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.
About this page
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.
RegionSouth AsiaSoutheast AsiaEast AsiaCentral Asia and the CaucasusMiddle EastNorth AfricaSub-Saharan AfricaEuropeNorth AmericaLatin America and the CaribbeanOceania
🇵🇭 Manila, PhilippinesFlores de Mayo
A month-long Philippine festival of daily Marian prayers, flower offerings and pageantsFestival · Tea-time and snacking customs
🇪🇬 Egypt and 1 moreLentQuadragesima
Forty days of prayer, fasting and giving that lead Christians towards EasterSpiritual · Fasting and breaking the fast
🇵🇱 Poland and 5 moreŚwięconka
The Polish Holy Saturday blessing of baskets filled with Easter morning foodSpiritual
🇬🇧 United KingdomLammashlāfmæsse
A harvest festival marking the blessing of the first baked bread from the new wheat cropSeasonal
🇮🇳 India and 2 moreFuneral
The ceremony a community holds when someone dies, from burial to cremationRite of passage
🇦🇲 Yerevan, Armenia and 5 moreKhachkarխաչքար
A carved stone cross raised as a memorial, a grave marker and a prayer in stoneCraft
🇧🇴 Oruro, Bolivia and 3 moreDiabladaDanza de los Diablos
An Andean masked dance depicting a battle between devils and the Archangel MichaelPerformance
🇹🇹 Trinidad and Tobago and 3 moreHosay
An Indo-Caribbean Muharram commemoration with ornate floats, drumming and processionsSpiritual · Fasting and breaking the fast
🇬🇷 GreeceMagiritsaΜαγειρίτσα
A Greek lamb offal soup eaten after the midnight Easter service to break the fastTable custom · Fasting and breaking the fast
🇪🇨 Latacunga, EcuadorMama Negra
A twice-yearly festival in Latacunga blending Andean, Spanish and African heritageFestival
🇱🇮 Vaduz, LiechtensteinLiechtenstein National DayStaatsfeiertag Liechtenstein
Liechtenstein's national holiday celebrated with castle speeches, bonfires and fireworksCeremony
🇺🇸 New Orleans, United StatesJazz funeral
A New Orleans funeral march led by brass music, moving from mourning to joyful danceRite of passage
🇧🇴 La Paz, Bolivia and 1 moreAlasitasFeria de la Alasita
A month-long Bolivian fair where people exchange miniatures to invite good fortuneFestival
🇬🇧 United KingdomPlough Sunday
An English church blessing of the land and farm tools at the start of the yearSpiritual
🇮🇹 Venice, Italy and 5 moreCarnival
A season of parades, masks and feasting in the days before LentFestival · Feasts and festival meals
🇨🇳 ChinaChinese funeral rituals
Traditional rites of mourning, vigils, offerings, and ancestor veneration across ChinaRite of passage
🇮🇱 Israel and 1 moreLord's DayKyriake hemera
Sunday, the weekly day of Christian worship, kept as a memory of the resurrectionSpiritual
🇮🇱 Jerusalem, IsraelVia Dolorosaطريق الآلام (Arabic) / ויה דולורוזה (Hebrew)
A pilgrim walk through Jerusalem's Old City, marking the last journey of JesusSpiritual
🇮🇳 India and 4 moreProstration
Bowing the whole body to the ground, in prayer and as a sign of respectSpiritual
🇪🇹 Ethiopia and 5 moreNativity Fast
A forty-day Christian period of abstinence and prayer observed in preparation for Christmas.Spiritual
🇫🇷 FranceConfirmation
A Christian rite of laying on of hands that completes baptism and strengthens faithRite of passage
🇬🇧 United Kingdom and 5 moreHarvest festival
A thanks for the gathered crop, kept with church meals, songs and shared foodSeasonal · Feasts and festival meals
🇮🇹 Rome, Italy and 5 moreAll Souls' Day
A Christian observance on 2 November for prayer and remembrance of those who have died.Spiritual
🇬🇭 GhanaOutdooringkpojiemɔ (Ga), abadinto (Akan), vihehedego (Ewe)
A Ghanaian ceremony eight days after birth, when a baby is brought outdoors and namedRite of passage · Feasts and festival meals
🇬🇪 GeorgiaAlaverdobaალავერდობა
A harvest and saint's feast celebrated at Alaverdi Cathedral in eastern GeorgiaSpiritual
🇺🇸 Spokane, United States and 5 moreFather's Day
A day to honour fathers and fatherhood, kept on many different dates worldwideFestival
🇱🇧 Lebanon and 2 moreAnnunciationΟ Ευαγγελισμός της Θεοτόκου
A Christian feast marking the angel Gabriel's message to Mary about bearing Jesus, kept on 25 March.Festival
🇰🇪 Kenya and 5 moreBurial
Placing the dead in the ground or a structure to honor them and guide their journey.Rite of passage
🇮🇱 Israel and 6 moreHoly SaturdaySabbatum Sanctum
The closing day of Holy Week, a Saturday of waiting, fasting and vigil before EasterSpiritual
🇨🇦 Canada and 1 moreBeatification
A Catholic rite conferring the title Blessed and allowing local public venerationSpiritual
🇮🇳 India and 5 moreNativity of Mary
A Christian feast day honouring the birth of Mary, the mother of JesusSpiritual · Lunch
🇷🇺 Moscow, Russia and 5 moreDormition of the Mother of God
A major feast in Eastern Christianity marking the death and heavenly ascent of Mary.Spiritual
🇬🇧 United Kingdom and 6 moreSaint George's Day
A saint's feast on 23 April, kept by churches and patron nations from England to GeorgiaSpiritual
🇸🇬 Singapore and 3 moreMatchmaking
The custom of using a trusted intermediary to introduce partners for marriageRite of passage
🇩🇪 Germany and 3 moreVisitation
A Christian feast commemorating Mary's journey to visit her cousin ElizabethSpiritual
🇪🇬 Egypt and 5 moreLibation
The ceremonial gift of drink given to deities, ancestors, and the earthSpiritual · Tea, coffee and drinking ceremonies
🇩🇪 Wittenberg, Germany and 5 moreReformation Day
An annual Christian observance marking the start of the Protestant ReformationSpiritual
🇺🇸 United States and 2 moreTrinity SundayDominica Trinitatis
A Christian feast honouring the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit after PentecostSpiritual
🇮🇹 Italy and 2 morePresentation of Mary
A Christian feast on November 21 marking a child's dedication to God in Jerusalem.Spiritual
🇬🇧 St Andrews, United Kingdom and 10 moreSaint Andrew's DayLà Naomh Anndrais
The feast of Andrew the Apostle, kept on 30 November and Scotland's national daySpiritual
🇺🇦 Ukraine and 2 moreIntercession of the TheotokosПокровъ
An Eastern Christian autumn feast honoring the protective veil of the Virgin MarySpiritual
🇪🇬 Alexandria, Egypt and 5 moreCenobitic monasticism
A communal way of monastic life where monks live, pray, and follow a shared ruleSpiritual · Fasting and breaking the fast
🇺🇸 United States and 1 moreVigil
A purposeful watch of prayer, mourning, or reflection kept through the nightSpiritual · Fasting and breaking the fast
🇷🇺 Russia and 5 moreBeheading of John the Baptist
A Christian holy day of strict fasting that marks the death of John the BaptistSpiritual · Fasting and breaking the fast
🇷🇺 Russia and 5 moreRadonitsaРа́доница (Russian), Ра́даўніца (Belarusian)
A spring day when Orthodox families visit graves, share Easter food and greet the deadSpiritual · Feasts and festival meals
🇵🇭 Philippines and 5 moreFirst Communion
A Christian rite of passage marking a person's initial reception of the Eucharist.Rite of passage
🇮🇪 IrelandSolemnitySolemnitas
The highest rank of celebration in the Roman Catholic liturgical calendarSpiritual
🇱🇹 Lithuania and 5 moreNativity of John the Baptist
A Christian feast day on June 24 that marks the birth of John the Baptist and anticipates Christmas.Festival
Photo credits on this page
The small pictures above come from Wikimedia Commons under free licences. Some are cropped to fit.
- Harvest festival: High Contrast, CC BY 3.0 de, source
- Nativity Fast: User:LoKi, Public domain, source
- Prostration: Meghan Breeze, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
- Via Dolorosa: Gaudenzio Ferrari, Public domain, source
- Antyesti: Unknown author, Public domain, source
- Plough Sunday: John Cowie, CC BY 3.0, source
- Alasitas: Ener6, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
- Liechtenstein National Day: Förkle, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
- Mama Negra: Agencia de Noticias ANDES, CC BY-SA 2.0, source
- Magiritsa: Andrew Dalby, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
- Hosay: Julius Eduard Muller, CC BY-SA 3.0, source
- Diablada: Elemaki, CC BY 3.0, source
- Reformation Day: 95Thesen.jpg : User:Shizhao derivative work: 6birc ( talk ), Public domain, source
- Lent: Manuela Paki-Costa, CC BY-SA 3.0, source
- Flores de Mayo: Markytour777, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
- Alaverdoba: Grigory Gagarin, Public domain, source
- All Souls' Day: William-Adolphe Bouguereau, Public domain, source
- Saint George's Day: Raphael, Public domain, source
- Holy Saturday: Anonymous Unknown author, Public domain, source
- Dormition of the Mother of God: El Greco, Public domain, source
- Beheading of John the Baptist: Caravaggio, Public domain, source
- Radonitsa: Perohanych, CC BY-SA 3.0, source
- Father's Day: Jjsarto, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
- Burial: Rama , commissioned by Wikimédia France, CC BY-SA 2.0 fr, source
- Beatification: Stebunik, CC BY 3.0, source
- Nativity of Mary: Giotto, Public domain, source
- Matchmaking: Pavel Fedotov, Public domain, source
- Libation: Arkady Zarubin ( Аркадий Зарубин ), CC BY-SA 3.0, source
- Vigil: unknown master, Public domain, source
- Nativity of John the Baptist: Brakeet, CC0, source
- Confirmation: Unknown author, CC BY 2.0, source
- Saint Andrew's Day: Henryk Siemiradzki, Public domain, source
- Annunciation: El Greco, Public domain, source
- Trinity Sunday: Max Fürst, Public domain, source
- Visitation: Giotto, Public domain, source
- Presentation of Mary: Zograf Gregorij, Public domain, source
- Intercession of the Theotokos: SNCH, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
- First Communion: Fortepan adományozó URBÁN TAMÁS, CC BY-SA 3.0, source
- Święconka: Błażej Benisz, CC BY-SA 2.5, source
- Lammas: Paddy, CC BY-SA 3.0, source
- Jazz funeral: Photo by Infrogmation, CC BY-SA 3.0, source
- Chinese funeral rituals: Salzmann, E.v., CC BY-SA 3.0 de, source
- Lord's Day: Globetrotter19, CC BY-SA 3.0, source
- Carnival: Etienne Le Cocq, CC BY-SA 3.0, source
- Khachkar: Arantz, CC BY-SA 3.0, source