in the Southern Hemisphere. An equinox in astronomy is that point in time (not a whole day) when the Sun is directly above the Earth's equator, occurring around March 20 and September 23 each year. In most cultures, the equinoxesand solstices are considered to start or separate the seasons.
John McConnell[31] first introduced the idea of a global holiday called "Earth Day" at the 1969 UNESCO Conference on the Environment. The first Earth Day proclamation was issued by San Francisco Mayor Joseph Alioto on March 21, 1970. Celebrations were held in various cities, such as San Francisco and in Davis, California with a multi-day street party. UN Secretary-General U Thant supported McConnell's global initiative to celebrate this annual event; and on February 26, 1971, he signed a proclamation to that effect, saying:
United Nations secretary-general Kurt Waldheim observed Earth Day with similar ceremonies on the March equinox in 1972, and the United Nations Earth Day ceremony has continued each year since on the day of the March equinox (the United Nations also works with organizers of the April 22 global event). Margaret Mead added her support for the equinox Earth Day, and in 1978 declared:
At the moment of the equinox, it is traditional to observe Earth Day by ringing the Japanese Peace Bell, which was donated by Japan to the United Nations.[34] Over the years, celebrations have occurred in various places worldwide at the same time as the UN celebration. On March 20, 2008, in addition to the ceremony at the United Nations, ceremonies were held in New Zealand, and bells were sounded in California, Vienna, Paris, Lithuania, Tokyo, and many other locations. The equinox Earth Day at the UN is organized by the Earth Society Foundation.[35]
Earth Day ringing the peace bell is celebrated around the world in many towns, ringing the Peace Bell in Vienna,[36] Berlin, and elsewhere. A memorable event took place at the UN in Geneva, celebrating a Minute for Peace ringing the Japanese Shinagawa Peace Bell with the help of the Geneva Friendship Association and the Global Youth Foundation,[37]directly after in deep mourning about the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant catastrophe 10 days before.
Beside the Spring Equinox for the Northern Hemisphere, the observance of the Spring Equinox for the Southern Hemisphere in September is of equal importance. The International Day of Peace[38] is celebrated on September 21, and can thus be considered to accord with the original intentions of John McConnell, U Thant and others.
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March 1
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March 1
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How can the heart travel to God, when it is chained by its desires?
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March 2
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Do not praise your own faith exclusively so that you disbelieve all the rest. If you do this you will miss much good. Nay, you will miss the whole truth of the matter. God, the Omniscient and the Omnipresent, cannot be confined to any one creed, for He says in the Quran, wheresoever ye turn, there is the face of Allah. Everybody praises what he knows. His God is his own creature, and in praising it, he praises himself. Which he would not do if he were just, for his dislike is based on ignorance.
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March 3
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March 3
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God sleeps in the rock, dreams in the plant, stirs in the animal, and awakens in man.
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March 4
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March 4
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My heart can take on any form:
A meadow for gazelles,
A cloister for monks,
For the idols, sacred ground,
Ka'ba for the circling pilgrim,
The tables of the Torah,
The scrolls of the Quran.
My creed is Love;
Wherever its caravan turns along the way,
That is my belief,
My faith.
A meadow for gazelles,
A cloister for monks,
For the idols, sacred ground,
Ka'ba for the circling pilgrim,
The tables of the Torah,
The scrolls of the Quran.
My creed is Love;
Wherever its caravan turns along the way,
That is my belief,
My faith.
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March 5
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I believe in the religion of Love, whatever direction its caravans may take, for Love is my religion and my faith.
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March 6
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Beware of confining yourself to a particular belief and denying all else, for much good would elude you - indeed, the knowledge of reality would elude you. Be in yourself a matter for all forms of belief, for God is too vast and tremendous to be restricted to one belief rather than another.
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March 7
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The ignorant one does not see his ignorance as he basks in its darkness; nor does the knowledgeable one see his own knowledge, for he basks in its light
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March 8
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Whoever builds his faith exclusively on demonstrative proofs and deductive arguments, builds a faith on which it is impossible to rely. For he is affected by the negativities of constant objections. Certainty (al-yaqin) does not derive from the evidences of the mind but pours out from the depths of the heart.
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March 9
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When you know yourself, your 'I'ness vanishes and you know that you and Allah are one and the same.
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March 10
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There was a time, when I blamed my companion if his religion did not resemble mine. Now, however, my heart accepts every form....Love alone is my religion.
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March 11
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Your personal nature seeks its paradise.
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March 12
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My heart has become capable of every form: It is a pasture for gazelles And a monastery for Christian monks, And the pilgrim's Ka'ba, And the tablets of the Torah, And the book of the Koran. I follow the religion of Love: Whatever way love's camel takes, That is my religion, my faith.
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March 13
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Oh, Lord, nourish me not with love, but with the desire for love.
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March 14
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