*Ø* Wilson's Almanac free daily ezine | Book of Days | January 25 | Robert Burns, Burns Night, Burns Supper, St Paul, Saint Paul, Disir, Disting, Disirblot, Disablot, haggis, quotes John Norton Truth

This page is big! If it fails to load fully, please click Refresh on your browser menu.
It's fully loaded when you see the purple menu bar at the foot of the page.

reetings from Australia.

Welcome to this Red-Letter Day. Below you will find today's global celebrations, birthdays and events.

First time here? See the Index for How it works

Celebrate each and every day with a free subscription to the daily ezine. You can apply by form or send a blank email. Read what the 'Almaniacs' (members) say about Wilson's Almanac.

I request your support if this website pleases and informs you, as this is my livelihood. Thank you, from the bottom of my fridge.

Inquiries from publishers are welcome, but, dear reader, please don't use my work without my written permission. If I've inadvertently used something of yours that you consider not to fall under the fair use doctrine, please tell me and I'll remove it.

Carpe diem! (Seize the day!)

Pip Wilson

Our news on your homepage (that is, if you use My Yahoo, which we recommend for your start-up page)

Carpe diem!

25

Yesterday | Tomorrow | Search

Open links in a New Window

Today is

Is there for honest Poverty
That hings his head, an' a' that;
The coward slave – we pass him by,
We dare be poor for a' that!
For a' that, an' a' that.
Our toils obscure an' a' that,
The rank is but the guinea's stamp,
The Man's the gowd for a' that.

What though on hamely fare we dine,
Wear hoddin grey, an' a' that;
Gie fools their silks, and knaves their wine;
A Man's a Man for a' that:
For a' that, and a' that,
Their tinsel show, an' a' that;
The honest man, tho' e'er sae poor,
Is king o' men for a' that.

Ye see yon birkie, ca'd a lord,
Wha struts, an' stares, an' a' that;
Tho' hundreds worship at his word,
He's but a coof for a' that:
For a' that, an' a' that,
His ribband, star, an' a' that:
The man o' independent mind
He looks an' laughs at a' that.

A prince can mak a belted knight,
A marquis, duke, an' a' that;
But an honest man's abon his might,
Gude faith, he maunna fa' that!
For a' that, an' a' that,
Their dignities an' a' that;
The pith o' sense, an' pride o' worth,
Are higher rank than a' that.

Then let us pray that come it may,
(As come it will for a' that,)
That Sense and Worth, o'er a' the earth,
Shall bear the gree, an' a' that.
For a' that, an' a' that,
It's coming yet for a' that,
That Man to Man, the world o'er,
Shall brothers be for a' that.
Robert Burns, Scottish poet, born on January 25, 1759; 'A Man's A Man For A' That' English translation

Robert Burns
Rabbie Burns

Man to Man, the world o'er,
Shall brothers be for a' that.

Be a Scot for a day, and all that!
Today, we might guess that Almaniacs worldwide
are singing along with Rabbie's lyrics at left!
Join in, for a' that – no one's listening!

Some hae meat, and canna eat,
And some would eat that want it;
But we have meat and we can eat,
And sae the Lord be thankit.
'The Selkirk Grace', attributed to Robert Burns

For my own affairs, I am in a fair way of becoming as eminent as Thomas a Kempis, or John Bunyan; and you may expect henceforth to see my birthday inscribed among the wonderful events, in the poor Robin and Aberdeen Almanacks, along with the Black Monday and the Battle of Bothwell-bridge.
Robert Burns; in a letter to Gavin Hamilton

My heart's in the Highlands, my heart is not here;
My heart's in the Highlands a-chasing the deer.
Robert Burns; 'My Heart's in the Highlands'

Fair fa' your honest sonsie face
Great chieftain o' the pudden race
Abune them a' ye tak your place
Painch, tripe, or thairm
Weel are ye worthy o' a grace
As lang's my airm.
Robert Burns, 'Address to a Haggis'

Clara dies Pauli bona tempora denotat anni;
Si nix vel pluvia, designat tempora cara;
Si fiant nebulae, pereunt animalia quaeque;
Si fiant venti, designat praelia genti.
Latin weather prognosticator

If St Paul's Day be fair and clear
It does betide a happy year;
But if it chance to snow or rain,
Then will be dear all kind of grain;
If clouds or mist do dark the skie,
Great store of birds and beasts shall die;
And if the winds do flie aloft
Then war shall vexe the kingdom oft.
Willsford; Nature's Secrets, 1658

If St Paul's Day be fair and clear, it indicates plenty; if cloudy or misty, much cattle will die; if rain and snow fall that day, it presages a dearth; if windy, it forebodes wars, as old wives do dream.
Willisford (ibid)

St Paul fair with sunshine
Brings fertility to rye and wine.
Traditional English weather proverb

If Paul th'Apostle's day be clear,
It doth foreshew a lucky year.
English traditional expression

If Paul's day is fine, it will be a fine spring.
English traditional expression

If St Paul's day be fine, the year will be the same.
Traditional French weather proverb

Absent in body, but present in spirit.
St Paul

Among the sayings and discourses imputed to [Jesus] by his biographers, I find many passages of fine imagination, correct morality, and of the the most lovely benevolence, and others, again of so much ignorance, so much absurdity, so much untruth, charlatanism and imposture, as to pronounce it impossible that such contradictions should have proceeded from the same being. I separate, therefore, the dross; restore to him the former and leave the latter to the stupidity of some, the roguery of others of his disciples. Of this band of dupes and impostors, Paul was the great Coryphaeus, and first corruptor of the doctrines of Jesus.
Thomas Jefferson; Letter to W Short, 1820

I'm somewhat superstitious, and for want of a saner reason, attribute the "cussedness" of my behaviour to the fact that I was born into this world of sin, strife, sorrow and slatherumwhack on the 25th of January, the Feast Day of St Paul. To my happy accident of my nativity I attribute my "cussedness" and whatever capacity and courage I may have displayed in my 25 years fight on behalf of the Rights of the People, and my own personal liberty against public, private, political and personal enemies. Like St Paul, I, too, have fought with beasts, if not at Ephesus, at Darlinghurst, five times in the criminal dock ... because I have dared to defy and denounce injustice and wrong done against the poor and oppressed, the weak and uninfluential, the friendless and helpless.
John Norton, Australian journalist, MP and psychopath, born on January 25, 1858

A brilliant man has passed away,
   John Norton was his name;
He made the tyrants shake with fear,
   The coward blush with shame.
For wowsers, quacks, and hypocrites
   He had not time at all,
He hated cant and humbug,
   And those who cringe and crawl.
Patrick Francis Collins ('Paddy the Poet'), street poet, on the occasion of John Norton's death, 1916

Impropriety is the soul of wit.
W Somerset Maugham, born January 25, 1874; The Moon and Sixpence

People ask you for criticism, but they only want praise.
W Somerset Maugham; Of Human Bondage

Sentimentality is the only sentiment that rubs you up the wrong way.
W Somerset Maugham; A Writer's Notebook

The poet gives us his essence, but prose takes the mould of the body and mind entire.
Virginia Woolf, English author, born on January 25, 1882; The Captain's Death Bed, 'Reading'

If you do not tell the truth about yourself you cannot tell it about other people.
Virginia Woolf; The Moment and Other Essays

Why are women ... so much more interesting to men than men are to women?
Virginia Woolf; A Room of One's Own

A recent film, The Hours, presents Woolf in a way her contemporaries would have marvelled at. She is the very image of a sensitive suffering lady novelist. Where is the malicious, spiteful woman she in fact was? And dirty-mouthed, too, though with an upper-class accent. Posterity, it seems, has to soften and make respectable, smooth and polish, unable to see that the rough, the raw, the discordant, may be the source and nurse of creativity. It was inevitable that Woolf would end up as a genteel lady of letters, though I don't think any of us could have believed she would be played by a young, beautiful, fashionable girl who never smiles, whose permanent frown shows how many deep and difficult thoughts she is having. Good God! The woman enjoyed life when she wasn't ill; liked parties, her friends, picnics, excursions, jaunts. How we do love female victims; oh, how we do love them.
Doris Lessing on Virginia Woolf; A Snob in Woolf's Clothing

The Melboume Anarchist Club's debates for the past quarter have been quite as interesting as usual, and have shown an increasing spirit of earnestness amongst those who assemble to take part in them. L.D. Petrie opened on 4th November upon "Individualism," which he severely condemned; the Chicago executions were commemorated the Sunday following; on the 18th J.A. Andrews wrote against the "Labor Note;" and the Sunday following, S.A. Rosa spoke in favor of "State Socialism." On 2nd December, J.White read a vigorous paper on "Government Blackmail;" L.D. Petrie asked "What is Equity?" on the 9th; J.W. Fleming opened a highly interesting discussion on the 10th, upon the subject of "Marriage, Prostitution, and the Whitechapel Murders;" on the 23rd, D.A. Andrade read a paper on "False Relations;" and on the 30th, J.A. Andrews opened on "Revolution." No debates were held in January until the 20th, when J.W. Fleming spoke on "The Prospects of the Workers;" and on the 27th, D.A. Andrade opened on "The Socialism of Karl Marx." These debates are open to the public, who are invited to take part in them and read papers before the Club. No charge is made for admission.
From 'On the Lookout', Honesty, February, 1889; JW 'Chummy' Flemimg died on January 25, 1950 Source

In any country there must be people who have to die. They are the sacrifices any nation has to make to achieve law and order.
Idi Amin, who seized power in Uganda on January 25, 1971

January 25 is the 25^th day of the year in the Gregorian calendar, with 340 days remaining (341 in leap years).
On the dating of items in the Almanac Translate this page Find your birthday star Daily Everything NNDB Time/Date Google
Calendar converter Almanacs, calendars, time, dedicated weeks, etc Almanac screensavers On this day Dictionary I recommend
IMDB days IMDB years Wikipedia days Wiki decades Wiki centuries Timelines Convert weights, measures, etc Calendrica Lunabar
When 'Source' links on this page move address or die, I might allow them to stay here, but the Wayback Machine might help you locate the original.

Burns Day

All over the world, Scots will gather tonight for the annual Burns Supper. There they will honour the life and work of their national poet, Robert Burns, born on this day in 1759. Usually they will enjoy a great feast (a haggis is often served) and there will be the singing of national songs, many of them from the pen of Burns himself. It may be that these revels have their origins in the ancient Norse Disting festival of the dísir, protective maternal deities or guardian goddesses.

And there's a hand, my trusty fiere!
And gie's a hand o' thine!
And we'll tak' a right guid-willie waught,
For auld lang syne.

Disting (Dísablót and dísaþing)

The dísir (sing. dís) may be considered ancestors of humans and they are associated with the Norse goddess Freya. They are valkyrie-like guardians of the dead. One of the dísirs' functions was to assist women in childbirth, leading to these deities holding an important position as agents of destiny. The Disting was held at the beginning of February and the end of October, and is still celebrated by various Neopagan religions such as Ásatrú (Asatru) and Germanic heathenism.

From Wikipedia: A dísablót was a sacrificial holiday (blót) in honour of dísir. It is mentioned in Víga-Glúms saga, Egils saga and the Ynglinga saga. The latter relates that king Aðils died when he administered the dísablót and rode around the shrine. According to Ólafs saga helga as well as old Swedish law, the dísablót was celebrated at Uppsala during pagan times in late February or early March, and the sacrifices to the dísir were followed by the thing of all Swedes and a yearly fair. When Christianity arrived, the market was moved to early February and renamed kyndelsting. The name disting remained in use, however, and the fair is still held every year in Uppsala – the first Tuesday in February. It may be one of the oldest fair traditions in Sweden.

Neopagan Druidism Disting ritual Deities of many cultures in the Book of Days

Cabble claw and haggis

At Burns Night suppers, revellers will likely eat cabble claw ( wind-dried cod with a sauce of egg and horseradish), and finnan toasties, or smoked haddock. The piece de résistance is, of course, the sheep's stomach stuffed with offal, oatmeal and various other ingredients, known as haggis.

X on the paunch
The haggis is brought to the table and addressed in the bard's own words:

Fair fa' your honest sonsie face,
Great chieftain o' the pudding race.

The cook carves an "x" on top (the paunch), perhaps representing the cross of Scotland's patron, St Andrew. The flaps are then peeled back, then grace is recited.

Burns supper

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.

A Burns Supper is a celebration of the life and poetry of the poet Robert Burns, author of the version of the Scots song, Auld Lang Syne, which is generally sung at Hogmanay and other New Year celebrations around the world. The suppers are normally held on or near the poet's birthday (January 25), sometimes known as Burns Night, although they may in principle be held at any time of the year. The first suppers were held in Ayrshire at the end of the 18^th Century by his friends on the anniversary of his death, July 21, and they have been a regular occurrence ever since. They may be formal or informal but they should always be entertaining. The only items which the informal suppers have in common are haggis, whisky and perhaps a poem or two. However the formal suppers, which are often held by Burns clubs follow a standard format which is as follows.

Usual order of proceedings for a Burns supper

1 Start of the Evening

2 The Host's welcoming speech

3 The Entrance of the Haggis

4 The Supper

5 The Loyal Toast

6 The Immortal Memory

7 Appreciation

8 Toast to the Lassies

9 Reply to the Toast to the Lassies

10 Other toasts and speeches

11 Burns Work

12 Dancing

13 In Closing

Recipe for haggis
Clean a sheep's pluck thoroughly. Make incisions in the heart and liver to allow the blood to flow out, and parboil them, letting the windpipe lie over the side of the pot to permit the phlegm and blood to disgorge from the lungs; change the water after a few minutes boiling for fresh water. Another half hour's boiling will be sufficient; but throw back the half of the liver to boil until it will grate easily. Take the heart, the half of the liver and the lungs, trimming away all skins and black-looking parts, and mince them together along with a pound of good beef suet. Grate the other half of the liver. Have eight onions peeled and scalded in two waters, which chop and mix with this mince. Toast some oatmeal before the fire till it is of a light brown colour and perfectly dry. Less than two teaspoonfuls of meal will do for this quantity of meat. Spread the mince on a board and strew the meal lightly over it, with a high seasoning of pepper, salt, a little cayenne and marjoram, well mixed. Have a sheep's stomach perfectly clean, and see that there is no thin part in it in case of its bursting. Put in the meat with a half-pint of good beef gravy, or as much strong broth and the juice of a lemon or a little good vinegar as will make a thick stew. Be careful not to fill the bag too full so as to allow the meat room to swell. Press out the air and sew up the bag; prick it with a large needle when it first swells in the pot, to prevent bursting; let it boil slowly for three hours if large.
Robert H Christie (1911)

Another recipe Organising a Burns Supper

Are you ready for Burns Night?

"Robert Burns: poet and balladeer, Scotland's favourite son and champion of the common people. Each year on January 25, the great man's presumed birthday, Scots everywhere take time out to honour a national icon. Whether it's a full-blown Burns Supper or a quiet night of reading poetry, Burns Night is a night for all Scots."

[And for others who enjoy the fun!]

All you need here, including a step by step guide for a traditional Burns Supper and other useful links.

Second day of the Sementivae in honour of Ceres and Terra, Roman Empire
Sementivae is the Roman festival of sowing in honour of Ceres, goddess of agriculture and Terra (Tellus, Gaia,Mother Earth). There are two festivals involved. The first festival is to commemorate Tellus and runs from January 24 till January 26. The festival honouring Ceres occurs one week later on February 2.

Find an error or dead link?
Like to make a suggestion, or just say "G'day"?
Meet me at Corrigenda

Current phase
Lunar phase info (popup)

Current sun

Julian day calculator (popup)

Tagcloud (popup)

Favourite links (popup)

How to read our feed

(Bloglines, NewsGator, Rojo, MyMSN, etc)

Subscribe to our ezines

Create your own Squidoo lens.
It's fun, and easy!

Cafe Diem! Our store

Highly recommended:
Folklore of World Holidays
by Margaret Read MacDonald

The Price of Loyalty: Bush, the White House, & the Education of Paul O'Neill

The Da Vinci Code

Ancient Ways

Garden Witchery

The Twilight of American Culture

Golden Bough
Folklore classic

Sabbat Entertaining

The Pagan Book of Days

Eight Sabbats for Witches

Celebrate the Earth A Year of Holidays in the Pagan Tradition

Wheel of the Year

Be A Goddess

The Five Biggest Lies Bush Told Us About Iraq

The Oxford Dictionary of Saints

Lucifer Ascending: The Occult in Folklore and Popular Culture

Cassell's Dictionary of Superstitions

White Noise

Encyclopedia of Superstitions

The Book of Spells

Spellcraft

The Book of Saints

The Encyclopedia of Saints

Daily Everything

Brewer's Dictionary of Phrase and Fable

Lord of the Rings

To support this project
Search by keywords for books, music, computers, software, home and family products and much more.

An Inconvenient Truth
By Al Gore; DVD & book

The Permaculture Home Garden
By Linda Woodrow

The Corporation
Highly recommended DVD

A Question of Torture
By Alfred McCoy

Remotely Controlled: How Television Is Damaging Our Lives and What We Can Do About It

What Would Jefferson Do?
By Thom Hartmann

How Mumbo-Jumbo Conquered the World

Pagan Christianity

For God and Country: Faith and Patriotism Under Fire
By James Yee

Crimes Against Nature : How George W Bush and His Corporate Pals Are Plundering the Country and Hijacking Our Democracy
By Robert F Kennedy, Jr

The Price of Loyalty

The Torture Debate in America

The Chronicles of Narnia Boxed Set
By CS Lewis

Hello Laziness!
By Corrine Maier

The Great War for Civilisation
By Robert Fisk

The God Who Wasn't There

A Question of Torture
By Alfred McCoy

When Corporations Rule the World

Alternatives to Economic Globalization

Feminism Without Borders

The Skeptic's Dictionary

Lies and the Lying Liars Who Tell Them

365 Goddess

Adventures in a TV Nation
Michael Moore

Drawing Down the Moon

Globalization/Anti-Globalization

Body Wisdom

More books, calendars, T-shirts, mugs, music, posters, etc at
Cafe Diem!

Celtic Daily Prayer

Dude, Where's My Country?

Photo of the day

Mother Earth Spirituality

Bushwhacked

Shamanism

10 Reasons to Abolish the IMF & World Bank

Click to promote
your blog or website
another excellent
way we do

Feast day of St Dwynwen
The 'St Valentine' of Wales

Nothing wins hearts like cheerfulness.
St Dwynwyn

Saint Dwynwyn's Day is celebrated in Wales as a kind of St Valentine's Day, particularly among women who will send cards to their lovers today.

Santes Dwynwen, as she is known in Wales, was the loveliest of 24 daughters of a 5th century Welsh Saint and king, Brychan Brycheiniog, of Brechon (Brychan of Brecknock). She settled in Anglesey, where the places names Llanddwyn and Porthdwyn recall her memory.

According to the legend, the beautiful princess fell in love with a prince, Maelon Dafodrill, but Maelon spurned her love. Heartbroken, Dwynwen retreated to Llanddwyn Island where she experienced a vision while looking at eels swimming in a well. This apparition granted her three wishes; for the first wish Dwynwen asked for Maelon to be turned into ice for spurning her love; secondly that she would remain on the Isle of Llanddwyn for the rest of her days. The third wish was that all lovers coming to Llanddwyn would be happy for the rest of their lives.

The legend has wildly different versions: some say that Dwynwen returned Maelon's love, but her father wished her to marry someone else. Others say that she loved Maelon but was pious, determined to stay chaste and become a nun. In one version, her first wish was that Maelon would be defrosted. Still others maintain that she wasn't interested in him at all. Some parts of the tale are contradictory – she might have resisted his sexual advances, or was possibly raped by him. Even more anomalies can be found in the various tales of this elusive saint.

Her holy well, a fresh-water spring called Ffynnon Dwynwen, became a wishing well and was visited by many pilgrims who believed that the sacred fish or eels that lived in the well (or one fish in particular, according to some sources) could foretell whether their relationship would be happy and whether love and happiness would come to them. Women scattered breadcrumbs on the surface of the water, then laid their handkerchiefs on the water; if the eel (or eels) disturbed it, her lover would be faithful. This led to her connection with animals, which eventually led to the tradition that her intercession could heal injured animals, and she is patron saint of sick animals as well as lovers in Wales.

The popularity of St Dwynwen's Day commemorations has increased in recent years. In 2003 The Welsh Language Board published bi-lingual English-Welsh cards that were distributed throughout Wales.

Egyptian day (dies egypticus, dies ægypticus or dies mala), unlucky day in Medieval Europe. ("But, notwithstanding I will trust the Lord" was the associated saying.)
In the middle ages, and right up till the seventeenth century, British almanacs printed lists of unlucky, or 'Egyptian', days, Dies Aegypticus. The ancient Greeks, Romans and Chinese also had lucky and unlucky days. In Britain it was believed that on an Egyptian day, one should not commence a journey or major project, nor eat goose-flesh.

Feast day of St Agape

Feast day of St Amarinus

Feast day of St Ananias of Damascus
St Ananias was the man who baptised St Paul, whose day also this is.

Feast day of St Apollo of Heliopolis, abbot in Thebais

Feast day of St Artemas of Pozzuoli

Feast day of St Bretannion of Tomi

And this was known to all the Jews and Greeks also dwelling at Ephesus; and fear fell on them all, and the name of the Lord Jesus was magnified. And many that believed came, and confessed, and shewed their deeds. Many of them also which used curious arts brought their books together, and burned them before all [men] ...
The Apostle St Paul, his converts and followers, and the burning of pagan texts (Acts 19: 16-19)

Feast day of the Conversion of Paul the Apostle (Saint Paul's Day)

(Winter hellebore, Helleborus hyemalis, is today's plant, dedicated to St Paul.)

Saint Paul of Tarsus or Saint Paul, the Apostle (born c. 3 - beheaded at Rome, Italy, c. 66) was born Saul of Tarsus in Tarsus of Cilicia and described himself as an Israelite of the tribe of Benjamin and a Pharisee (Rom. 11:1, Phil. 3:5). He studied religion "at the feet of Gamaliel" (Acts 22:3) in Jerusalem, and also pursued the occupation of tent maker (hence is the patron saint of that craft). As a youth, he was present and approving at the stoning of Christianity's first martyr, Stephen. His conversion, however, led him to become one of the Christian Church's primary leaders, and he died a martyr himself.

Paul himself openly admitted that he at first persecuted Christians (Phil. 3:5). He was converted to Christianity when a bright light blinded him on the road to Damascus (Acts 9:1-9). In Paul's vision, Jesus Christ rebuked him and told him he was destined to take the Gospel to the Gentiles. This event is commemorated in this feast day.

After his resounding conversion, St Paul made missionary journeys all over the Middle East. Enduring imprisonment, hardship of all kinds and even shipwreck, he was a very resolute spreader of the Christian faith, profoundly affecting the very heart of Western civilisation. Many today see his texts as having had a singularly negative effect on male-female relations and tolerance for divergence of thought and behaviour.

Talmudic scholar Hyam Maccoby, in his book The Mythmaker: Paul and the Invention of Christianity, theorises that St Paul was raised among mystery religions which featured dying and resurrected saviours, then later converted to Judaism, with the hope of becoming a Pharisee.

Paul and the sword

One of the symbols of St Paul is a sword (others include springs of water, and a book), because he was decapitated in about 66 CE, traditionally at Tre Fontaine in Rome. It is said Paul was martyred after converting one of Nero's favourite concubines, and that milk instead of blood flowed from his wounds. The Convent of La Lisla in Spain even claims to have the very sword.

"As soone as the heed was from the body" his head said "Jesus Christus fyfty tymes", according to an ancient writer. Others said his head ran milk instead of blood; the head gave three leaps and at each one a fountain sprung up where it fell, and they remain today.

Paul's patronage also includes against snakes, authors, evangelists, hailstorms, hospital public relations, journalists, musicians, newspaper editorial staff, poisonous snakes, public relations personnel, publishers, rope makers, saddlemakers, snake bites, and writers.

Commemorations
January 25 (celebration of his conversion)
June 29 (celebration of Saints Peter and Paul, co-founders of the Church)
November 18 (feast of the dedication of the Basilicas of Peter and Paul)

St Paul's Day prognostications

The character of the coming year, it was believed in Europe, could be foretold by the weather on St Paul's Day. Fair weather means a prosperous year; snow or rain, an expensive year; clouds, great mortality of livestock, and winds mean war looms. Thunder today presages great winds, according to ancient tradition.

An even older folk belief is that this day is a dies Ægyptiacus, Egyptian or unlucky day.

The old Latin saying goes:

Clara dies Pauli bona tempora denotat anni;
Si nix vel pluvia, designat tempora cara;
Si fiant nebulae, pereunt animalia quaeque;
Si fiant venti, designat praelia genti.

Fair weather thus = a prosperous year. Snow or rain = a dear year. Clouds = great mortality among cattle. Winds = war. [See quote above.]

More And more

(The weather sticker, above right, is for my district)

The legend of the spring known as Ghajn Razul, Malta

"Tradition has it that the spring known as Ghajn Razul was the work of Saint Paul who needed water for his shipmates after their shipwreck on Malta. The name 'Razul' is derived from the Phoenician language and means 'apostle' thus giving more credibility to the Pauline connection. Of more importance is the fact that if this was truly the work of Saint Paul it would point to his shipwreck being in St. Paul's Bay and not at Mistra where there was another spring." Source

St Paul's Grotto, Malta
There is a legend that states that St Paul's cave on the Mediterranean island of Malta (where he was shipwrecked) remains the same size regardless of how many pieces of rock are removed from the cave as souvenirs. Source

A Pauline legend, Malta
According to a Maltese legend, when St Paul was preaching at Burmarrad, his voice carried as far away as Gozo where the people there flocked on the coast to hear his sermon. Source

The legend of St Paul and the viper, Malta
"This is well known legend. It is believed that St Paul was gathering wood to make a fire to warm himself and the other shipwrecked people, when out of the sticks came a venomous viper that bit him. The Maltese expected him to die of poisoning but instead no harm happened to him. It is said that from that day snakes and scorpions in Malta are quite harmless and non-poisonous." Source

What a drag
In old Germany, in many places it was customary, if there was bad weather today, to drag the image of St Paul to the river.

Bonfires for Paul
In mid-16^th Century England, in the reign of Philip and Mary, an annual St Paul's Day procession was held in London featuring all the city's schoolchildren and clerics, as well as the Bishop of London and other Bishops. It proceeded from St Paul's Cathedral up to Leadenhall, then back to St Paul's. The king would then arrive for mass, and afterwards bonfires were lit in the public places.

Gift of a buck
In 1274, a certain Sir William Baud was allowed by the Dean of St Paul's Cathedral to enclose 22 acres of the Dean's land. As a quid pro quo, he was to give the Dean, on each St Paul's Day, one fatted buck and one doe. Till the mid-sixteenth century, this practice was faithfully carried out every year on this day by Baud's descendants, and enacted with great pomp and ceremony.

Feast day of St Donatus

Feast day of St Eochod

Feast day of St Joel

Feast day of St Juventinus

Feast day of St Maximinus

Feast day of St Poppo, abbot of Stavello

Feast day of St Praejectus (Projectus; St Prix), bishop of Clermont, martyr

Feast day of St Publius of Zeugma, abbot in Syria

Feast day of St Racho of Autun

Feast day of St Sabinus

Feast day of Ss Juventinus and Maximinus, martyrs at Antioch

Click for Eastern Orthodox liturgical days Shop saints

Celebration of the Anniversary of the Founding of the City, Sao Paulo, Brazil

Auckland Day
Today is a holiday in Auckland, the New Zealand city that was established in 1841.

Tenjin Matsuri (festival), Japan
This festival, popularly known as Kitano Tenjin, is held at Kitano Shrine at Osaka. It is dedicated to Sugawara no Michizane (845 - 903), a highly-gifted official of the Heian court (794 - 1185) who instituted many reforms of great benefit to the fledgling Japanese nation. He was deified under the name of Tenjin and is the god of scholarship, language and calligraphy, having taught humans to write. This is the first of Tenjin's festivals for the year at this shrine. There are many shrines to him in Japan, and students go to them to ask his blessing on their studies.

Usokae Shinji Kameido Tenjin Shrine, Eto-ku, Tokyo
"Visitors come to swap year-old bullfinch carvings for new ones. Uso means both 'bullfinch' and 'lie' and the exchange symbolises exchanging the bad luck of the year gone by with the good luck of the coming year." Source