Good Friday and Easter Monday

In Christian tradition, Good Friday and the second day of Easter are two very important festivals that are both essential in the attention of Jesus. But even in the secularized world, these days in many places have the status of an official full day.

Despite the fact that they are holidays, the celebrations in many countries have more or less not taken place. What is unique is that the weekends in some places are barely noticed, while in other places they involve very large events.

Here is a little more information about what Easter Monday and Good Friday are really about.

Good Friday

Good Friday is basically a Christian holiday that takes place in memory of Jesus' crucifixion. It takes place on the Friday before Easter, and has as its original idea to focus on the suffering that Jesus went through in connection with the crucifixion. In Sweden, it took until the 17th century before it became a holiday.

Good Friday's date varies greatly from year to year, and that is why it is said to occur on the very Friday before Easter. In many countries, Good Friday is celebrated with a symbolic crucifixion. In connection with this, there is also a longer period of fasting.

For Sweden, on the whole, Good Friday has been a low-key holiday that is not really celebrated beyond church circles. Internationally, however, it has been considerably more tangible.

Easter Monday

Easter Monday is also a public holiday in many countries. It is celebrated on the first Monday after Easter. In the USA, on the other hand, Easter Day has a special position as it is not a state-wide holiday. Therefore, the celebration differs greatly in different places.

The second day of Easter is originally a day to celebrate the resurrection of Jesus. Therefore, the celebration has a historical anchorage in the service. It would probably not be too unfair to say that the second day of Easter is mainly noticed by the people who regularly visit the church.

Christmas Day and Christmas Eve

Monday and Christmas Day are two very established holidays in the common Western culture. Its history is closely linked to the growth of the church but is celebrated by a very large number of people without any closer ecclesiastical connection. For many in Sweden, these days are mainly characterized by a kind of calm after the storm, where you spend time enjoying the peace after Christmas and focusing on the present.

But what are these days about? We have taken a closer look at Christmas Day and the second day of Christmas.

Christmas day

Christmas Day is originally a Christian holiday that intends to celebrate the birth of Jesus and therefore takes place on December 25 every year. In modern times, however, Christmas Day has become a symbol of the common Christmas celebration which is characterized by fir trees, candles, ornaments and general decorations.

The traditional celebration is characterized by church mass in the evening that extends beyond midnight and marks the transition of Christmas night. That is why it is also called the Christmas night fair. For many people, Christmas Day is mainly characterized by being the day after Christmas Eve and therefore marks rather a slow end to the Christmas celebration, rather than a particularly significant holiday. This also coincides with Nordic tradition where the day before Christmas was considered the most important.

Second day of Christmas

Christmas Day is the day that occurs after Christmas Day. It is often also called the second day. It occurs the day after Christmas, and is thus the second day after Jesus' birth. In many parts of the world it is a holiday, but how it is celebrated varies greatly. In Sweden, it has typically meant a rather low-key celebration that is mainly about enjoying the peace after an often hectic Christmas.

In many countries where English is spoken, the second day is called Boxing day. Boxing day is a public holiday in Australia, Canada, Ireland, New Zealand and the United Kingdom, among others. In the US, it's an unofficial full day. Just as with the second day falls on December 26th.