26 December

  • Thread starter Thread starter Matthew_Holford
  • Start date Start date
Status
Not open for further replies.
M

Matthew_Holford

Guest
26th December is normally liturgically the Feast of St. Stephen. This year because it falls on a Sunday it will be the Feast of the Holy Family.

In the UK the civil calendar gives this date the name of Boxing Day. It is a public holiday (and because this year it falls on a Sunday the public holiday will be on 28th December).

Can any non-UK posters advise whether the civil calendar in your country gives the date a name. What is its name? Is it a public holiday in your country?
 
Matthew_Holford said:
26th December is normally liturgically the Feast of St. Stephen. This year because it falls on a Sunday it will be the Feast of the Holy Family.

In the UK the civil calendar gives this date the name of Boxing Day. It is a public holiday (and because this year it falls on a Sunday the public holiday will be on 28th December).

Can any non-UK posters advise whether the civil calendar in your country gives the date a name. What is its name? Is it a public holiday in your country?
Click to expand...
In the United States, December 26th is not a recognized civil holiday of any sort (unless the legal holiday of Christmas is to be celebrated on December 26th.) But there are a few calendars that will note that it is Boxing Day.

The Feast of the Holy Family will be celebrated on December 26th here too.
 
In Canada it’s also known as Boxing Day.

As far as I know, it’s only a statutory holiday (all employees must be paid for it) for the province of Ontario.

It’s an optional holiday everywhere else: most businesses close but they don’t have to pay their employees for that day – although the employers I’ve worked for always had it as a paid holiday. Because of that, I was quite surprised when I put it as a stat on my time sheet here and the bookkeeper called to see if I was supposed to be paid for it since my employer didn’t have to.
 
Matthew_Holford said:
26th December is normally liturgically the Feast of St. Stephen. This year because it falls on a Sunday it will be the Feast of the Holy Family.

In the UK the civil calendar gives this date the name of Boxing Day. It is a public holiday (and because this year it falls on a Sunday the public holiday will be on 28th December).

Can any non-UK posters advise whether the civil calendar in your country gives the date a name. What is its name? Is it a public holiday in your country?
Click to expand...
Yes it is, its called Boxing Day. 😉
 
Phemie said:
In Canada it’s also known as Boxing Day.

As far as I know, it’s only a statutory holiday (all employees must be paid for it) for the province of Ontario.

It’s an optional holiday everywhere else: most businesses close but they don’t have to pay their employees for that day – although the employers I’ve worked for always had it as a paid holiday. Because of that, I was quite surprised when I put it as a stat on my time sheet here and the bookkeeper called to see if I was supposed to be paid for it since my employer didn’t have to.
Click to expand...
From my experience working at Best Buy head office, pretty much all of Canada is open this day. Boxing Day is the Canadian equivalent of Black Friday (day after Thanksgiving) in the US. All retail stores are open, some as early as 6am. Although regular offices and banks are generally closed except maybe for the offices of said retail stores. Head office of Best Buy looks like any other ordinary day during Boxing Day, its all hands on deck as its the busiest shopping day of the year.
 
It’s celebrated as “SUNDAY within the OCTAVE of the NATIVITY” in the TLM.
 
You got that right, Bob Aliano. And thats what we are celebrating.
 
Bob_Aliano said:
It’s celebrated as “SUNDAY within the OCTAVE of the NATIVITY” in the TLM.
Click to expand...
corsair said:
You got that right, Bob Aliano. And thats what we are celebrating.
Click to expand...
So, just an average second-class Sunday, then? Whoo, color me impressed. What a great celebration! Rock on. It totally took several off-topic posts to bring this vital fact, which the OP was not asking about, to light. I always appreciate when, no matter the topic, multiple people feel the need to drop the rest of the world a line to let them know that it doesn’t apply to them, because they they attend the TLM.

Enjoy your second-class Sunday, though. 👍
 
ConstantineTG said:
From my experience working at Best Buy head office, pretty much all of Canada is open this day. Boxing Day is the Canadian equivalent of Black Friday (day after Thanksgiving) in the US. All retail stores are open, some as early as 6am. Although regular offices and banks are generally closed except maybe for the offices of said retail stores. Head office of Best Buy looks like any other ordinary day during Boxing Day, its all hands on deck as its the busiest shopping day of the year.
Click to expand...
It depends on the province. Legislation in Nova Scotia, New Brunswick, P.E.I., and Newfoundland and Labrador prohibits large retail outlets from opening on Boxing Day, so our Boxing Day sales are usually on Dec. 27.

For several years, one store in Toronto used to open on Boxing Day and each year the police would descend and charge them for breaking the law. The fine they paid was much less than the profit they made from being the only store open on Boxing Day.
 
MarkThompson said:
So, just an average second-class Sunday, then? Whoo, color me impressed. What a great celebration! Rock on. It totally took several off-topic posts to bring this vital fact, which the OP was not asking about, to light. I always appreciate when, no matter the topic, multiple people feel the need to drop the rest of the world a line to let them know that it doesn’t apply to them, because they they attend the TLM.

Enjoy your second-class Sunday, though. 👍
Click to expand...
That was completely rude and uncharitable. All the poster did was state what 26 December will be this year in the EF kalendar, nothing else. You read entirely too much into it, and there was no need to make such a snide remark.

To his post I will add that St. Stephen is commemorated by a second collect at Mass and Lauds. I expect that I, too, will receive a snarky comment for that.
 
The OP was asking about CIVIL holidays

I think for most of the US the 26th whether it is a Sunday or not is a big “return the gift” “Holiday” and there are big sales. The stores are crowded.
Now since it is a Sunday that gives me a better reason to miss the malls.
 
Chatter163 said:
All the poster did was state what 26 December will be this year in the EF kalendar, nothing else. You read entirely too much into it …
Click to expand...
Your statement is correct; however, the poster was off topic. The question is (and I know because I am the OP): what civil holiday (if any) various non-UK countries may have on 26th December.

Perhaps I ought to explain why I said the day is usually St. Stephen’s Day is because I know in the Republic of Ireland’s civil calender it’s called St. Stephen’s Day; in the French civil calendar 26th December is called St. Étienne (St. Étienne = French for St. Stephen) (Phemie please feel free to correct me if I shouldn’t have put an acute accent on the initial capital letter of a word - I think it’s correct but not 100% sure).

My post was entirely about civil holidays; there was no intent to offend anyone who chooses to follow the liturgical calendar of the Forma Extraordinaria of the Roman Rite.
 
In Trinidad & Tobago it is known as Boxing Day, it is a Public Holiday, and, since it is on a Sunday this year, Monday, December 27th will be the Public Holiday.
 
Phemie said:
It depends on the province. Legislation in Nova Scotia, New Brunswick, P.E.I., and Newfoundland and Labrador prohibits large retail outlets from opening on Boxing Day, so our Boxing Day sales are usually on Dec. 27.

For several years, one store in Toronto used to open on Boxing Day and each year the police would descend and charge them for breaking the law. The fine they paid was much less than the profit they made from being the only store open on Boxing Day.
Click to expand...
I was thinking about that because I vaguely remember some stores out East not being open on some days. Like on January 1st, everything East is pretty much closed but BC and Alberta is business as usual.

It was almost 3 years ago I worked there. I was laughing it up that my shift schedule always meant I didn’t work on holidays but I got the hat-trick when my shift coincided with Christmas, Boxing Day and New Year. It sucked but thats how I made my living. Good thing I was still able to go to Mass despite work.
 
I thought to add that I know Americans who read “Boxing Day” on the calendar and thought it was because it was the day you boxed up the presents to return them to the store.
 
I could have saved doing this thread and just looked at Wikipedia. Without going into excessive details the following trend seems to appear. Former British colonies call 26th December Boxing Day if they’re a “Christian country”. Former British colonies that one wouldn’t describe as Christian don’t have any civil holiday on 26th December, e.g. Bangladesh, India, and Pakistan. Those former colonies commonly known as the Dominions (Australia, Canada, and New Zealand) seem to call 26th December Boxing Day. There are two exceptions: in Australia, South Australia calls it Proclamation Day and South Africa calls it Goodwill Day.

European countries that are generally considered to be “Catholic” countries call it St Stephen’s Day. European countries that are generally considered “Protestant” countries call it Boxing Day. A small number of countries call it the second day of Christmas.

Strangely, Wikipedia says in the US it’s called First Day of Kwanzaa. The US Office of Personnel Management says it isn’t a public holiday.

Here’s the source the if you’d like it.
 
Matthew_Holford said:
Strangely, Wikipedia says in the US it’s called First Day of Kwanzaa.
Click to expand...
We don’t have an official national calendar that decrees what name a given day will have. It’s just as much the First Day of Kwanzaa here as it is St. Stephen’s Day, or whatever else you want to call it.
 
Status
Not open for further replies.
Back
Top