Christian traditions
Christian traditions span the globe, from Ethiopian Orthodox fasts and Filipino Simbang Gabi to Swedish Lucia, Mexican posadas, Easter in Greece and the harvest services of Britain.
Christian traditions span the globe, from Ethiopian Orthodox fasts and Filipino Simbang Gabi to Swedish Lucia, Mexican posadas, Easter in Greece and the harvest services of Britain. They centre on Christmas, Lent, Holy Week and Easter, Pentecost, saints' days and the sacraments of baptism, communion, marriage and burial. Catholic, Orthodox, Protestant and Pentecostal churches each have their customs, and local cultures have shaped them in distinct ways. Here they are described with respect for the believers who keep them, and for the variety of ways of keeping them.
The church year
The year begins with Advent and builds to Christmas, then Epiphany, Lent, Holy Week and Easter, followed by Pentecost and the long season of ordinary time. Saints' days mark local patrons, and many towns have a patronal feast with a procession and fair. Orthodox churches keep their own calendar, so Christmas falls on 7 January in several countries. Fasting seasons shape food, and feasts follow.
Around the world
Christians in different countries have made the faith their own: the dawn masses of the Philippines, the carols of Wales, the gospel choirs of the American South, the white-clad pilgrims of Lalibela, the Corpus Christi carpets of flowers in Spain, and the Nativity scenes of Naples. These customs combine faith with local food, music and craft, and are among the most visible traditions of the world.
Written by the EveryParampara desk with AI assistance. Background on Christian (faith). Customs differ from place to place and family to family. If this is your tradition and we have it wrong, tell us.
🇫🇷 France and 5 moreFeast of the Sacred HeartSollemnitas Sacratissimi Cordis Iesu
A Catholic holy day honoring Christ's love and mercy, observed in early summerSpiritual
🇺🇸 United States and 5 moreFeast of the Holy Name of Jesus
A Christian observance honoring the name of Jesus, celebrated on various dates across different traditions.Spiritual
🇦🇲 Armenia and 5 moreFeast of the TransfigurationՊայծառակերպութիւն
A Christian holy day marking the revelation of Christ's divine glory on Mount TaborSpiritual · Feasts and festival meals
🇩🇪 Germany and 5 moreSaint Sylvester's Day
A Christian feast day and year-end celebration marked across Europe and beyondSeasonal · Dinner
🇵🇱 Zakopane, PolandKulig
A traditional Polish winter sleigh ride party celebrated during the Carnival seasonFestival · Feasts and festival meals
🇧🇦 Bosnia and HerzegovinaDay of Republika SrpskaДан Републике Српске
An annual civic holiday observed across Republika Srpska on 9 JanuaryCeremony
🇸🇾 Syria and 6 moreKha b'Nisanܚܕ ܒܢܝܣܢ
A spring new year on 1 April, kept with parades, poems and dancing by AssyriansFestival
🇧🇪 Geraardsbergen, BelgiumKrakelingen and Tonnekensbrand
A bread throw and a hilltop bonfire that close the winter in GeraardsbergenFestival
🇷🇸 SerbiaVertepвертеп
A Serbian Orthodox Christmas Eve custom, named for the cave of the NativitySpiritual
🇮🇸 Skálholt, IcelandThorlak's MassÞorláksmessa
Iceland's feast of its patron saint on 23 December, the last day before ChristmasSpiritual
🇬🇪 GeorgiaTheodore's Saturday
The first Saturday of Lent, kept with boiled wheat and visits to the gravesSpiritual · Sweets given and shared
🇮🇱 Jerusalem, IsraelSong of Ascentsשיר המעלות
Fifteen Hebrew psalms sung by pilgrims going up to Jerusalem and by monks at prayerSpiritual
🇷🇸 Serbia and 5 moreĐurđevdanЂурђевдан
A spring festival and feast of Saint George kept across the Balkans and Eastern EuropeFestival · Feasts and festival meals
🇮🇪 Ireland and 2 moreEmber daysQuatuor Tempora
A quarterly Western Christian rhythm of fasting, prayer and seasonal thanksgivingSeasonal · Fasting and breaking the fast
🇩🇪 GermanySeven Sleepers' DaySiebenschläfertag
A German feast day on June 27 where the weather predicts the next seven weeks of summer.Seasonal
🇬🇧 United KingdomHarvest Festival
An autumn thanksgiving for the crops, kept in churches and schools across the UKSeasonal · Supper
🇮🇳 Mumbai, IndiaAgeraआगेरा
Mumbai's East Indian Catholics give thanks for the harvest on the first Sunday of OctoberFestival
🇸🇪 Sweden and 2 moreSaint Knut's DayTjugondag Knut
A Nordic holiday marking the twentieth and final day of Christmas each JanuarySeasonal · Sweets given and shared
🇮🇹 Italy and 2 moreFeast of Saint Thomas Aquinas
An annual Christian feast day honouring the medieval theologian Saint Thomas AquinasSpiritual
🇬🇧 United KingdomJack o' Lent
An English Lenten custom of abusing and burning a straw figureSeasonal
🇦🇲 Armenia and 4 moreBlessing of the Throats
A Christian prayer rite touching throats with crossed candles for protection from illnessSpiritual
🇵🇸 Jerusalem, Palestine and 1 moreThursday of the Deadخميس الأموات
A spring day of cemetery visits, prayer, and shared yellow breads across the LevantSpiritual · Sweets given and shared
🇮🇹 Turin, Italy and 5 moreMary Help of ChristiansSancta Maria Auxilium Christianorum
A Christian feast and devotion honouring Mary as a protector, observed on 24 MaySpiritual
🇷🇺 Russia and 3 moreGeorge's Day in AutumnЕгорий Осенний (Yegoriy Osenniy), Юрьев день (Yuriev den); Serbian: Ђурђиц (Đurđic)
The autumn feast of Saint George, kept at harvest's end in Slavic landsFestival
🇫🇷 Lyon, France and 2 moreWeek of Prayer for Christian Unity
An eight-day international period of shared prayer for reconciliation among churchesSpiritual
🇫🇷 Cayenne, FranceCarnival of French Guiana
A weeks-long carnival of masked balls and parades, from Epiphany to Mardi GrasFestival
🇺🇸 United States and 1 moreKingdomtide
An autumn liturgical season focusing on Christ's reign in heaven and on earthSpiritual
🇮🇹 Venice, Italy and 2 moreFeast of Saint MarkFesta di san Marco
Saint Mark's day on 25 April, kept with rosebuds in Venice and harvest care in LithuaniaSpiritual
🇸🇰 SlovakiaName days in SlovakiaMeniny
The Slovak tradition of celebrating personal name days alongside birthdaysSeasonal
🇪🇹 Ethiopia and 1 moreFilsetaፍልሰታ
A fifteen-day fast and feast honouring the Dormition and Assumption of MarySpiritual · Fasting and breaking the fast
🇷🇸 Serbia and 2 moreZapisзапис
A consecrated village tree marked with a cross, venerated in Serbian folk traditionSpiritual · Feasts and festival meals
Photo credits on this page
The small pictures above come from Wikimedia Commons under free licences. Some are cropped to fit.
- Mary Help of Christians: Didier Descouens, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
- Seven Sleepers' Day: either an unknown master or „Frater Rufillus“, Public domain, source
- Song of Ascents: No machine-readable author provided. Amoruso~commonswiki assumed (base, CC BY-SA 2.5, source
- Thorlak's Mass: Orf3us, Public domain, source
- Kha b'Nisan: Athrakado, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
- Feast of the Transfiguration: Unknown artist, Public domain, source
- Kulig: various, Public domain, source
- Day of Republika Srpska: Ministry of Defence of Republic of Serbia, CC BY-SA 3.0, source
- Feast of Saint Mark: No machine-readable author provided. Cremedia assumed (based on copyri, Public domain, source
- Week of Prayer for Christian Unity: Kaihsu Tai, CC BY-SA 3.0, source
- George's Day in Autumn: Sergey Ivanov, Public domain, source
- Krakelingen and Tonnekensbrand: Jan Coppens at nl.wikipedia, CC BY-SA 1.0, source
- Feast of the Sacred Heart: José de Páez, Public domain, source
- Saint Sylvester's Day: Unknown medieval artist in Rome, Public domain, source
- Carnival of French Guiana: Didwin973, CC BY-SA 3.0, source
- Zapis: Zblagojevic, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
- Đurđevdan: Anonymous Russian icon painter (before 1917) Public domain image (acco, Public domain, source
- Ember days: Richard Symonds, CC BY 3.0, source
- Harvest Festival: Derek Harper, CC BY-SA 2.0, source
- Agera: Tiven Gonsalves, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
- Feast of Saint Thomas Aquinas: Unknown author, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
- Blessing of the Throats: © Ralph Hammann - Wikimedia Commons, Public domain, source