what is Ash Wednesday,Monty Thursday and Palm Sunday?

Answer 1

Lots of info on ALL the various days! Here ya go!


***ASH WEDNESDAY:
In the Western Christian calendar, Ash Wednesday is the first day of Lent and occurs forty-six days before Easter. Lent is nevertheless considered forty days long, because each Sunday of the year is considered a "little Easter" and thus Sundays are not counted as days of penance. It falls on different dates from year to year, according to the date of Easter; it can occur as early as February 4 or as late as March 10. Ash Wednesday
can fall on Leap Day only during a leap year for which April 15 is Easter Sunday. The next time Ash Wednesday will fall on Leap Day will be in 2096, the first such year since the 1582 adoption of the Gregorian Calendar.

At Masses and services of worship on this day, worshippers are blessed with ashes by the celebrating priest or minister. The priest or minister marks the forehead of each participant with black ashes, in the shape of a cross, which the worshipper traditionally retains until washing it off after sundown. In many Christian churches, the minister of ashes may also be a layperson or non-clergyman. The symbolism echoes the ancient Near Eastern tradition of throwing ash over one's head signifying repentance before God (as related in the Bible). The priest or minister offers the worshipper an instruction while applying the ashes. These are three examples:

"Remember, man, that you are dust
And unto dust you shall return."

(Latin: Memento homo, quia pulvis es, et in pulverem reverteris.)

This wording comes from Genesis 3:19.

or

"Turn away from sin and be faithful to the Gospel."

or

"Repent, and hear the good news."

The ashes are prepared by burning palm leaves from the previous year's Palm Sunday celebrations and mixing them with olive oil as a fixative. In the Roman Catholic Church, Ash Wednesday is observed by fasting, abstinence (from meat), and repentance—a day of contemplating one's transgressions. The ashes are sacramentals, not a sacrament. The Penitential psalms are read.

Ash Wednesday marks the beginning of the Lenten season, which lasts until the Easter Vigil. On Ash Wednesday and Good Friday, Catholics between the ages of 18 and 59 are permitted to consume only one full meal, which may be supplemented by two smaller meals, which together should not equal the full meal. Many Catholics will go beyond the minimum obligations demanded by the Church and undertake a complete fast or a bread and water fast. Ash Wednesday and Good Friday are also days of abstinence from meat, as are all Fridays in Lent. Many Catholics continue fasting during the whole of lent, as was the Church's traditional requirement, concluding only after the celebration of the Easter Vigil.

The Anglican Book of Common Prayer designates Ash Wednesday as a day of fasting.

As the first day of Lent, it comes the day after Shrove Tuesday or Mardi Gras, the last day of the Carnival season. The word "Carnival" is in fact derived from Latin carne vale: "farewell, meat".


***MAUNDY/MONTY/HOLY THURSDAY:
In the Christian calendar, Maundy Thursday - also called Holy Thursday and, in the Eastern and Oriental Orthodox Churches, Great Thursday - is the feast or holy day on the Thursday before Easter that commemorates the Last Supper of Jesus Christ with the Apostles. It is followed by Good Friday.

"Maundy Thursday" is the traditional name for this day in Britain and consequently is the usual name in English-speaking Protestant churches in countries worldwide. In other countries, "Holy Thursday" is the usual name among Roman Catholics, although "Maundy Thursday" is still used[1]. Lutherans also use both names.[2]

The word Maundy, used only in this context, is generally explained as derived, through Middle English, and Old French mandé, from Latin mandatum, the first word of the phrase "Mandatum novum do vobis ut diligatis invicem sicut dilexi vos" (A new commandment I give unto you, that you love one another as I have loved you) in the teaching by which Jesus drew out for the Apostles the significance of his action of washing their feet (John 13:34). Others see its origin in the word maund, derived from Old French mendier, which in turn comes from Latin mendicare (to beg). The name "Maundy Thursday" would thus have arisen in England because of the custom whereby each year on this day the sovereign gives alms to selected poor people in a container also called a "maund" or "maundy purse".


***PALM SUNDAY:
Palm Sunday is a moveable feast in the church calendar observe
by Roman Catholic, Orthodox, and Protestant Christians. It is the Sunday before Easter. In the Western church it must always fall on one of the 35 dates between March 15 and April 18. In 2007 it will be observed on April 1.

The difficulty of procuring palms for that day's ceremonies in unfavorable climates for palms led to the substitution of boughs of yew, willow or other native trees. The Sunday was often designated by the names of these trees, as Yew Sunday or by the general term Branch Sunday (the only French equivalent is (Dimanche des) Rameaux, 'branches sunday').

The feast commemorates an event reported by all four Canonical Gospels (:Mark 11:1-11, Matthew 21:1-11, Luke 19:28-44, and John 12:12-19) - the Triumphal Entry of Jesus into Jerusalem in the days before his Passion. Many Christians and Messianic Jews regard this event as the terminus of the first 69 weeks of Daniel's Prophecy of Seventy Weeks, and thereby a very holy day. Even setting this aside, the nature of the entry and its circumstances are usually deemed enough to warrant a special feast.



Here are a few extra pieces of info about days that are celebrated or more or less observed around the week Lent begins.

***QUINQUAGESIMA:
Quinquagesima is the name for the Sunday before Ash Wednesday. It was also called Quinquagesima Sunday, Shrove Sunday or Esto Mihi. The name originates from Latin quinquagesimus (fiftieth), referring to the fifty days before Easter Sunday using inclusive counting which counts both Sundays (normal counting would count only one of these). Since the forty days of the Lenten fast included only weekdays, the first day of Lent, Ash Wednesday, succeeds Quinquagesima Sunday by only three days.

The earliest Quinquagesima Sunday can occur is February 1 and the latest is March 7.

The reforms of the Second Vatican Council included the elimination of this term for this Sunday (and the two immediately before it - Sexagesima and Septuagesima Sundays). The contemporary service books of many Anglican provinces do not use the term but it remains in the Book of Common Prayer. According to the reformed Roman Rite Roman Catholic calendar, this Sunday is now known by its number within Ordinary Time - fourth through ninth, depending upon the date of Easter - or the fourth through the ninth Sunday after Epiphany in the contemporary Anglican calendars, and that of various other Protestant polities.


***LENT:
In Western Christianity, Lent is the period (or season) from Ash Wednesday to Holy Saturday. In Eastern Christianity, the period before Easter is known as Great Lent to distinguish it from the Winter Lent, or Advent (known in Greek as the "Great Fast" and "Nativity Fast", respectively). This article tends to discuss Lent as understood and practiced in Western Christianity.

Easter always falls on a Sunday between March 22 and April 25, roughly corresponding to early spring in the Northern Hemisphere. Ash Wednesday, which may fall anywhere between February 4 and March 10, occurs forty-six days before Easter, but Lent is nevertheless considered to be forty days long, due to the fact that Sundays in this season are not counted among the days of Lent. The traditional reason for this is that fasting was considered inappropriate on Sunday, the day commemorating the Resurrection of Jesus.

Easter celebrates the Resurrection of Jesus Christ, while Lent is a time of preparation for Holy Week. Holy Week recalls the events preceding and during the crucifixion, which occurred in the Jerusalem of the Roman province Judea, circa AD 30.


***WHIT MONDAY:
Whit Monday or Pentecost Monday is the Christian holiday celebrated the day after Pentecost, a movable feast in the Christian calendar, being dependent upon the date of Easter. Until recently it was a public holiday in Ireland, and was a bank holiday in the United Kingdom until 1967, when it was formally replaced by a fixed 'spring holiday' on the last Monday in May in 1971. It was also formerly a public holiday in various former British colonies, especially in the Pacific. It gets its English name for following "Whitsun", the day that became one of the three baptismal seasons. The name "Whitsunday" is now generally attributed to the white garments formerly worn by the candidates for baptism on this feast. The Monday is also a holiday in France, Germany, Austria, Switzerland, Greece, Hungary, Belgium, The Netherlands and several Scandinavian countries, there going under the name "Pentecôte" (fr), "Pentecoste" (it), "Pinse" (no, da), "Pingst" (sv), "Pfingsten" (de) and "Pinksteren" (nl).


***HOLY SATURDAY:
Holy Saturday is the day before Easter in the Christian calendar. It is sometimes called Easter Even, especially by Anglicans, or Low Saturday. Filipinos often call it Black Saturday or Sabado de Gloria, while in the Czech Republic it is called White Saturday, probably because of white garments of the newly baptized. It is the seventh and last day of Holy Week, and part of the second day of the Easter Triduum.

In Roman Catholic Churches, the altar is either stripped completely bare or coloured in violet, while the administration of the sacraments is severely limited. Holy Communion is given only as Viaticum. All Masses are strictly prohibited. No Mass at all appears in the liturgy for this day, nor for the preceding day, Good Friday. Many of the churches of the Anglican Communion observe most of the same traditions, however their altars are usually stripped or coloured in black. See Liturgical colours.

Liturgically speaking, Holy Saturday lasts until dusk, after which the Easter Vigil is celebrated, marking the official start of the Easter season. In the pre-1970 Roman Catholic observance, during the "Gloria in Excelsis" of the Mass (which is the first Mass since that of Holy Thursday), the church statues, which had been covered with purple veils during Passiontide, were here dramatically unveiled. Since the suppression of Passiontide in the reforms after Vatican II the unveiling of statues has not been re-authorized in many countries (including in England and the United States) and thus the veiling and unveiling of statues has officially been suppressed.

In Eastern Orthodoxy this day is also called The Great Sabbath since it is said on this day Christ "rested" in the tomb, in death. But it is also believed that it was on this day he performed in spirit the Harrowing of Hell and raised up to Paradise those held captive there. Therefore, at the main liturgical celebration, a vesperal Divine Liturgy of St. Basil the Great, the hangings, altar cloths, and vestments are changed from black to white prior to the epistle reading, and in the Greek tradition the clergy strew laurel leaves and flower petals all over the church to symbolize the shattered gates and broken chains of hell.

Great Lent was originally the period of catechesis for new converts in order to prepare them for baptism and chrismated on Easter. Prior to the composition of the current Paschal Vigil by St. John of Damascus this day's vesperal Liturgy was the main Easter celebration, and the traditional time to receive converts is still immediately prior.

Answer 2

Ash Wednesday is the start of the 40-day Lent for Roman Catholics. Palm Sunday starts the Holy Week. Good Friday always falls on a Full Moon, have u noticed?

Answer 3

Monty Thursday

Answer 4

Ash Wednesday is the first day of Lent.
Palm Sunday is the celebration of the day Jesus rode into Jerusalem as a king on a donkey and the people threw down palm branches for them to walk on.
Monday Thursday is the Thursday when Jesus was arrested..

Answer 5

Um...I think it's Maundy Thursday. Just so we're clear on that.

Palm Sunday = The Sunday before Easter. Commemorates Jesus's entry into Jeruselum.

Ash Wednesday = First day of Lent (46 days before Easter). A day of fasting and contemplating one's transgressions.

Maundy Thursday = Feast or holy day on the Thursday before Easter. Commemerates the Last Supper.

Not very detailed, I apologize. I'm sorry, also, if something's wrong, 'cause I'm not Christian.

Answer 6

Ash Wednesday marks the beginning of Lent, and is a sort of "memento mori," fest, reminding us all that we're going to die, as if that fact had slipped our minds.

Maundy (not monty) Thursday commemorates the day that the apostles were given their mission.

Palm Sunday commemorates Christ's entry into Jerusalem.

Answer 7

Maundy Thursday, I'm not too sure!
As Wednesday is when people receive a cross from ashes on their foreheads.
And Palm Sunday is the day commemorating when jesus came back to Jerusalem...remember the story when they all welcomed him back with palm branches!?

Answer 8

First of all, it's Maundy Thursday.

Maundy Thursday: commemorates the institution of the Eucharist. It is the oldest of the holy week observances.

Ash Wednesday: The day when we receive a sign of the cross on our foreheads in ashes. This to remember our mortality and penance.

Palm Sunday: The day when Jesus entered Jerusalem and the people laid palms down before him.

Maundy Thursday:
http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/10068a.htm

Ash Wednesday:
http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/01775b.htm

Palm Sunday:
http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/11432b.htm

Answer 9

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ash_Wednesday
This explains Ash Wednesday.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maundy_Thursday
this site explains Maundy Thursday, not Monty
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maundy_Thursday
Palm Sunday celebrates the triumpant entry by Jesus Christ into Jerusalem. It is the Sunday before Easter. That is what the last site is about.

Answer 10

I think you mean Maundy Thursday, better known as Holy Thursday. it commemorates the Last Supper, and the institution of the Eucharist, the priesthood, and the new covenant.

Answer 11

monty thursday? not shrove thursday? what about fat tuesday and good friday?