Feast Day?

[Emily]

Why do we call holy days feast days? I mentioned "feast day" recently and I realized afterwards that people may have been offended by the term feast. I think they thought I was saying that Christmas was just about eating. I realized later that I should have said holy day. That got me to wondering why do we call holy days feast days?

Thanks!

[Pio Nono]

JMJ
12/24 - Vigil of Christmas

Emily,

Good question. I don't know if there's one answer, but if I had to guess, they're called "feast days" because they classically follow "fast days," or days on which one fasts. For instance, Easter is a "feast day" because we would feast on that day, following the fast on Holy Saturday. But there's also the "feast" of various things, like St. John Cantius (yesterday) or St. Stephen the Protomartyr (Wednesday), and these are days on which we should do something special, to show that it's different from a regular day. Hope this helps.

Yours,
Pio Nono