St. Stephen's Day

St. Stephen's Day, or the Feast of St. Stephen, is a Christian saint's day celebrated on 26 December in the Western Church and 27 December in the Eastern Church. Many Eastern Orthodox churches adhere to the Julian calendar and mark St. Stephen's Day on 27 December according to that calendar, which places it on 9 January of the Julian calendar used in secular contexts. It commemorates St. Stephen, the first Christian martyr or protomartyr. It is an official public holiday in Austria, Balearic Islands, Catalonia, Croatia, Czech Republic, Germany, Ireland, Italy, Luxembourg, Macedonia, Montenegro, Norway, Denmark, Estonia, Sweden, Finland, Romania, Serbia, Slovakia and Poland. The date is also a Public Holiday in those countries that celebrate Boxing Day on the day instead/as well.

Read more about St. Stephen's Day:  Ireland, Wales, Catalonia, Serbia, Republika Srpska

Famous quotes containing the words stephen and/or day:

    “Two voices are there: one is of the deep;
    It learns the storm-cloud’s thunderous melody,”
    —James Kenneth Stephen (1859–1892)

    “Blessed is the man that walketh not in the counsel of the ungodly,
    nor standeth in the way of sinners, nor sitteth in the seat of the
    scornful.
    But his delight is in the law of the Lord; and in his law doth he
    meditate day and night.
    And he shall be like a tree planted by the rivers of water, that
    bringeth forth his fruit in his season; his leaf also shall not wither;
    and whatsoever he doeth shall prosper.”
    —Bible: Hebrew Psalm I (l. I, 1–3)