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PRODUCTS
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St. George's Day:
St George's Day is celebrated in several nations of whom Saint George is the patron saint, including England, Georgia, Bulgaria, Portugal, and Catalonia. In England it is the National Day. April 23 was the date of Saint George's death in 303.
In 1969, Saint George's feast day was reduced to an optional memorial in the Roman Catholic calendar, and the solemnity of his commemoration depends on purely local observance. He is however still honoured as a saint of major importance by Eastern Orthodoxy. His feast date remains the second most important National Feast in Catalonia. There, it 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 the death of the authors William Shakespeare (according to the Julian calendar) and Miguel de Cervantes (according to the Gregorian calendar).
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.
St George's Day in Bulgaria
Possibly the most celebrated namesday in the country, St George's Day is a public holiday that takes place on 6 May every year. A common ritual is to prepare a whole lamb and eat mutton, which is an ancient practice possibly related to Slavic pagan sacrificial traditions.
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) and parades are organized in the capital Sofia to present the best of the army's equipment and manpower.
St George's Day in England
St George's Day is not celebrated as much in England as other National Days are around the world. The celebration of St George's Day 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 Andrew Rosindell M.P. 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.
There is a growing reaction to the late twentieth century indifference to St George's Day. Organizations such as the Royal Society of Saint George (a non-political nationalist 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. 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.
St George's Day in Georgia
St George's Day on November 23 is a public holiday in Georgia. Coincidentally, in 2003, the Rose Revolution reached its peak on St George's Day when Eduard Shevardnadze resigned as President of Georgia.
St George's Day in Orthodoxy
A common practice in Orthodox churches is to postpone St George's Day if April 23 falls within Great Lent. If Easter occurs on or after April 23, as happens this year (2006), the feast day is pushed to the Monday after Easter.
References in Literature
In the book Dracula, evil things are said to occur of St. George's Eve. It should however be noted that the date of St. Georges day presented in the book is the eastern St. Georges day observed by the Eastern Orthodox churches.
Bibliography Notes: Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia, Online, 19 April 2006. Available: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/St._George%27s_Day
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