Religion Bee

1
Religion Bee

• Lent and Easter Season

2
Question 1

• What is the French name for the last day of
  feasting before the fasting of Lent?

3
Answer 1

• Mardi Gras meaning Fat Tuesday

4
Question 2

• Mardi Gras is also referred to by other names,
  name at least two other names.

5
Answer 2

• Pancake Day
• Shrove Tuesday
• Ash Eve
• Doughnut Day

6
Question 3

• Shrove Tuesday refers to the old English word
  shrive, what does it mean?

7
Answer 3

• Shrive means to have your sins forgiven.

8
Question 4

• What is the purpose of Pancake Day, Doughnut
  Day, and Butter Week?

9
Answer 4

• Pancake and doughnut day or butter week empty the
  pantry of the butter, cheese, and eggs to begin
  our fast without temptations.

10
Question 5

• In what century did Christians begin using ashes
  to mark their foreheads during Lent?

11
Answer 5

• 11th Century

12
Question 6

• Why mark your forehead with ashes?

13
Answer 6

• Ashes are a sign of repentance and it is a way of
  publicly acknowledging our mortality (dust to
  dust).

14
Question 7

• Where do we find the ashes that mark our
  foreheads on Ash Wednesday?

15
Answer 7

• The ashes are the result of burning the palms
  from the previous Palm Sunday.

16
Question 8

• How long does Lent last?

17
Answer 8

• Lent is the forty day season of preparation for
  the Paschal Triduum.

18
Question 9

• Why 40 days of preparation for the Paschal
  Triduum?

19
Answer 9

• The number 40 calls to mind the 40 days of rain
  during Noahs flood.
• It calls to mind the 40 years the Hebrew people
  traveled through the desert to the promised land.
• We fast for forty days as Moses, Elijah, and
  Jesus fasted for forty days.

20
Question 10

• Where is the origin of the word lent ?

21
Answer 10

• The word lent comes from the same root as the
  word lengthen. It is an old word for
  springtime, when daylight begins to lengthen
  rapidly.

22
Question 11

• What are the three pillars of Lent?

23
Answer 11

• Prayer
• Fasting
• Almsgiving

24
Question 12

• What word is dropped from the Mass during Lent?

25
Answer 12

• Alleluia

26
Question 13

• The fourth Sunday in Lent has a special name.
  What is this name?

27
Answer 13

• It is Laetare Sunday.

28
Question 14

• What does Laetare mean?

29
Answer 14

• In Latin Laetare means rejoice. The fourth Sunday
  of Lent marks our journey at the halfway point.

30
Question 15

• What is the name of the 6th Sunday of Lent?

31
Answer 15

• The 6th Sunday of Lent is called Palm Sunday of
  the Passion of the Lord.

32
Question 16

• The English word Paschal is based on what Hebrew
  word?

33
Answer 16

• The English word Paschal is based on the Hebrew
  word for Passover, Pesach.

34
Question 17

• What is the final day of Lent?

35
Answer 17

• The final day of Lent is Holy Thursday, it is the
  40th of forty days. At sundown Lent ends.

36
Question 18

• What days begin after Holy Thursday?

37
Answer 18

• The Paschal Triduum begins after Holy Thursday
  ends Lent.

38
Question 19

• What day marks the beginning of the Paschal
  Triduum?

39
Answer 19

• Good Friday marks the beginning of the Paschal
  mystery, the death, burial and resurrection of
  the Lord have begun.

40
Question 20

• Good Friday coincides with what event in Jewish
  tradition?

41
Answer 20

• The Good Friday services coincide with the Jewish
  tradition of slaughtering the lambs in the Temple
  of Jerusalem to prepare for the Passover feast.
  It is the time when Jesus died.

42
Question 21

• Why is Good Friday referred to as good?

43
Answer 21

• The wood of the cross is echoing the wood of the
  tree of life in Eden, the wood in the Ark that
  saved Noah, the wood staff of Moses that parted
  the Red Sea, and the wood of the cross that saved
  us from sin and death.

44
Question 22

• What is the paschal sabbath?

45
Answer 22

• The paschal Sabbath lasts from Good Friday sunset
  to Holy Saturday sunset.

46
Question 23

• Why does the church rest on Holy Saturday?

47
Answer 23

• The church rests on Holy Saturday because Jesus
  rested in the tomb. The Church rests in Christ.

48
Question 24

• What determines the date of Easter?

49
Answer 24 (a)

• After several centuries of disagreement, all
  churches accepted the computation of the
  Alexandrian Church (now the Coptic Church) that
  Easter is the first Sunday after the first
  fourteenth day of the moon (the Paschal Full
  Moon) that is on or after the ecclesiastical
  vernal equinox.

50
Answer 24 (b)

• The date for Easter is the first Sunday after the
  first full moon after the spring equinox.

51
Question 25

• What is Easter?

52
Answer 25

• Easter, also called Pascha, is the most important
  religious feast in the Christian liturgical year.
  Christians celebrate this day in observance of
  their belief that Jesus rose from the dead on the
  third day after his crucifixion, now estimated to
  have taken place between the years CE 26 and CE
  36.

53
Question 26

• What is the root word for Easter?

54
Answer 26

• The word Easter comes from the same root as the
  words star and east. It means dawn light.

55
Question 27

• How long is Easter Season?

56
Answer 27

• The Easter Season is a fifty day celebration.

57
Question 28

• What does Pentecost mean?

58
Answer 28

• Pentecost can mean fifty days or fiftieth
  day.

59
Question 29

• What is the mystical sign for eternity?

60
Answer 29

• The mystical sign for eternity is 8.

61
Question 30

• Where do we find the mystical sign for eternity
  in the Easter Season?

62
Answer 30

• The mystical sign for eternity is found in the
  week of weeks, 7 times 7, with one day added so
  the Easter Season has 8 Sundays.

63
Question 31

• What two solemnities are celebrated during the
  Easter Season?

64
Answer 31

• The ascension of the Lord and the ascending of
  the Holy Spirit are celebrated on two solemnities.

65
Question 32

• What is the Paschal Mystery?

66
Answer 32 (a)

• The Lords incarnation, epiphany, passion, death,
  burial, resurrection, ascension and the gift of
  the Spirit are one mystery called the Passover of
  the Lord.

67
Answer 32 (b)

• The life, death and resurrection on the Lord.

68
Question 33

• What is the Paschal candle?

69
Answer 33

• The cross is always the central symbol, most
  clearly identifying it as the paschal candle
• The Greek letters alpha and omega signify that
  God is the beginning and the end (taken from the
  Book of Revelation)
• The current year represents God's presence here
  and now in the midst of the gathered worshipers
• Five grains of incense (most often red) are
  embedded in the candle (sometimes encased in wax
  "nails") during the Easter Vigil to represent the
  five wounds of Jesus one in each hand, one in
  each foot, and the spear thrust into his side.
• The candle is approximately 2 inches in diameter
  and 27 to 39 inches tall.