Jews, Muslims, and Christians all had holidays on Saturday, October 4th

 

The world’s three Abrahamic faiths are bridged their great divide in a pretty wonderful way this Saturday.

Yom Kippur, Eid Al-Adha, and St. Francis of Assisi’s Feast Day all fell on the same date this year — October 4.

In fact, this is the first time the important Jewish and Muslim holidays have overlapped in more than three decades. The last time it happened was in 1981, according to the Times of Israel.

Yom Kippur, which started at sundown on Friday, is a “Day of Atonement” for Jews. Much of the holiday is spent in the synagogues, where people seek to mend their relationship with God and ask for forgiveness from sins.

Muslims will used the day to remember the prophet Ibrahim’s willingness to sacrifice his most treasured possession, his son, in order to obey Allah’s commands.

And Christians were celebrating the Feast Day of St. Francis of Assisi, the patron saint of animals, by bringing their four-legged friends to church for a special blessing.

It’s a time of prayer for all three faiths, according to the Religion News Service. The beautiful Kol Nidre prayer is sung in synagogues on Yom Kippur. Muslims came together to pray in mosques, saying a “takbir,” or “God is great” prayer. For the Feast of St. Francis, faithful Christians may meditate on the saint’s famous “Canticle of All Creatures.”

The best way to respond to this incredibly holy coincidence is by recognizing it for what it really is — a trifecta of awesome.

Think about it: This is an incredible opportunity for Muslims, Jews, and Christians to take a step back and really appreciate the wonderful way that religion makes meaning in people’s lives and to live together in peace.

So Tzom Kal, Eid Mubarak, and blessed Feast of St. Francis!

 

Al-Masjid al-Aqsa, meaning “The Furthest Mosque” is one of the three most important sites in Sunni Islam. At its centre is the Dome of the Rock. The entire area takes up one sixth of the walled city of Jerusalem.

A group of Armenian Apostolic priests descends the stairs to the Chapel of St Helena in the Church of the Holy Sepulchre. Tradition holds that Helena, mother to the Emperor Constantine, discovered remnants of the True Cross here in the 4th century C.E. (AD) during the construction of the original church.

A Greek Orthodox youth choir from the town of Beit Sahour sings in Bethlehem’s Church of the Nativity, built on the traditional site where Jesus was born.

A Tokea (which literally means “blaster”) blows into a shofar in the Conegliano Synagogue in Jerusalem to announce the Jewish New Year, Rosh HaShanah (meaning “head of the year” in Hebrew)

The Dome of the Rock, one of the oldest and holiest sites in Islam

The sun rises over the Mount of Olives, framed between the Al-Khanqah al-Salahiyya Mosque on the left and the Church of the Holy Sepulchre on the right.

Jerusalem’s iconic Citadel (now the Tower of David Museum of the History of Jerusalem)is a fortress with archaeological findings spanning nearly 3,000 years.

Al-Masjid al-Aqsa, meaning “The Furthest Mosque” is one of the three most important sites in Sunni Islam. At its centre is the Dome of the Rock. The entire area takes up one sixth of the walled city of Jerusalem.

The grey domes of the Church of the Holy Sepulchre (in the foreground) mark the place where many Christians believe Jesus was crucified and buried.

A rare view of the rock at the center of the Dome of the Rock. Muslims refer to it as “as-Sakrah”, the rock from where they believe the Prophet Muhammad ascended to heaven. In Jewish tradition, it known as “the Foundation Stone,” where Abraham prepared to sacrifice his son and where the Temples stood. Many historians believe the biblical Jebusites worshiped here nearly 5000 years ago.

Al-Masjid al-Aqsa, meaning “The Furthest Mosque” is one of the three most important sites in Sunni Islam. At its centre is the Dome of the Rock. The entire area takes up one sixth of the walled city of Jerusalem.

An aerial view of the Church of the Beatitudes by the Sea of Galilee near Capernaum, the traditional site where Jesus gave his Sermon on the Mount as told in the New Testament.

An aerial view of the Jordan River, which lies about 30km (20mi) East of Jerusalem and flows from north of the Sea of Galilee to the Dead Sea.

Jerusalem’s iconic Citadel (now the Tower of David Museum of the History of Jerusalem) is a fortress with archaeological findings spanning over 2,000 years.

Musicians lead a Bar Mitzvah boy towards the Western Wall

Muslim women from nearby villages on their way to noon prayer at Al-Aqsa Mosque during the Islamic holy month of Ramadan.

The inner dome of the Greek Orthodox Catholicon inside the Church of the Holy Sepulchre, directly above “the omphalos”, once believed by Christians to mark the navel of the world

The Ceremony of the Holy Fire takes place every year on the Saturday before Easter in the Church of the Holy Sepulchre. Meant to symbolize the resurrection of Jesus, it is considered by many Orthodox Christians to be the longest-attested annual miracle in the Christian world. This extraordinary image was shot from high up in the rotunda of the Church of Holy Sepulchre during the Ceremony of the Holy Fire. Thousands of candles are lit off a single flame that emerges from the Edicule. Within minutes the entire dome is filled with smoke.

Source: Huffington Post