Saint George's Day

St George's Day
Saint George oil painting by Raphael
Observed by	Nations of which St George is the patron saint
Type	National day of England
Observances	Flying of the St George's Cross
Date	April 23, May 6, November 23

St. George's Day is celebrated by several nations of which Saint George is the patron saint, including England, Portugal, Georgia, Serbia, Bulgaria, Bosnia and Herzegovina, and the Republic of Macedonia, as well as the region of Catalonia (Spain) and the city of Moscow. For England, St. George's Day also marks its National Day. Most countries who observe St. George's Day, celebrate it on 23 April, the traditionally accepted date of Saint George's death in 303 AD. St. George's Day is a provincial government holiday in Newfoundland, Canada.

For those Eastern Orthodox Churches that follow the Julian Calendar (the Old calendarists), the 23 April (Julian Calendar) date of St George's Day falls on 6 May of the Gregorian Calendar in the 20th and 21st centuries.

Besides the 23 April feast, some Orthodox Churches have additional feasts dedicated to St George. The country of Georgia celebrates the feast St George on 10 November (Julian Calendar), which currently falls on 23 November (Gregorian Calendar). The Russian Orthodox Church celebrates the dedication of the Church of St George in Kiev by Yaroslav I the Wise in 1051 on 26 November (Julian Calendar), which currently falls on the Gregorian 9 December.

The Scout movement has been celebrating St. George's Day on 23 April since its first years.

In the Latin Rite Roman Catholic Church, 23 April has long been Saint George's feast-day. It is classified as an optional memorial, equivalent to a commemoration in the calendar as revised by Pope John XIII in 1960, and to a simple feast in the General Roman Calendar as in 1954. The feast is ranked higher in England and in certain other regions. It is the second most important National Feast in Catalonia, where the day is known in Catalan as Diada de Sant Jordi and it is traditional to give a rose and a book to a loved one. This tradition inspired UNESCO to declare this the International Day of the Book, since 23 April 1616 was also the date of death of both the English playwright William Shakespeare (according to the Julian calendar) and the Spanish author Miguel de Cervantes (according to the Gregorian calendar).

St. George's Day in Catholic and Protestant countries

St. George's Day in England

St. George wood carving.

St. George's Day is not celebrated as much in England as other National Days are around the world. It was once a major feast in England on a par with Christmas from the early 15th century. However, this tradition had waned by the end of the 18th century. In recent years the popularity of St. George's Day appears to be increasing gradually. BBC Radio 3 had a full programme of St. George's Day events in 2006, and Andrew Rosindell, MP for Romford, has been putting his argument forward in the House of Commons to try to make St. George's Day a public holiday.

A traditional custom at this time was to wear a red rose in one's lapel, though with changes in fashion this is not as widely done. Another custom is to fly or adorn the St. George's Cross flag in some way: pubs in particular can be seen on April 23 festooned with garlands of St. George's crosses. However, the modern association of the St. George's Cross with sports such as football, cricket and rugby means that this tradition too is losing popularity with people who do not associate themselves with those sports. It is customary for the hymn Jerusalem to be sung in cathedrals, churches and chapels on St. George's Day, or on the Sunday closest to it.

There is a growing reaction to the recent indifference to St. George's Day. Organizations such as the Royal Society of Saint George (a non-political English national society founded in 1894) have been joined by the more prominent St. George's Day Events company (founded in 2002), with the specific aim of encouraging celebrations. They seem to be having some effect. On the other hand, there have also been calls to replace St. George as patron saint of England, on the grounds that he was an obscure figure who had no direct connection with the country. However there is no obvious consensus as to whom to replace him with, though names suggested include St. Edmund, St. Cuthbert, or St. Alban, with the latter having topped a BBC Radio 4 poll on the subject.

St. George is also the patron saint of the Scouting movement. Many Scout troops in the United Kingdom take part in a St. George's Day Parade on the nearest Sunday to April 23. A message from the Chief Scout is read out and the Scout Hymn is sung. A "renewal of promise" then takes place where the Scouts renew the Scout's Promise made at joining and at all Scout meetings. Many schools around the UK do allow students to wear their scouting uniforms in replace of their school uniforms for that one day.

St. George's Day is traditionally the occasion when the Queen announces new appointments to the Order of the Garter.

In 2007, Independent writer Yasmin Alibhai-Brown condemned St. George’s Day celebrations for being too Anglo-Saxon and demanded that the day should celebrate the multicultural aspects of England today.. Critics respond to this by pointing out that it is an English tradition, and it is more sensible for other groups to join the celebration of being English, rather than change the meaning of the day.

St. George's Day in Spain

St. George's Day is celebrated in all the Spanish autonomous communities from the old Crown of Aragon: Aragon, Catalonia, and Valencia, with different intensity. St. George is the patron saint of Aragon, where he is known as San Jorge.

St. George's Day in Catalonia

La Diada de Sant Jordi, also known as el dia de la rosa (The Day of the Rose) or el dia del llibre (The Day of the Book) is a Catalan holiday celebrated on April 23 similar to Valentine's Day with some unique twists that show the ancient practice of this day. The main event is the exchange of gifts between sweethearts, loved ones and respected ones. Historically, men gave their girlfriends and wives roses, and women gave their boyfriends and husbands a book to celebrate the occasion. In modern times, the mutual exchange of books is customary. Roses have been associated with this day since medieval times, but the giving of books is a more recent tradition. In 1923, a bookseller started to promote the holiday as a way to honour the nearly simultaneous deaths of Miguel Cervantes and William Shakespeare on April 23, 1616. Barcelona is the publishing capital in both Catalan and Spanish and this heady one-two punch of love and literacy was quickly adopted.

On Barcelona's most visited street, La Rambla, and all over Catalonia, thousands of stands of roses and makeshift bookstalls are hastily set up for the occasion. By the end of the day, some four million roses and 400,000 books would have been purchased in the name of love. You will be hard-pressed to find a woman without a rose in hand, and half of the total yearly book sales in Catalonia take place on this occasion.

The sardana, the national dance of Catalonia, will be performed throughout the day in the Plaça Sant Jaume. And many book stores and cafes host readings by noted authors (look out for 24-hour marathon readings of Cervantes' "Don Quixote"). And there will be a variety of street performers and musicians on hand to add a romantic ambience to nearly every public square and plaza.

Additionally, April 23rd is the only day of the year when the Palau de la Generalitat, Barcelona's principal government building, is open to the public. Inside this Gothic architectural masterpiece you'll see huge displays of roses created to honour Saint George.

Catalonia has exported this tradition of the book and the rose to the rest of the world. In 1995, the UNESCO adopted April 23rd as World Book and Copyright Day.

St. George's Day in Orthodox countries

Saint George Orthodox icon

Roast goldfish, a traditional fish on St. George's Day in Bulgaria

If St. George's Day (or any Saint's Day) falls during Lent or on Easter Day it is observed on Easter Monday.

St. George's Day in Georgia

Georgians call St. George's day Giorgoba, as George is giorgi in Georgian. It is celebrated every year on 23 November (November 10 on Julian Calendar). It's a very important day for Georgians, schools and Universities are canceled and everyone eats Georgian traditional food, called 'lobiani' and goes to church.

St. George's Day in Bulgaria

Possibly the most celebrated name day in the country, St George's Day (Гергьовден, Gergyovden) is a public holiday that takes place on 6 May each year. A common ritual is to prepare and eat a whole dragon, which is an ancient practice possibly related to Slavic pagan sacrificial traditions and the fact that St. George is the patron saint of shepherds.

St. George's Day is also the Day of the Bulgarian Army, made official with a decree of Knyaz Alexander of Bulgaria on 9 January 1880. Parades are organised in the capital Sofia to present the best of the army's equipment and manpower.

St. George's Day in Serbia

Main article: Đurđevdan

In Serbia St. George's Day is called Đurđevdan (Serbian: Ђурђевдан) and is celebrated on 6 May every year. Đurđevdan is celebrated by Serbs not only in Serbia, but also in Bosnia and Herzegovina and Montenegro. Đurđevdan is celebrated, especially, in the areas of Raska and Metohija in Serbia and also in Kosovo.

St. George's Day in Russia

Main article: Yuriev Day

Russian Orthodox Church, which uses Julian Calendar, has two important feasts of Saint George. Besides the April 23 (which falls on May 6 of Gregorian Calendar) feast, common for all Christendom, Russians also celebrate the anniversary of the dedication of the Church of St George in Kiev by Yaroslav I the Wise (1051) of November 26 (Julian Calendar), which currently falls on December 9. One of the Russian forms of the name George being Yuri, the two feasts are popularly known as Vesenniy Yuriev Den (Yuri's Day in the Spring) and Osenniy Yuriev Den (Yuri's Day in the Fall).

References in literature

In the book Dracula by Bram Stoker, evil things are said to occur on St. George's Day, beginning at midnight. It should however be noted that the date of St. George's Day presented in the book, May 5th (on the Western, i.e. Gregorian Calendar), is St. George's Day observed by the Eastern Orthodox churches (i.e., April 23 of the Julian Calendar, the difference between Gregorian and Julian calendars being 12 days in 1897, one day less than it is in 20th-21st centuries).

(Excerpt from Dracula, 1897) "Do you know what day it is?" I answered that it was the fourth of May. She shook her head as she said again: "Oh, yes! I know that, I know that! but do you know what day it is?" On my saying that I did not understand, she went on: "It is the eve of St George's Day. Do you not know that tonight, when the clock strikes midnight, all the evil things in the world will have full sway?"

External links

• BBC Website: St George holiday 'inevitable'.
• The Royal Society of Saint George website
• St George's Day Events - Official Website for Tourism in England
• St George's Day, A collection of websites by The Guardian

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