I participate in the Diversity Awareness Partnership of St. Louis. The organization produces a calendar of holidays among several religions. For more information about this wonderful group, please see www.dapstl.org.
For 2015, I think I’ll share the holidays as they occur, to teach myself and others about important days among different faiths. These are aspects of the spiritual journeys of people around the world, milestones for faith.
The Tenth of Tevet falls on January 1 this year. This is a fast day in Judaism commemorating the siege of Jerusalem by the Babylonians under Nebuchadnezzar II in the 6th century BCE. It’s one of the minor fast days, with no relationship to Hanukkah other than proximity on the calendar.
It is also the Catholic Christian celebration Mary, Mother of God, honoring the mother of Jesus.The First Council of Ephesis in 431 affirmed Mary with that title, Theotokos, which is important not only to affirm the role of Mary but also to affirm the full divinity of Jesus.
January 1 is also the eighth day (octave) of Christmastide. Personally speaking, I've appreciated New Years Day more this year because I've noted it among the days of Christmastide, rather than a nostalgia-inducing, stand-alone day.
In Orthodox Christianity, it is the feast of St. Basil the Great, who wrote an important Eucharistic Liturgy in the church. Basil was also a supporter of the Nicene Creed and, among other contributions, introduced the terms ousia and hypostasis into the trinitarian formulation.
In Shinto, this is Shogatsu/Gantan-sai, the New Year’s Day celebration. Among its ceremonies are the ringing of the bells symbolizing the worldly desires and sins that are abandoned to the old year.
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