Christianity

There in the warm morning sun peeking behind the tall steeple of the Catholic Church, the horses grazing in the grass, and Christian followers worshiping the Lord. This is just an average day in the Middle Ages with all the Christians spending their mornings praying and helping with the poorer people. As people can tell, Christianity influenced many people’s ways of lives in the Middle Ages. ** Holy Days. **  I. //__ Easter. __// Now when people think of Christianity the first holiday that comes to mind is Christmas, then Easter. But for people who lived in the Middle Ages they thought of them equally, and sometimes prefer Easter over Christmas. It was definitely favored because everyone had undergone six weeks of fasting. People could abstain from anything as common as //eggs// for Lent, so they would hard-boil the eggs to preserve them, which led to the tradition most Christians keep today, which is hard-boiling and decorating Easter Eggs. Easter dawn would approach, and it is said to be the most memorable part of it all. Everyone would gather around, sing praises, and listen to the church bells ring out. If they could afford it, people would purchase new outfits, and in most cases, this would be the only new set of clothing they would receive the entire year. The children would find the hard-boiled eggs hidden by the adults, which represented the apostles finding that Christ had risen from the tomb. The part most anticipated though, was when they would join their friends for a scrumptious feast consisting of the goods that had been banned during Lent. So now it is obvious to see why that to most, Easter was the best holiday of all.  II. //__ All Saint’s Day __// One of the not so commonly known holidays of the Catholics, the main divisions of Christianity in the Middle Ages, is celebrated on the first of November, All Saint’s Day. All Saint’s Day is in remembrance and honor of all saints, known or unknown. The day before All Saint’s Day is “All Hallows Eve” or now known as, Halloween. “The whole concept of All Saints Day is tied in with the concept of the [|Communion of Saints]. This is the belief that all of God's people, on heaven, earth, and in the state of purification (called //Purgatory// in the West), are connected in a communion.” (Saints, Para. 1).  III. //__ Christmas __// <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 90%; line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: 2pt; margin-left: 0.5in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 2pt;">Christmas, the most commonly celebrated and known holiday for Christians, is literally a giant “Christ Mass” (Christmas, Para. 1). December 25th is the day to celebrate the birth of the Holy Savior, Jesus Christ. The way medieval citizens celebrated differentiates from how we celebrate today, though. Christmas was much simpler, and a lot more holy, it was a quiet occasion that called for reflecting on life and praying. But, the main event that Christmas derived from was Twelfth Night, or also known as the Epiphany. This was the day that the wise men delivered their frankincense, myrrh, and gold, which gave us the tradition of gift-giving. <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 90%; line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: 2pt; margin-left: 0.5in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 2pt;">** Beliefs. **

<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 90%; line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: 2pt; margin-left: 72.45pt; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 2pt; text-indent: -72.45pt;">** I. **//__ The Seven Deadly Sins __// ====<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 90%; line-height: 200%;">According to the Bible, there are seven punishable sins that God cannot stand; the Seven Sins are lust, envy, greed, laziness, wrath, gluttony, and pride. Lust is when someone has an extreme desire for anything, to the point it is unhealthy, which is similar to envy, but the difference is that envy is having a very strong desire and being jealous of some <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 12px; line-height: 24px;">thing that someone else owns. Greed, the third sin to discuss, is what most people that are rich become, once that have some, they just want more. Another sin is laziness, which is one someone refuses to engage in most athletic activities and puts forth no effort towards most things, academically, socially, athletically, or hygienically. Wrath is another sin; wrath is basically another word for extreme aggression though. The sixth sin, gluttony, is excessive eating and drinking which harms the well-being of one’s body. The last sin, sometimes considered the worst, is pride. Pride is a feeling of extreme self-worth, and normally when someone has pride, they put down others. The Seven Deadly Sins are known as the worst sins most could do. ==== <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 90%; line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: 2pt; margin-left: 72.45pt; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 2pt; text-indent: -72.45pt;"> II. //__ Afterlife __// <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 90%; line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: 2pt; margin-left: 54.45pt; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 2pt;">The afterlife is where a soul goes after it perishes from Earth. In Catholic churches before one can enter Heaven it must go through a time of purification and punishment after death which prepares the soul for entrance into Heaven, or in some cases, Hell. The only way of getting eternally separated from God is being sent to Hell, which if one isn’t saved, that’s where the soul is eternally sent to. If a person dies by the grace of God, the soul will undergo judgment which determines if they stay in Heaven. <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 90%; line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: 2pt; margin-left: 72.45pt; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 2pt; text-indent: -72.45pt;"> III. //__ The Virgin Mary And Jesus __// <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 90%; line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: 2pt; margin-left: 54.45pt; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 2pt;">The Virgin Mary was a very powerful image in the Middle Ages. Over time, many images were destroyed due to Protestants, because they thought they valued Mary more than Jesus. In all churches, a church-goer would be able to see at least one picture of The Virgin Mary holding baby Jesus. When people read they would be able to see that Mary influenced and was part of most Medieval <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 90%; line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: 2pt; margin-left: 54.45pt; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 2pt;"> poetry, songs, and other types of writing. The Virgin Mary was extremely important. <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 90%; line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: 2pt; margin-left: 72.45pt; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 2pt;">// III __: Important People__ // <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 90%; line-height: 200%;">Joan of Arc was considered a Catholic Saint and was valued by the French. But at the age of 19, she was tied to a stake and burned for anyone to see, for heresy. Heresy is “any opinions or doctrines at variance with the official or orthodox position” (Google Para.1) Years later though, after her death she was proven innocent and they looked at her as a martyr. A martyr is someone who dies for their <span style="color: black; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 90%; line-height: 200%;"> religion.

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