Pilgrimage

• Festival


  A celebration for religious reasons
• Christmas


  The day/season remembering the birth of Jesus
• Easter


  The season remembering the death and resurrection of Jesus
• What events happen during Christmas

  1. Nativity events are held to remember Jesus' humble birth in a stable

  2. Gifts or donations to charity are given on Christmas day

  3. Church services often include a carol service with songs about Jesus' birth

  4. Some Christians start Christmas Day with a midnight service, called Midnight Mass

  5. Houses are decorated with lights to symbolise Jesus as the light of the world
• 2 reasons Christmas is significant/important

  • Christmas celebrates the incarnation of God. Jesus was born both human and divine so Jesus know what it's like to suffer (which brings comfort to Christians who are also suffering)
  • Christmas celebrates the birth of Jesus. Without Jesus there would be no Christian faith
• 2 reasons Christmas is not significant/important

  • Jesus' birth is only written in 2 of the 4 gospels. If it was important, like the resurrection, it would appear in all 4
  • Christians disagree on the accuracy of what happened at the birth and when it was. The specific date is unknown
• What events happen during Easter

  1. Special services are held specifically for Easter

  2. Processions in the streets are led by a person carrying a wooden cross

  3. Hymns are sung to based on the crucifixion and resurrection

  4. Paschal candles are lit to symbolise the risen Christ

  5. Eggs are eaten as a symbol of new life
• Key events

  • Lent - a period of 40 days when Christians give up something to remember Jesus' 40 days of fasting in the wilderness
  • Palm Sunday – Jesus' entry into Jerusalem
  • Maundy Thursday – The Last Supper and Jesus' arrest
  • Good Friday – Jesus' crucifixion and death
  • Easter Sunday – Jesus' resurrection
• 2 reasons Easter is significant/important

  • On Good Friday, it celebrates Jesus' sacrifice on the cross for mankind's sins. This reinforces the Christian belief of God's omnibenevolence that he gave his only son
  • On Easter Sunday, it celebrates God raising his son Jesus from the dead as well as victory over sin and death. It symbolises the opening of Heaven with the gift of eternal life to everyone
• 2 reasons Easter is not significant/important


  • Without Christmas there would be no Easter so Christmas is more important. Jesus had to be born as a human otherwise he could not have been resurrected from death
  • Christmas also brings people together more in the giving of gifts and charity to others which doesn't happen as much at Easter
• The Bible: 'To you is born a saviour. This refers to Jesus' birth as the saviour of mankind from sin.'
• The Bible: 'God loved the world so much, he gave his only Son. This shows God's omnibenevolence alongside the knowledge that Jesus would be sacrificed for the salvation of humanity.'
• 2 places of pilgrimage

  Lourdes, iona
• why pilgrimages are important

  • strengthens their belief
  • brings together christian community
  • involves prayer
  • closer to god