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3 April: what is celebrated today
3 April is a day of profound contrasts. While the sky can surprise with an explosion of colour after rain, Christian tradition invites silence and introspection. On this date, the wonder of a natural phenomenon that inspires universal awe coexists with a day marked by reflection, memory and mourning. Two ways of looking at the world—light and shadow—meet on the same day.
World Rainbow Day
World Rainbow Day celebrates one of the most fascinating and fleeting natural phenomena. The rainbow appears when sunlight passes through raindrops and breaks down into a sequence of colours that forms an arc in the sky. It is not an object that can be touched or a place that can be reached: it depends on the observer’s point of view and disappears as soon as conditions change.
For centuries, the rainbow was interpreted as a mythical or spiritual sign, until science provided a precise explanation. Isaac Newton’s experiments showed that white light contains all the colours of the visible spectrum within itself. Even so, knowing its origin has not diminished the symbolic power of this image, which today represents diversity, coexistence and hope in multiple cultures and social movements.
Good Friday
In 2026 and 2027, 3 April coincides with Good Friday, one of the most solemn dates in the Christian calendar. This day commemorates the crucifixion and death of Jesus Christ and is observed as a day of mourning, silence and reflection during Holy Week.
Good Friday invites people to pause and remember the final moments of Jesus’ life: the trial, the journey to the cross, the crucifixion and the burial. In many traditions, the Eucharist is not celebrated and fasting and abstinence are practised as expressions of penance and respect. Processions, the Stations of the Cross and liturgical acts turn this date into a collective experience that transcends religion and appeals to universal values such as sacrifice, compassion and remembrance.