Federal Thanksgiving, Repentance and Prayer Day

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Prayer mandate from the Bern authorities from 1832

The Federal thanksgiving Fast day (short Repentance; French Jeûne fédéral, Italian federale digiuno, Romanesque Rogaziun federala ) is in Switzerland a government-arranged non-denominational holiday , by all Christian churches and the Jewish community is celebrated.

meeting

The Federal Day of Thanksgiving, Repentance and Prayer is celebrated in almost all of Switzerland on the third Sunday in September, only the canton of Geneva celebrates Prayer Day in Geneva instead on the Thursday after the first Sunday in September.

Law

The day of prayer is a public day of rest throughout Switzerland. In the cantons of Vaud and Neuchâtel, as well as in part of the Bernese Jura , the Monday following the Sunday of prayer is also non-working; However, it is only legally recognized as a day off in the canton of Vaud.

In many cantons, Prayer Day is classified as a major public holiday (corresponding to Good Friday , Easter Sunday , Pentecost Sunday and Christmas Day ), for example in Zurich , Bern or Lucerne , which results in more comprehensive protective measures to ensure that the holiday rest period is observed. Other cantons such as Basel-Stadt or Solothurn have recently and recently downgraded it to a normal day of rest corresponding to Sunday.

Up until 2000, for example, any kind of shooting practice, sport and dance events were prohibited in the canton of Zurich; Exhibitions, museums and cinemas remained closed. Today, indoor events are allowed, non-commercial exhibitions and museums are open - however, shooting practice and public gatherings of a non-religious nature are still not allowed.

celebration

In the Reformed Church , the day of prayer has been associated with a communion celebration since the French Revolution .

History and meaning

Repentance and prayer days had been a tradition in Switzerland since the late Middle Ages and were also ordered by federal diets . In times of need, weekly or monthly fasting days were often prescribed by the authorities. Examples are

  • In 1572, after the French Bartholomew's Night, prayers for the persecuted Huguenots were held in Zurich
  • In 1639, after several epidemics during the Thirty Years' War , a day of repentance and prayer was held in St. Gallen for the first time
  • 1651 because of the 1650 earthquake in Zurich
  • In 1619, the Reformed cantons held a first joint day of thanksgiving and prayer after the Synod of Dordrecht to express thanks for the unity of the Reformed.
  • From 1639, after the murder of Jörg Jenatsch , the day of prayer was repeated annually out of gratitude because Switzerland had been spared the Thirty Years' War. A date in September was soon established.
  • In 1643 the Catholic cantons also introduced a common day of prayer, the date of which, however, did not coincide with that of the Reformed cantons.

During the Enlightenment , the importance of these prayer days receded.

On September 17, 1797, under the influence of the French Revolution, the Catholic and Reformed cantons held a joint prayer day for the first time, and the next year the central government of the Helvetic Republic issued a prayer day mandate for the entire country. In 1832 the Diet decided that Prayer Day should be celebrated on the third Sunday in September. Graubünden did not adhere to it until 1848 and celebrated it on the 2nd Thursday in November; Geneva still celebrates it on the Thursday following the first Sunday in September.

The common holiday acquired its special significance with the founding of the Swiss federal state in 1848, which was preceded by a liberal-conservative or partially Reformed-Catholic civil war ( Sonderbund war ). The Federal Day of Thanksgiving, Repentance and Prayer was supposed to be a day that could and can be celebrated by members of all parties and denominations in Switzerland, which is politically and denominationally highly fragmented. It is therefore not only based on confessional grounds, but above all based on state policy: Respect for those who think differently politically and confessionally should be promoted. On the day of prayer, the state authorities issued a so-called prayer day mandate, in which the authorities ordered and currently justified the day of prayer. These prayer mandates were drawn up in the canton of Zurich at the time by state secretary Gottfried Keller . Since the end of the 19th century, the prayer day mandates have gradually been replaced by texts from the churches, but there are still official official texts on the day of prayer today.

Since the Second Vatican Council , Prayer Day has been celebrated as an ecumenical festival, and the Working Group of Christian Churches is particularly committed to this. In some places there are also interfaith celebrations.

At the political level, a discussion was held in the 1980s about introducing a car-free bed day for the whole of Switzerland, which then disappeared back into the drawer.

See also

literature

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Rest day and shop opening act of June 26, 2000.
  2. ↑ Law on rest on public holidays of December 1, 1996
  3. ↑ Rest day and shop closing law of 23 November 1987.
  4. ↑ Law on public rest days and shop opening of June 29, 2005.
  5. ↑ Law on public rest days of May 24, 1964, as amended by referendum of May 18, 2014.
  6. ↑ Schweizerisches Idiotikon Volume 12, Column 971, Article Bëtt-Tag , with further information.
  7. ↑ a b Prayer day mandate in the Canton of Solothurn from 2009.