As Holy Week begins, I often think of how nice it would be if American schools got all of Holy Week and/or Easter Week off. My Mom has often told me that when she was in school, both public and private schools had Holy Week off. "Easter Break" and "Spring Break" were one and the same. However, by the time I was in school, no schools got Holy Week off. I have never heard of any school or college that gets Holy Week off anymore. At best, schools get Good Friday and Easter Monday off in addition to "Spring Break", which is always in or slightly before Lent. Not even the most faithfully Catholic schools or colleges, such as my alma mater, the University of Mary, have all of Holy Week off, and instead have a "Spring Break" in early or mid-March. It was irritating for me at South Dakota School of Mines during my second semester when I didn't have Easter Monday off. I took it off anyway because I had a day-long drive. The following year, then-governor Kristi Noem ordered South Dakota colleges to take Easter Monday off, which I greatly appreciated, though that Easter we were all home because of the pandemic that year anyway.
What confuses me about Spring Break versus Easter Break is not only that all the Catholic schools I know of have that separation now; the other confusing thing is that when I search online, some sources say that most American schools still do have Holy Week as their Spring Break, without naming any schools, districts, or states that do so. I'd like to know of a single one that does so, because I wish I went there for school! I guess I'll have to ask any visiting families this week if they are on Spring/Easter Break, and if so, where do they attend school?
That topic of the split between Easter Break and Spring Break across schools and decades is the first part of today's post. This second part is about the recognition of Christmas and Easter as Christian holidays. I've noticed that schools are quite consistent in their Christmas breaks or Winter breaks, in that the time between Christmas Eve and New Year's Day is always included. Sometimes, there is a week or two more on either end. Therefore, if you're Roman Catholic or Protestant, you at least get Christmas off. Orthodox or Eastern Catholic students, unfortunately, do not (usually) since their Christmas is January 7. Either way, while I approve of the timing of that break for the most part, public media and retail stores try to take the Christian identity of Christmas out, replacing the name of "Christmas" with "The Holidays" or just "Holiday", which is both anti-Christian and stupid. It's like calling December "The Months" or "Month". The event that Christmas celebrates is also replaced with Santa Claus, Frosty the Snowman, The Grinch, etc. Similarly, although I've never heard an alternate name for Easter, the event it celebrates is often replaced with the Easter Bunny, chocolate eggs, and jelly beans. Don't get me wrong, these are fun extras, but they are quite a stretch from the real reason we celebrate Christmas or Easter, and they can never completely replace the Christian meanings of those holidays. As much as some people might think that Christmas and Easter were originally pagan festivals marking the winter solstice and spring equinox, there's no denying that at some point they became holidays marking the birth and resurrection of Christ, respectively.
The third part of my post is about the Christian holidays seemingly forgotten in the United States. While Christmas and Easter are two very important days for Christians, there is a third: Pentecost. When was the last time you saw Pentecost marked on a secular calendar, or when was the last time you celebrated Pentecost with your family? In European countries, there are some traditions and festivities which remain, the most amusing of which, in my opinion, is the cheese-rolling in Brockworth, England. I would ask about whether there should be a Pentecost Break, but Pentecost usually happens after the last day of school anyway. Turning my attention toward Catholic holidays in particular, there are five or six which are holy days of obligation in the United States, meaning they should be treated like Sundays in terms of church attendance, celebration, and rest. Two are covered by Christmas break: Christmas itself and the Solemnity of Mary, the Holy Mother of God (New Year's Day). If you live in Connecticut, Maine, Massachusetts, Nebraska, New Hampshire, New York, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, or Vermont, Ascension Thursday is a holy day of obligation too. The Feast of the Assumption, August 15, tends to be during summer vacation. Finally, there are two holy days of obligation that would fall within the school year: All Saints Day (November 1st) and the Solemnity of the Immaculate Conception (December 8th). Why are Catholic schools and colleges (again, even the most faithful ones) making teachers work on November 1st, December 8th, and Ascension Thursday (if you live in the states I mentioned), knowing full well that holy days of obligation are to be treated like Sundays? Similarly, why don't my Catholic coworkers ask off work for holy days of obligation? All of the holy days of obligation I have mentioned are public holidays in at least a handful of countries, even the ones with no official religion or the ones that are less religious than the United States.
In conclusion, secularization in the United States has gone too far. Not only does American society avoid honoring Christian holidays (or, at least, the Christian identity of them), but all the Christian holidays not marked on secular calendars are falling by the wayside, even among the most orthodox Christian schools and colleges. Cancel "Spring" Break, bring back Easter Break!
No comments:
Post a Comment