Saint Andrew's Day: Difference between revisions

|date = 30 November (Western/Eastern & EasternChristianity)

|celebrations = [[Bank holiday]] (in Scotland, in Romania)

'''Saint Andrew's Day''', also called the '''Feast of Saint Andrew''' or '''Andermas''', is the [[feast day]] of [[Andrew the Apostle]]. It is celebrated on 30 November (according to [[Gregorian calendar]]) and on 13 December (according to [[Julian calendar]]). Saint Andrew is the [[Disciple (Christianity)|disciple]] in the [[New Testament]] who introduced his brother, the [[Apostle Peter]], to [[Jesus]], the [[Messiah]].

The celebration of Saint Andrew as a national festival among some social strata and locales is thought to originate from the reign of [[Malcolm III]] (1058–1093). It was thought that the [[ritual slaughter]] of animals associated with [[Samhain]] was moved to this date so as to assureensure enough animals were kept alive for winter.<ref>{{cite book | title = Folklore Myths and Legends of Britain | publisher = Reader's Digest Association Ltd | edition = 2 | date = 1977 | location = Great Britain | page = 22 | isbn = 9780276000393}}</ref> ButStill, it is only in more recent times that 30 November has been given national holiday status, although it remains a normal working day.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.heraldscotland.com/news/19723114.st-andrews-day-2021-bank-holiday-get-day-off/ |title=Is St Andrew's Day 2021 a bank holiday and do we get a day off? |date=17 November 2021 |publisher=The Herald |access-date= 30 November 2021}}</ref>

In 2006, the Scottish Parliament passed the [[St. Andrew's Day Bank Holiday (Scotland) Act 2007]],<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.opsi.gov.uk/legislation/scotland/acts2007/asp_20070002_en_1 |title=Text of the Act, Office of Public Sector Information, National Archives |publisher=Opsi.gov.uk |date= 16 July 2010 |access-date= 30 November 2010}}</ref> which designated the Dayday as an official [[bank holiday]]. If 30 November falls on a weekend, the next Monday is a bank holiday instead. Although it is a "bank holiday", banks are not required to close (and, in practice, will remain open as normal), and employers are not required to give their employees the day off as a holiday. <ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.gov.scot/Topics/People/bank-holidays/FAQs |title=Scottish Government, Bank Holidays in Scotland – Frequently Asked Questions |publisher=gov.scot |access-date= 30 November 2017}}</ref> Likewise, schools remain open. <ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.heraldscotland.com/news/19723114.st-andrews-day-2021-bank-holiday-get-day-off/ |title=Is St Andrew's Day 2021 a bank holiday and do we get a day off? |date=17 November 2021 |publisher=The Herald |access-date= 30 November 2021}}</ref>

Saint Andrew's Day is an official [[flag day]] in Scotland. The [[Scottish Government]]'s flag-flying regulations state that the [[flag of Scotland]] (the [[Saltire]] or Saint Andrew's Cross) shall fly on all its buildings with a flagpole.<ref>[http://www.scotland.gov.uk/Topics/People/royal-ceremonial Scotland.gov.uk- "Royal and Ceremonial"].</ref> Prior toBefore 2002, the Scottish Government followed the UK Government's flag days and would fly the Saltire on Saint Andrew's Day only. The regulations were updated to state that the Union Flag would be removed and replaced by the Saltire on buildings with only one flagpole.<ref>{{cite news|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/scotland/1997980.stm|title=Ministers Agree Flag Day Review|publisher=[[BBC News]]|date= 20 May 2002|access-date=30 November 2010}}</ref>

In Scotland, and many countries with Scottish connections, Saint Andrew's Day is marked with a celebration of Scottish culture, and with traditional Scottish food and music. In Scotland, the day is also seen as the start of a season of Scottish winter festivals encompassing Saint Andrew's Day, [[Hogmanay]] and [[Burns supper|Burns Night]].<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.educationscotland.gov.uk/resources/s/standrewsday.asp |title=St Andrew's Day – 30 November |website=educationscotland.gov.uk |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160113193758/http://www.educationscotland.gov.uk/resources/s/standrewsday.asp |archive-date=13 January 2016}}</ref> There are week-long celebrations in the town of [[St Andrews]] and in some other Scottish cities.<ref>{{cite book|title=Scotland For Dummies|url=https://archive.org/details/scotlandfordummi00shel_399|url-access=limited|first=Barry|last=Shelby|publisher=John Wiley & Sons|page=[https://archive.org/details/scotlandfordummi00shel_399/page/n15 52]|year=2011|isbn=978-1-118-05851-0}}</ref>

Saint Andrew's Day is celebrated as the national day of Independence in Barbados. As the [[patron saint]], Saint Andrew is celebrated in a number ofsome Barbadian symbols, including the cross formation of the [[Coat of arms of Barbados|Barbadian Coat of Arms]], and the former [[Order of Barbados]] which styled recipients as [[Knight or Dame of St Andrew]].<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.barbadosparliament.com/independence.php|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081002152915/http://www.barbadosparliament.com/independence.php|url-status=dead|title=The Barbado Parliament|archive-date=2 October 2008}}</ref>

On Saint Andrew's dayDay in 1806, [[First Serbian Uprising|Serbs]] liberated [[Belgrade]] from Ottoman rule. On 12 December 12, 1830 (St. Andrew's Day), the Hatt-i şerif was read before the assembly in Belgrade. The document has defined the autonomy of Serbia as a part of the [[Ottoman Empire]], and the additional berat confirmed [[Miloš Obrenović I of Serbia|Prince Miloš]] as the hereditary ruler of the [[Principality of Serbia|Serbian Principality]]. St. Andrew's Day was instituted as the Statehood Restoration Day, and was celebrated during the rule of the [[Obrenović dynasty]] until 1903.

In parts of Ukraine, Germany, Austria, Slovakia, Poland, Russia, and Romania, a superstitious belief exists that the night before Saint Andrew's Day is especially suitable for magic that reveals a young woman's future husband or that binds a future husband to her.<ref name=polish/> The day was believed to be the start of the most popular time for [[vampire]] activity, which would last until [[St. George's Day|Saint George's Eve]] (22 April).<ref>{{cite book|title=A Witch's Guide to Ghosts and the Supernatural|first=Gerina|last=Dunwich|page=171|publisher=Career Press|year=2002|isbn=978-1-564-14616-8}}</ref>

In Poland, the holiday ''Andrzejki'' is celebrated on the night of the 29th through 30 November. Traditionally, the holiday was only observed by young single girls, though today, both young men and women join the party to see their futures.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.local-life.com/krakow/articles/andrzejki|title=Andrzejki &#124; November 29th &#124; Eve of St. Andrew|website=www.local-life.com}}</ref> The main ceremony involved pouring hot wax from a candle through the hole in a key into cold water.<ref name=polish>{{cite book|title=The Essential Guide to Being Polish|publisher=Steerforth Press|page=175|year=2014|isbn=978-0-985-06231-6}}</ref>

In Romania, it is customary for young women to put 41 grains of wheat beneath their pillow before they go to sleep, and if they dream that someone is coming to steal their grains that means that, they are going towill get married next year. Also, in some other parts of the country, the young women light a candle from Easter and bring it, at midnight, to a fountain at midnight. They ask Saint Andrew to let them glimpse their future husband. Saint Andrew is invoked to ward off wolves, who are thought to be able to eat any animal they want on this night, and to speak to humans. A human hearing a wolf speaktalk to him will die.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://traditionsacrosseurope.wordpress.com/2008/11/25/st-andrews-day-in-romania/|title=St. Andrew's Day in Romania|date=25 November 2008}}</ref> Saint Andrew is also the patron saint of Romania and the [[Romanian Orthodox Church]].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.desprecopii.com/info.asp?id=544 |title=Sfantul Andrei – Sarbatoare romaneasca |publisher=Desprecopii.com |access-date= 30 November 2012}}</ref>

In [[Póvoa de Varzim]], an ancient fishing town in northern Portugal, [[Cape Santo André]] (Portuguese for Saint Andrew) is a place that shows evidence of Romanisation and of probable earlier importance, with hints of Stone Age paintings.<ref name="vencer">{{cite book | author = Amorim, Sandra Araújo | title = Vencer o Mar, Ganhar a Terra | publisher = Na Linha do horizonte – Biblioteca Poveira CMPV | year = 2004}}</ref> Near the cape there are small depressions in a rock, a mystery stone, that the people believe are the footprints of Saint Andrew. Saint Andrew's Chapel is of probable mediaeval origin, referenced in 1546 and in earlier documents. It is the burial site of drowned fishermen found at the cape. Fishermen also requested intervention from the saint for better catches. Single girls wanting to get married threw a little stone to the chapel's roof of the chapel, hoping it would lodge. Because of pagan [[syncretism]], it ishas also been associated with [[white magic]] up to the present day. It was common to see groups of fishermen, holding lights in their hands, making a pilgrimage to the cape's chapel along the beach on Saint Andrew's Eve. They believed Saint Andrew fished, from the depths, the souls of the drowned. Those who did not visit Santo André in life would have to make the pilgrimage as a corpse.<ref>[http://www.cm-pvarzim.pt/groups/staff/conteudo/noticias/201cresgatar-das-almas201d-recupera-peregrinacao-a-santo-andre "Resgatar das Almas" recupera peregrinação a Santo André], cm-pvarzim.pt; accessed 29 November 2017.{{in lang|pt}}</ref>

St Andrew’sAndrew's Day has become one of the two biggest holidays marked at [[Eton College]], the other being the Fourth of June.<ref>{{Cite web |last=etoncollegecollections |date=2020-11-20 |title=St Andrew's Day at Eton College |url=https://collections.etoncollege.com/st-andrews-day-at-eton-college/ |access-date=2022-11-30 |website=Eton College Collections |language=en-GB}}</ref>

[[Category:ScottishCulture cultureof Scotland]]