St Andrews Day
| Saint Andrew's Day | |
|---|---|
Henryk Siemiradzki. St. Andrew's Night – Fortune-telling, 1867
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| Observed by |
Orthodox Christian Church Roman Catholic Church (traditional holy day of precept) Anglican Communion Presbyterianism Patronal feast of Scotland |
| Type | Religious National (in Scotland and Romania) |
| Celebrations | Bank holiday (in Scotland and Romania) |
| Date | 30 November |
| Next time | 30 November 2017 |
| Frequency | Annual |
Saint Andrew's Day is the feast day of Saint Andrew. It is celebrated on 30 November.
Saint Andrew is the patron saint of Cyprus, Scotland, Greece, Romania, Russia, Ukraine, Bulgaria, the Ecumenical Patriarchate of Constantinople,San Andres Island, Colombia, Saint Andrew, Barbados and Tenerife.
Saint Andrew's Day (Scots: Saunt Andra's Day, Scottish Gaelic: Là Naomh Anndrais) is Scotland's official national day. In 2006, the Scottish Parliament designated Saint Andrew's Day as an official bank holiday. It is also a national holiday in Romania (since 2015).
In Germany, the feast day is celebrated as Andreasnacht ("(St.) Andrew's Night"), in Austria with the custom of Andreasgebet ("(St.) Andrew's Prayer"), and in Poland as Andrzejki ("Andrew's (festivities)"), in Russia as Андреева ночь ("Andrew's night").
Saint Andrew's Day marks the beginning of the traditional Advent devotion of the Saint Andrew Christmas Novena.
The celebration of Saint Andrew as a national festival is thought to originate from the reign of Malcolm III (1034–1093). It was thought that ritual slaughter of animals associated with Samhain was moved to this date, so as to assure enough animals were kept alive for winter. But it is only in more recent times that 30 November has been given national holiday status.
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