Expanding our knowledge of the diverse cultural and faith traditions of our patients, faculty members, staff members and students helps strengthen our relationships with one another and positively impacts the quality of patient care.
The Office of Diversity, Inclusion and Health Equity and the Department of Spiritual Care and Chaplaincy have created a Religious and Cultural Observances Toolkit to provide general information about cultural and religious observances, and how they may impact interactions with colleagues, students, and patients and their family members.
Use these fact sheets as guides for supporting our patients, staff members, faculty members and students. Please keep in mind that they are intended to provide a general overview, and the information may not apply to all individuals in any given culture or faith.
For More Information
For additional information, or to recommend additional religious or cultural observances we should highlight, please contact the Office of Diversity, Inclusion and Health Equity at diversity@jhmi.edu or Paula Teague, senior director of the Department of Spiritual Care and Chaplaincy, at pteague1@jhmi.edu.
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Religious and Cultural Observances Toolkit
Religous & Cultural Observance Day | Date |
January | |
---|---|
New Year's Day | Jan 1 |
Epiphany (Three Kings Day) | Jan 6 |
Orthodox Christmas | Jan 7 |
Makar Sankranti | Jan 14 |
Martin Luther King Jr. Day | Jan 18 |
Guru Gobind Singh Jayanti | Jan 20 |
February | |
National African American History Month | |
Lunar New Year (Chinese New Year) | Feb 12 |
Losar | Feb 12-14 |
President's Day | Feb 15 |
Ash Wednesday and Lent - Eastern and Western Traditions | Feb 17 |
Purim | Feb 25-26 |
Ayyám-i-Há Baha'i | Feb 25-28 |
March | |
National Women's History Month | |
Month of Fast Baha'i | Mar 1-19 |
Maha Shivaratri | Mar 11 |
Clean Monday (Lent Begins for Eastern Orthodox Churches) | Mar 15 |
St. Patrick's Day | Mar 17 |
Nowruz/Naw-Ruz (Iranian New Year) | Mar 20 |
Taoist Festival honoring the Shen of Water, East and Spring | Mar 20 |
Memorial Day for Jehovah's Witnesses | Mar 27 |
Passover/Pesach | Mar 27-Apr 4 |
Palm Sunday | Mar 28 |
Tao-te Tien-tsun (High Pure One) | Mar 28 |
Holi | Mar 28-29 |
Transgender Day of Visibility | Mar 31 |
April | |
Good Friday/Holy Friday | Apr 2 |
Easter (Western Christianity) | Apr 4 |
Qingming Festival | Apr 4 |
Yom Hashoah (Holocaust Remembrance Day) | Apr 8-9 |
Ramadan (Month of Fasting) | Apr 12-May 11 |
Ugadi/Gudi Padwa (Hindu) | Apr 13 |
Vaisakhi | Apr 14 |
Festival of Ridvan | Apr 19-May 1 |
May | |
Jewish American Heritage Month | |
Beltane | May 1 |
Easter | May 2 |
Cinco de Mayo | May 5 |
Eid-al Fitr | May 12-13 |
Armed Forces Day | May 15 |
Shavuot | May 16-18 |
Declaration of the Báb Baha'i | May 23 |
Pentecost (Western Christianity) | May 23 |
Buddhist Visakha Puja | May 26 |
Ascension of Bahá’u’lláh | May 28 |
Memorial Day | May 31 |
June | |
Caribbean-American Heritage Month | |
Dragon Boat Festival | Jun 14 |
Juneteenth | Jun 19 |
Pentecost (Eastern Orthodox) | Jun 20 |
Taoist Festival honoring Shang-Ti | Jun 21 |
July | |
Independence Day | Jul 4 |
Martyrdom of the Báb Baha'i | Jul 9 |
Eid al-Adha | Jul 19-20 |
August | |
Al-Hijra/Muharram | Aug 9-10 |
Thiru Aadi Pooram | Aug 11 |
Dormition of the Theotokos | Aug 15 |
Ashura | Aug 18-19 |
Raksha Bandhan (Rakhi) | Aug 22 |
Krishna Janmashtami | Aug 30 |
September | |
Hispanic Heritage Month | Sep 15-Oct 15 |
Labor Day | Sep 6 |
Rosh Hashanah | Sep 6-8 |
Nativity of the Blessed Virgin Mary | Sep 8 |
Exaltation of the Holy Cross | Sep 14 |
Yom Kippur | Sep 15-16 |
Sukkot | Sep 20-22 |
Chinese Celebration of the Mid-Autumn Festival | Sep 21 |
Mabon (Autumnal Equinox) | Sep 22 |
Taoist Festival honoring Shen of Winds, West, Autumn | Sep 22 |
Simchat Torah | Sep 27-29 |
October | |
German American Heritage Month Italian American Heritage Month National Disability Employment Awareness Month Polish American Heritage Month | |
Navratri | Oct 6-14 |
Double Ninth Festival (Chinese) | Oct 14 |
Vijayadashami | Oct 15 |
Samhain | Oct 31-Nov 1 |
November | |
National Native American Heritage Month | |
All Saints' Day | Nov 1 |
Dia de los Muertos | Nov 1-2 |
Diwali (Indian Festival of Lights) | Nov 3-4 |
Twin Holy Days | Nov 5-7 |
Veterans Day | Nov 11 |
Transgender Day of Remembrance | Nov 20 |
Day of the Covenant | Nov 25 |
Thanksgiving Day | Nov 25 |
American Indian Heritage Day | Nov 26 |
Ascension of Abdu'l-Bahá Baha'i | Nov 28 |
Hanukkah | Nov 18-Dec 6 |
Advent | Nov 28-Dec 24 |
Nativity Fast | Nov 28-Jan 6 |
December | |
Dongzhi Festival | Dec 21 |
Yalda (Winter Solstice) | Dec 21 |
Yule | Dec 21-Jan 1 |
HumanLight | Dec 23 |
Christmas Day | Dec 25 |
Kwanzaa | Dec 26-Jan 1 |