Celebrations of faith converge in Brevard with Easter, Ramadan and Passover this week
This week, thousands of Space Coast residents from three major religions will celebrate some of the holiest days of their faiths, from the Passover celebrating freedom from slavery to the resurrection story of Easter and the call for spiritual growth during Ramadan.
Passover begins at sundown Wednesday. Ramadan, the holiest month on the Islamic calendar, started March 22, while Easter takes place this Sunday.
The three religions all trace their roots back to a man named Abraham who was called out of ancient Ur — where modern-day Iraq is located — by God.
In 613 A.D., the Prophet Muhammad took the call of Islam — which calls on believers to submit to the will of Allah — to the public. Ramadan, the ninth month on the Islamic calendar, is based on the lunar cycle and moves throughout the year. Typically, the month converges with Easter and Passover every three decades. Ramadan is marked by fasting during the daylight hours and feasting at night with special recitations of the Koran.
The Passover Seder — the ritual meal that includes four cups of wine, unleavened bread, bitter greens and other elements — begins with the admonition, "Let all who are hungry, come and eat." The eight-day festival commemorates the exodus of the Hebrew tribes from slavery in Egypt. The Hebrews were commanded to eat unleavened bread — matzah — and lamb before embarking on their desert journey to freedom.
Some 1,500 years later during the Passover week, Jesus sat with his disciples during the holiday and commanded them to eat the unleavened bread and drink wine in ceremony recalling his life and death.
More: What is Passover? Why is it celebrated? What you need to know about the Jewish holiday
Jesus was crucified by the Romans on Passover day and rose from the grave three days later, a moment that centuries later would be commemorated as Easter.
Sunday morning, hundreds of Brevard County residents will line the beaches to watch as the sun rises over the ocean.
Pastor Keith Capizzi of Club Zion Community Church in Cocoa Beach leads an annual, much-loved service near the water at the end of Minutemen Causeway, an event which includes music from the Club Zion praise band.
Sunrise service, Capizzi said, "represents Christ rising from the grave after Jesus died on the cross for our sins on Good Friday."
Without the resurrection, he said, "the Christian faith and the crucifixion would be meaningless because resurrection is the proof of the power of Christ, not only conquering death, but being raised to eternal life (Romans 6)."
In John 20, Capiizzi said, "it says “Now the first day of the week Mary Magdalene went to the tomb early, while it was still dark, and saw that the stone had been taken away from the tomb..
"In Luke 24, it says “very early in the morning," women went to the tomb and “did not find the body of the Lord Jesus," he said.
"This is the celebration and excitement of every Christian's resurrection hope in their Lord and Savior Jesus Christ."
J.D. Gallop is a criminal justice/breaking news reporter at FLORIDA TODAY. Contact Gallop at 321-917-4641 or jgallop@floridatoday.com. Twitter: @JDGallop.
This article originally appeared on Florida Today: Brevard, Florida ready to celebrate Easter, Passover and Ramadan
