July 22 is the Feast day of Mary Magdalene, a saint in the Catholic and Orthodox churches. Mary Magdalene was a disciple of Christ, the only non-family woman to be closely associated with him. She was among the first to witness the resurrection and was charged by Christ with spreading the word to the other disciples.

Mary Magdalene has been a popular character in fiction and legend throughout the centuries. Recent non-fiction (”Holy Blood, Holy Grail“) and fiction (”DaVinci Code“) books put forward the theory that Mary was in fact the wife of Jesus, but the evidence is sketchy at best.

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Feast of Mary Magdalene

May 21 is a popular festival day in Greece. Not only is today the feast day for Greece’s patron saint (and mother of Emperor Constantine I), Helen. It’s also the date of five regional festivals. Being celebrated in Greece today are:

May 21st – Throughout Greece – Feast of Saints Constantine and Helen
May 21st – Corfu – Unification of the Ionian Islands
May 21st – Rethymnon – Battle of Crete
May 21st – Kassos – Vrisi – festival with songs and dancing.
May 21-23rd – Agia Elleni near Serres – Anasternaria fire walking.
May 21-23rd – Langada near Thessaloniki – Anasternaria fire walking.

^{(photo of Sts. Constantine and Helen © G. Stworzt/cc license)}

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A Sextet of Greek Festivals

St. Patrick’s Day is March 17, but how much do you really know about the man for whom the holiday is named and the holiday? The people at findingDulcinea, a travel guide publisher and information Web site, were kind enough to share their list of Things You Probably Didn’t Know about St. Patrick’s Day:

1. St. Patrick’s first trip to Ireland was as a captive. When he was 16, Irish raiders snatched him from the home of his wealthy parents and brought him to Ireland, where he lived for six years before making his escape. He returned to Ireland many years later as a missionary.

2. St. Patrick did not drive the snakes out of Ireland; in fact, there weren’t any there. However, he did spend six years as a shepherd. He may not have performed any magic while tending the flock, but according to his “Confessions,” he prayed every day and the solace he drew from religion inspired him to join the priesthood.

3. A Shamrock should only have three leaves, according to St. Patrick. It was the symbol he used to explain the idea of the Holy Trinity when he was teaching the Irish about Christianity.

4. St. Patrick created the Celtic cross by combining the cross and the pagan image of the sun, in an attempt to ease the pre-Christian Irish into adopting his religion. He also incorporated bonfires into the Easter celebration because the Irish used fire to worship their gods.

5. The first-ever St. Patrick’s Day parade was held in New York City in 1762. Irish soldiers serving in the English military united and marched to share their culture.

6. St. Patrick helped preserve the works of Plato and Cicero. He and other monks in Ireland spent years making handwritten copies of ancient texts and spread them throughout Europe when the manuscripts were complete.

^{(photo © Steve Borg/cc license)}

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Things you Probably Didn’t Know about St. Patrick’s Day

February 1 is St. Brigid’s Day in Ireland. St. Brigid, who lived in Ireland during the 5th and 6th centuries, is one of three patron saints of Ireland (with St. Patrick and St. Columba). She is also the patron saint of babies, blacksmiths, boatmen, cattle, dairymen, fugitives, travelers, nuns, poets, sailors, and scholars. (busy girl!)

St. Brigid was noted for her generosity, common sense, and for founding several convents. She is connected with the Brigid Cross (see picture below), which she supposedly wove at her father’s deathbed. As she explained the meaning of the symbol to him, he requested to be baptized. For instructions on making a Brigid’s Cross, click here.

St. Brigid’s Day is celebrated in Ireland by hanging a Brigid’s Cross on the front door, building bonfires, and dining with friends and family. Traditional foods for St. Brigid’s Day include Colcannon, the traditional Irish mixture of potatoes, leeks, and cabbage; Boxty Cakes, a variation of potato pancakes; and St. Brigid’s Oakcakes.

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St. Brigid’s Day

St. Anthony, who is honored on January 17, is a handy guy to have around. He is the patron saint of domestic animals, basket makers, Sicily, Brazil, butchers, cemetery workers, hermits, hogs, and monks–an eclectic mixture, to say the least.

The real St. Anthony lived near Alexandria, Egypt, in the 3rd and 4th centuries. He was a solitary man, who lost his parents at an early age. St. Anthony is known as the “Father of Monasticism,” although monasteries had already begun to string up around the Christian World. After his death, however, his followers created a community based on St. Anthony’s ascetic life.

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The Feast of St. Anthony

Sweden celebrates Christmas for 20 days, beginning on December 25 and ending on St. Knut’s Day, January 13. The tradition, called Tjugondag Knut in Swedish, began in the 11th century by King Knut (later canonized by the Catholic church for his kindness and generosity).

The occasion is marked with small gifts of candy and cookies (which represent the traditional Christmas tree decorations) to the children. It is also the day most Swedish households dispose of their Christmas trees and take down their holiday decorations.

^{(photo © nordelch/cc license)}

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Sweden’s St. Knut’s Day

St. Patrick’s Day, March 17, is a celebration of all things Irish. Originally, a day to commemorate the Roman Catholic St. Patrick, the day has evolved into a day of parades, Irish food, green beer, and lots of Irish song and dance.

Several symbols are commonly associate with St. Patrick’s Day–the shamrock, a pot of gold, and that impish fellow, the leprechaun.

Shamrocks. The shamrock is the symbol of Ireland. The petals of the three-leafed clover represent the Holy Trinity in this primarily Catholic nation. Shamrocks are said to be lucky.

Leprechaun. The leprechaun is a male faerie that comes from Irish mythology. He is typically depicted wearing green, with a top hat and big belt buckle. Leprechaun’s are reputed to be very rich, having a pot or two of gold stashed away. They are benign, if somewhat impish, creatures.

Pot o’ Gold. The wealth of the leprechauns, the pot o’gold is traditionally depicted as a black cauldron, filled with gold coins. According to Irish folklore, leprechauns store their pots o’ gold at the end of the rainbow.

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The Symbols of St. Patrick’s Day

We’re not going to talk about all of the Saints’ days here at All Holiday Cafe. That would be a full-time blog all by itself. However, a few of these days are particularly interesting. One such day is Ste. Genevieve Day, January 3.

Ste. Genevieve is the patron saint of Paris as well as of unmarried women. The real Genevieve was a peasant girl who lived in the French province of Navarre during the 5th century. By all accounts, she was a pious girl with simple ways. She came to the attention of the church because of her actions in keeping Paris safe from the army of Attila. The story goes that she kept the citizens from evacuating the city and encouraged them to pray and fast instead. This plan seemed to have worked, as the great Hun army turned around just miles away from Paris.

Broadway fans will remember that it’s Ste. Genevieve to whom Guenevere prays at the beginning of the musical, “Camelot,” in the song “Simple Joys of Maidenhood” by Lerner and Lowe.

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Ste. Genevieve Day