Coeducational College Preparatory Day School serving Grades 5-12
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Hawaiian Independence Day & Feast of the Holy Sovereigns
"The Beautiful Flag of Hawaii, Let it forever wave."
Photo Credit: Front Cover of Ka Nūpepa Kūʻokoa, Ianuari 1, 1862. Hawaiian Historical Society.
Photo Credit: Front Cover of Ka Nūpepa Kūʻokoa, Ianuari 1, 1862. Hawaiian Historical Society.
As Chaplain, I regularly send emails to staff and faculty members, inviting them to celebrate or commemorate a certain moment in the calendar, the history of these beautiful islands, or a particular spiritual or religious occasion. This is one such invitation …
Sent November 28, 2023:
Today is both Lā Kūʻokoʻa—Hawaiian Independence Day—and the Episcopal Church's Feast of the Holy Sovereigns. Both will be recognized at Chapel tomorrow from 7:15 am.
"Lā Kūʻokoʻa marks the date when the sovereignty of the Hawaiian Kingdom was formally recognized by England and France through the signing of the Anglo-French Proclamation and through a verbal acknowledgment with the United States"—November 28th, 1843. [1] This celebration is "is multifaceted and deeply layered. It expresses "the passion, the love [the Kānaka Maoli] have for their homelands, birth lands, or lands to which they feel an ancestral or spiritual connection. It is patriotism, love of one's country and people." [2] Learn more from these references: [1] [2]
On November 28th, the Episcopal Church recognizes HRH Kamehameha IV and Emma as saints and Holy Sovereigns. "Kamehameha and Emma were both earnest in their devotion to both the material and the spiritual welfare of their people. The King personally translated a version of the Episcopal Prayer Book ... into Hawaiian in 1862. In addition, Kamehameha donated lands–from his personal inventory– and raised funds for the initial construction of a central church in Hawaiʻi, which would later be known as the Cathedral Church of St. Andrew’s," O'ahu. Learn more here.
