Sentence examples for the observance was from inspiring English sources

But the observance was postponed to avoid being overshadowed by the Interior Department's 150th anniversary, also in 1999.

The observance was in any case made more meaningful, even necessary, by a botched 50th-anniversary commemoration a decade ago.

The National Day of Prayer became a more formal affair in 1988 after prominent backers complained that their constituencies were unable to organize effectively because the observance was held on different days each year.

According to the professional category, the observance was the following one: doctors (50.6%), nurses (34%) auxiliaries (29.1%) other nursing staffs (43.8%).

But the character of the observance is revealing.

The word "Ramadan" derives from the Arabic for "extreme heat," fitting for this year, though the observance is just as likely to occur in winter.

The observance is Arbaniya, which commemorates the end of the mourning period for Imam Hussein, grandson of the Prophet Muhammad, who was killed by an overwhelming force of rival Sunni Muslims near Karbala in A.D. 680.

Whatever the variations, the heart of the observance is what counts, said Kerry Olitzky, the North Brunswick rabbi who is executive director of the Jewish Outreach Institute and author of "Preparing Your Heart for Passover (Jewish Publication Society)." "Passover is celebrated more frequently by Jews in North America than any other holiday," he said.

(The observance is a new one for Ms. Bachchan; in April she married Abhishek Bachchan, an actor and the son of the Indian film star Amitabh Bachchan, a union that prompted Time magazine to describe the three as "Bollywood's Father, Son and Holy Babe").

He used his weekly TV and radio broadcast to caution that the observance is strictly a "gringo," or North American custom.

The truth is the observance is fading as an American holiday.