Christianization of saints and feasts

Saint Valentine's Day on 14 February, commemorates three separate martyrs named Valentinus. One is described as a priest at Rome, another as bishop of Interamna (modern Terni). Both apparently died sometime in the second half of the third century and were buried at different locations on the Flaminian Way. The connection of the saints' feast day with popular romantic customs arose in the Middle Ages, when it was commonly believed that half way through the second month of the year, the birds began to pair.[6]

Alfred Kellogg and Robert Cox, have claimed that the modern customs of Saint Valentine's Day originate from the Roman Lupercalia customs.[7] But J. Hillis Miller and others find the hypothesis unconvincing: they say there is no proof that the modern customs of Saint Valentine's Day can be traced to the Lupercalia, and the claim seems to originate from misconceptions about the festivities.[7] Jack Oruch says there is no written record of Gelasius ever intending a replacement of Lupercalia.[8]

Christians generally regard Easter as the most important festival of the ecclesiastical calendar. It is also the oldest feast of Christianity, and connected to the Jewish Passover. Many terms relating to Easter, such as paschal are derived from the Hebrew term for passover. In many non-English speaking countries the feast is called by some derivation of "pasch". The English term, according to the Venerable Bede, is an Anglo-Saxon form relating to Ēostre, a Teutonic goddess of the rising light of day and spring.[9]

According to Hippolyte Delehaye, the Greater Litanies of the Feast of St. Mark (April 25) are a continuation and adaptation of the Roman agricultural festival, Robigalia.[10]

Walpurgis Night is the eve of the Christian feast day of Saint Walpurga or Walburga, celebrated on the night of 30 April and into 1 May. In Germany, the Netherlands, Czechia and Sweden, bonfires are lit on Walpurgis Night. The date coincided with an older May Eve festival, which was also celebrated in much of northern Europe with the lighting of bonfires at night.[11] A variety of festivals of pre-Christian origin had been celebrated at this time (halfway between the spring equinox and summer solstice) to mark the beginning of summer, including Beltane in Ireland and Britain.[11] Folklorist Jack Santino says "Her day and its traditions almost certainly are traceable to pre-Christian celebrations that took place at this time, on the first of May".[12] Art historian Pamela Berger noted Walpurga's association with sheaves of grain, and suggested that her cult was adapted from pagan agrarian goddesses.[13]

The summer solstice has been observed since the Neolithic era, with many ancient monuments in Europe aligned with sunrise or sunset on the solstice.[14] In the ancient Roman world, 24 June was the traditional date of the summer solstice and 25 December the date of the winter solstice,[15] both of which were marked by festivals.[16][17] In the 4th century AD, the Christian church began marking 24 June as the birth day of Saint John the Baptist and 25 December as the birth day of Jesus. Within Christian theology, John the Baptist "was understood to be preparing the way for Jesus", with John 3:30 stating "He must increase, but I must decrease"; this is symbolized in the fact that the sun's height in the sky and length of the day begins to decrease after the summer solstice and begins to increase after the winter solstice. "This solar cycle was completed by balancing Christ's conception and birth against the conception and birth of his cousin, John the Baptist".[18] Saint John's Eve (23 June) is intertwined with European Midsummer celebrations and both are marked by lighting bonfires.

"Hallowtide",[19] refers to the three days of Halloween, All Saints' Day, and All Souls' Day that are traditionally observed in Western Christianity from October 31 through November 2 as a commemoration of the dead.

In many early cultures, the day was considered to start at dusk. Similarly, in Celtic countries the year was considered to begin in winter at Samhain, and it was thought that the start of the year was a time when the world of the dead met that of the living; rather than a sinister event, this was considered a time when a feast should be laid on for the supposed temporary visit from the souls of the dead. The Orthodox tradition, deals rather with the zealous prayer for the dead, whom they believe are allowed to visit the living during 40 days after the moment of death, and always are greatly comforted and even saved from hell, through these prayers. In some Catholic traditions, the night is one when the graves of dead relatives are visited, with candles being lit, under a familiarly atmosphere, often including picnic; many historians argue that this is clearly derived from the pre-Christian events. The Christian festival was originally held annually on the week after Pentecost, and is still held at about this date by the Orthodox churches, but in western Europe, churches began to hold it at the same time as the pre-Christian festivals commemorating the dead, and it was eventually moved officially, by Pope Gregory III.

The process was repeated in Southern Mexico, where the Aztec feast of Mictecacihuatl in early August was syncretized into the Day of the Dead.

Christmas on 25 December is, according to Christian tradition, a celebration of the birth of Jesus, determined around 350 A.D. by Pope Julius I. Although there have been various folk suggestions regarding the origin of Christmas, the earliest historical source stating December 25 as the date of birth of Jesus was Hippolytus of Rome (170–236), written very early in the 3rd century, based on the assumption that the conception of Jesus took place at the Spring equinox which he placed on March 25, and then added nine months.[20] There is historical evidence that by the middle of the 4th century the Christian churches of the East celebrated the birth and Baptism of Jesus on the same day, on January 6 while those in the West celebrated a Nativity feast on December 25 (perhaps influenced by the Winter solstice); and that by the last quarter of the 4th century, the calendars of both churches included both feasts.[21]