Sunday
This article is about the day of the week. For the Australian news and current affairs television programme see Sunday (TV series).
For the British indie rock band, see The Sundays.
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The Sun |
Sunday is traditionally the first
day of the Judaeo-Christian seven-day
week, between
Saturday and
Monday, and the second day of the
weekend in some cultures. It is considered a
holiday in lands of
Christian tradition, and is the day when most Christians attend
Church.
In
India, Sunday is
Ravivar. It is based on
Ravi -
Vedic God of
Sun.
In the
Gregorian calendar, no
century can start on a Sunday. In the
Hebrew calendar, no
year can start on a Sunday. Any month beginning on a Sunday will contain a
Friday the 13th.
In ancient
Jewish tradition Saturday is the
Sabbath, a day of worship on which abstinence from work is required. The
first Christians were Jews and maintained the observance of the Jewish Sabbath rest, but by the first half of the second century most Christians no longer observed the Sabbath, instead gathering for worship on Sunday (although for some time the Sabbath continued to be held in a special regard even among Christians who observed Sunday).
The majority of Christians have continued to observe Sunday ever since, although throughout history one sometimes finds Christian groups that continued or revived the observance of the Saturday Sabbath. More recently in history, Christians in the
Seventh-day Adventist,
Seventh Day Baptist, and
Church of God (Seventh-Day) denominations (along with many related or similar sects), as well as many
Messianic Jews, have revived the practice of gathering for worship, and abstaining from work, on the Saturday Sabbath.
Many languages lack separate words for "Saturday" and "Sabbath".
Eastern Orthodox churches, as well as many
Roman Catholics, distinguish between the Sabbath (Saturday) and Sunday, which most Christians traditionally call the
Lord's Day. However, many
Protestants and Roman Catholics refer to Sunday as the Sabbath, though this is by no means a universal practice among Protestants and Catholics.
Quakers traditionally refer to Sunday as "First Day" eschewing the
pagan origin of the name.
The name "Sunday" (Day of the Sun) apparently originated in pre-Christian Egyptian culture. (See Herbert Thurston's article "Christian Calendar" in the 1908 Catholic Encyclopedia.) In Egyptian astrology, the seven
planets, Saturn, Jupiter, Mars, the Sun, Venus, Mercury, and the Moon, each had an hour of the day assigned to them, and the planet which was "regent" during the first hour of any day of the week gave its name to that day. The Egyptian form of the seven-day week spread from Egypt to Rome during the first and second century, when the Roman names of the planets were given to each successive day. Germanic-speaking nations apparently adopted the seven-day week from the Romans, so that the
dies Solis became Sunday (German,
Sonntag). See also
Sol Invictus.
The first Christian reference to Sunday is found in the
First Apology of St.
Justin Martyr (
circa 150 A.D.). In a well-known passage of the
Apology, Justin describes the Christian custom of gathering for worship on Sunday. "And on the day called Sunday, all who live in cities or in the country gather together to one place . . .", he writes. Evidently Justin used the term "Sunday" because he was writing to a non-Christian, pagan audience. In Justin's time, Christians usually called Sunday the
Lord's Day (because they observed it as a weekly memorial of Jesus Christ's resurrection) or "the Eighth Day" (because of the Christian belief that Christ's resurrection on the day following the seventh-day Sabbath is a portal to timeless eternity that transcends the seven-day weekly cycle).
In many countries, including most of Europe, Sunday is held to be the last day of the week as they consider Monday the first day. In others, including the United States, Canada, and in parts of Africa it is seen as the first day, a view derived from ancient
Jews,
Egyptians and the
Holy Roman Empire.
Among Christians (with the exception of seventh-day
Sabbatarians, such as the denominations listed above) Sunday is considered
holy and often a day of rest and church-attendance.
During
Christianity's first three centuries, Sunday was consecrated as the preeminent day for worship. Consequently, Christians would avoid secular activities to allow time for worship. However, it is not until the fourth century that ecclesiastical and civil legislation was enacted forbidding work in a manner similar to the observance of the Jewish Sabbath. Throughout history there have been Christians, especially Protestants, who believe Sunday must be observed with just the sort of rigorous abstinence from work associated with the Jewish Sabbath, but for most Christians the custom and obligation of Sunday rest has not been as strict.
In orthodox Christian families and communities, some activities are not done, e.g. working, doing something that requires somebody else to work such as buying goods or services (including the use of
public transport),
driving a car,
gardening, washing a car, etc. Exceptions which are allowed are making use of religious services, and, usually, using electricity, and urgent medical matters. In Roman Catholicism, those who work in the medical field, in law enforcement, or soldiers in a war zone are dispensed from the usual obligation to avoid work on Sunday.In the
United States, professional
football is usually played on Sunday, although Saturday and Monday (via
Monday Night Football) also see some professional games.
College football usually occurs on Saturday, and
high-school football tends to take place on Friday night or Saturday afternoon. It is not uncommon for church attendance to shift on days when a late morning or early afternoon game is anticipated by a local community.
Also in the United States, many federal government buildings are closed on Sunday. Privately owned businesses also tend to close or are open for shorter periods of the day than on other days of the week.
Many American and British television networks and stations also broadcast their
political interview shows on Sunday mornings.
Many American and British daily
newspapers publish a larger edition on Sundays, which often includes
color comic strips, a
magazine, and a
coupon section.
In Ireland,
Gaelic football and
hurling matches are predominantly played on Sundays, with the second and fourth Sundays in September always playing host to the All-Ireland hurling and football championship finals, respectively.
Radio stations often play specialty radio shows such as Casey Kasem's countdown or other nationally syndicated radio shows that may differ from their regular weekly music patterns on Sunday morning and/or Sunday evening.
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Easter Sunday, the day in the Bible on which Christ rose from the dead, celebrated across the Christian world and regarded as the most important day in the Christian calendar.
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Low Sunday, first Sunday after Easter, is also known as the Octave of Easter, White Sunday, Quasimodo Sunday, Alb Sunday, Antipascha Sunday, and
Divine Mercy Sunday.
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Palm Sunday is the Sunday before Easter.
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Passion Sunday, formerly denoting the fifth Sunday of Lent, since 1970 the term applies to the following Sunday also known as Palm Sunday.
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Septuagesima Sunday, before 1970, was the third from the last Sunday before Lent.
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Stir-up Sunday, is the last Sunday before
Advent.
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Trinity Sunday is the first Sunday after Pentecost.
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Laetare Sunday*
Gaudete Sunday*
Whitsunday*
Super Bowl Sunday*
Bloody Sunday*
Selection Sunday*In the popular rhyme,
"The child born on Sunday is fair and wise and good and gay". Another version of the rhyme was
"And the child born on Sabbath Day is bonny and blithe, and good and gay."
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Blue laws
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Bloody Sunday*
Black Sunday*
Cold Sunday*
Sunday shoppingnds-nl:Zundag
