Religious Facts and Trivia
February 2012
22nd February – Ash Wednesday
Unlike Christmas, Easter Day always falls on a Sunday; in fact, it is calculated to do precisely that, hence it is called Easter Sunday! But before Easter, there is the season of Lent, which always begins on a Wednesday – Ash Wednesday, when ash is put on people’s foreheads to remind them of their mortality and their need of God.
So how is the date of Ash Wednesday worked out? Simple – take the date of Easter Sunday and work back 46 days. Why 46 days? Well, there are 40 days in Lent, and as you don’t count the Sundays as they are not part of Lent, and there are six Sundays that fall within Lent, you arrive at the magic number of 46!
So here is the maths: Easter Sunday – 8th April 2011, minus 46 days, give you the 22nd February.
Please note, that Sundays that fall within Lent are Feast Days, and are not calculated as part of the 40 days of Lent, so if you’ve given up chocolate for Lent, you can enjoy it on the Sundays of Lent!
That’s Ash Wednesday worked out, but what about Easter Sunday? Well, it’s 46 days after Ash Wednesday, of course!
14th February – Saint Valentine
Would you believe it, Saint Valentine is the patron saint of greeting-card manufacturers! However, the original Valentine was a priest, or possibly a bishop, who was beaten and behead in Rome in the third-century. He had no connection whatsoever with courting couples, however, because the day of his death coincided with some sort of celebration about birds choosing their mates, he became linked to lovers.
Apart from his patronage of greeting card manufacturers and lovers, Valentine is also the patron saint for happy marriages, travellers, young people and bee keepers. His prayers are also invoked by those suffering fainting fits; which might come in useful, if your other half actually remembers to buy you chocolates and flowers on this lovers’ special day!
Fr Richard