Rosh Hashanah
The New Year, which opens the Ten Days of Awe in the autumn with the sound of the shofar; Karaites keep the day as Yom Teruah.
Holy days
When each holy day falls, year by year, in each branch ActivePray keeps.
The dates come from the calendars the app subscribes to, so they are the app’s own.
Judaism
Its holy days, year by year
Yom Kippur
The Day of Atonement, which closes the Ten Days of Awe: return and repentance, and a full day’s fast.
Sukkot
A week of meals in a sukkah, a simple shelter open to the sky, remembering the years in the wilderness and giving thanks for the harvest.
Simchat Torah
The day the yearly reading of the Torah ends and begins again, with the scrolls carried round in dancing.
Chanukah
Eight nights of light for the rededication of the Temple, kept in rabbinic Judaism.
Purim
The deliverance told in the Book of Esther, read aloud.
Pesach
Passover in the spring: the seder retells the going out from Egypt over matzah and wine.
Shavuot
Seven weeks after Passover, the giving of the Torah at Sinai.
Tisha B’Av
The fast in the month of Av for the destruction of the Temples in Jerusalem.
Christianity
Its holy days, year by year
Lent
Forty days of prayer, fasting and giving before Easter. The West begins it on Ash Wednesday, the Orthodox on Clean Monday.
Palm Sunday
The Sunday before Easter, remembering Jesus’ entry into Jerusalem, which opens Holy Week.
Good Friday
The Friday of Holy Week, remembering the crucifixion of Jesus.
Easter
The resurrection, the oldest and greatest feast. The Orthodox call it Pascha, often on a different date.
Ascension Day
Forty days after Easter, Jesus taken up into heaven.
Pentecost
Fifty days after Easter, the Holy Spirit coming upon the apostles: often called the birthday of the Church.
Christmas
The birth of Jesus on 25 December, which churches on the Julian calendar keep on what is now 7 January.
Epiphany
The showing of Christ to the world: in the West the visit of the Magi, in the East his baptism in the Jordan, called Theophany.
Islam
Its holy days, year by year
Ramadan
The month the Qur’an was first revealed: fasting from dawn to sunset, iftar shared at nightfall, and nights of prayer.
Laylat al-Qadr
The Night of Power, when Muslims believe the Qur’an was first revealed, sought in the later nights of Ramadan.
Eid al-Fitr
The feast that ends Ramadan, with prayer, gifts and charity for those in need.
Day of Arafah
The great day of the Hajj, when the pilgrims stand in prayer on the plain of Arafat.
Eid al-Adha
The feast during the Hajj that remembers Abraham’s readiness to give up his son.
Islamic New Year
The first of Muharram, the start of the Hijri year.
Ashura
The tenth of Muharram, kept differently in each branch: a day of fasting in Sunni practice, and in Shia practice the mourning of Imam Husayn.
Mawlid an-Nabi
The birthday of the Prophet Muhammad, kept by many Muslims.
In ActivePray, each branch’s holy days and fasts come in its own year, with reminders for them, and every prayer at its hour.
ActivePray on the App StoreEvery branch’s whole year is also on the calendar.