About Saint Andrew's Day

DESCRIPTION:

Saint Andrew's Day in Scotland commemorates the martyrdom of St. Andrew, the patron saint of Scotland, who was crucified on an X-shaped cross on November 30, 60AD. Scotland flies the Saltire flag on public buildings. The ceilidh, a traditional dance, is performed in Edinburgh, Glasgow, and Dumfries.

Saint Andrew was the younger brother of Saint Peter, one of the twelve apostles of Jesus Christ. He was born in Bethesda on the shores of the Sea of Galilee, and he died in Patras, Greece.

MARRIAGE WISHES

For a young woman wishing to marry, this day holds special meaning. At midnight on November 30, hopeful brides pray for a future husband, peeling an apple as a continuous ribbon, then throwing it over her shoulder. The position of the peel when it lands determines the first letter of her future husband's name. Then she pours liquid candle wax into a bucket of water. As it cools, its form tells her of her future husband's profession.

Scots proposed Saint Andrew's Day be a bank holiday in 2003. The St. Andrew's Day Bank Holiday Act of 2007 passed on November 29, 2006, and was given Royal Assent by the Crown on January 15, 2007. As of 2007, it is an annual bank holiday in Scotland. If November 30 falls on a weekend, the following Monday is the official state holiday.

WHY SO MANY FEAST DAYS?
Have you ever noticed that there seem to be feast days for just about everything in the Catholic and Orthodox Christian faiths? There is a reason for that. The church granted feast days to allow all subjects of the Crown to take a day off. As most worked six days a week, feast days provided a break that landowners and nobility couldn't deny. If they tried, they were going against the church, and that you did not do.

In medieval times, there were approximately 60 feast days a year. Add this to 52 Sundays, Christmas, and Easter, and workers received a minimum of 114 days off a year. Contrast that to today. The average American gets 104 weekend days and seven national holidays off work. That's three days less than the commoners of the Dark Ages, just in case you're feeling a little overworked.