ABSTRACT
This chapter examines some of the difficulties confronting attempts to adapt the cult of anniversaries to Christian figures. The preempting of the cult of anniversaries by secularists exemplifies the prevalence of non-Christian assumptions today, particularly in Europe. The Nazarene painters, four of whom have anniversaries between 1988 and 1994, exemplify problems that still afflict Christian anniversaries in a secular world. These German zealots endeavored to create a style of painting that would restore to Christian art the spirit of its origins. Their failure to create an enduring style illustrates dilemmas that persist today. If Cardinal Newman were to receive the kind of commemoration he deserves, planners would have needed to relate the cult of anniversaries in Europe to the revival of religion that is burgeoning everywhere else. Because public anniversaries have become secular occasions, Christians must lean over backwards if they are to commemorate their seminal figures without secularizing them.
