March Holidays - St. Patrick's Day, Purim and International Women's Day
Coming of Spring
March is here! I love the sound of that because to me it signifies the coming of spring. The official day of spring is March 20th but spring is already in the air. There are also some wonderful holidays coming up this month. I'm sure all women enjoy the International Women's Day when we are reminded of how wonderful it is to be a woman and to get appreciated for being one by our family and friends. Jewish people will be celebrating Purim, which is one of the more joyous Jewish holidays. North Americans and especially Irish people will celebrate St. Patrick's Day, another joyous holiday. You can read below about the history and traditions of each of these holidays in more detail and Happy Spring to you all!
Snowdrops - the symbol of early spring
I couldn't resist including a picture of the snowdrops. A traditional favorite and a herald of spring, the Snowdrop has been enchanting gardeners for a long time. Pendent, tear-shaped flowers nod in the very early spring, sometimes popping up right through the last winter snows.
International Women's Day
Imagine; Valentine's Day and Mother's Day all in one! This is what International Women's Day (IWD), in Russia, is like. March 8th is a national holiday and a non-work day. Several nations celebrate IWD, but only a few acknowledge it as an official, non-working holiday. In the West, where Mother's Day falls in May, IWD is typically celebrated by feminist and women's rights groups. Russian President Boris Yeltsin introduced a Mother's day holiday for the last Sunday in November. However, this has not been widely accepted as most Russians prefer the traditional IWD holiday at the beginning of spring.
On IWD, Russian men bestow gifts, flowers and other expressions of praise and gratitude on the ladies in their lives. While this holiday does have its roots in the women's rights movement, it is important to remember that it, also, reflects the respect that Russian people have for the role of women in their culture. All women are honored, not just mothers!
In 1910, German socialist, Klara Zetkin, presented the idea of marking March 8th as a day of international solidarity of women' social equality. IWD was first celebrated, in Russia, in 1913. Russian women wanted the right to hold paying jobs. Later, the Soviets agreed and opened the workplace to women. March 8th was not a non-work day. By 1966, opinion had changed and this year marked the first celebration of IWD as a non-work holiday.
Brief Chronology of IWD . . .
1908 - Socialist, trade and professional women, in the U.S., celebrated first Women's Day, on the last Sunday of February. This was a day of demonstrations and rallies for women's equal rights and the right to vote.
1910 - Socialist International meeting, Copenhagen, Denmark, established IWD to bring attention to world-wide women's suffrage.
1911- IWD observed, for the first time on March 19th in Austria, Denmark, Germany and Switzerland. March 25, 1911; so called Triangle Fire in New York City in which over 140 women garment workers were killed.
1913-1914 - First observance of IWD in Russia; held on the last Sunday of February and seen as a demonstration for peace as Europe headed into WWI.
1917 - By this time, over 2 million Russian soldiers had died in WWI. On the last Sunday of February, Russian women held a protest for bread and peace. Four days later, Tsar Nicholas II abdicated and the new Provisional Government granted Russian women the right to vote. This was February 23rd (old or Julian calendar) and March 8th on the Gregorian calendar.
1922 - Lenin proclaimed IWD an official Soviet State holiday.
IWD had encouraged world-wide attention and action regarding women's rights. In 1975, the United Nations declared this year, International Women's Year and 1975-1985 as the Decade for Women. UNESCO established March 8th as International Women's Day and UN World Conferences on Women have been held, in various locations, in 1980, 1985 and 1995.
Purim
Purim is a joyous Jewish festival commemorating the survival of the Jews who, in the 5th century BC, were marked for death by their Persian rulers. The story probably fictitious, is related in the Old Testament book of Esther. The most distinctive aspect of the synagogue service is the reading of the book of Esther.
On Purim Jews are also enjoined to exchange gifts and to make donations to the poor. Through the years many nonreligious customs have come to be associated with the festival, among them the baking of the "Hamentaschen" which is a three-cornered pastry filled with poppy seeds or jam (even though it is possible to fill the "Hamentaschen" with any other sweet filling).
The word "Hamentaschen" means "Haman's ears" in Yiddish, which is the language spoken by eastern European Jews, and is a mixture of the German and the Hebrew languages.
St. Patrick's Day
The person who was to become St. Patrick, the patron saint of Ireland, was born in Wales about AD 385. His given name was Maewyn, and he almost didn't get the job of bishop of Ireland because he lacked the required scholarship.
Far from being a saint, until he was 16, he considered himself a pagan. At that age, he was sold into slavery by a group of Irish marauders that raided his village. During his captivity, he became closer to God.
He escaped from slavery after six years and went to Gaul where he studied in the monastery under St. Germain, bishop of Auxerre for a period of twelve years. During his training he became aware that his calling was to convert the pagans to Christianity.
His wishes were to return to Ireland, to convert the pagans that had overrun the country. But his superiors instead appointed St. Palladius. But two years later, Palladius transferred to Scotland. Patrick, having adopted that Christian name earlier, was then appointed as second bishop to Ireland.
Patrick was quite successful at winning converts. And this fact upset the Celtic Druids. Patrick was arrested several times, but escaped each time. He traveled throughout Ireland, establishing monasteries across the country. He also set up schools and churches which would aid him in his conversion of the Irish country to Christianity.
His mission in Ireland lasted for thirty years. After that time, Patrick retired to County Down. He died on March 17 in AD 461. That day has been commemorated as St. Patrick's Day ever since.
Much Irish folklore surrounds St. Patrick's Day. Not much of it is actually substantiated.
Some of this lore includes the belief that Patrick raised people from the dead. He also is said to have given a sermon from a hilltop that drove all the snakes from Ireland. Though originally a Catholic holy day, St. Patrick's Day has evolved into more of a secular holiday.
One traditional icon of the day is the shamrock. And this stems from a more bona fide Irish tale that tells how Patrick used the three-leafed shamrock to explain the Trinity. He used it in his sermons to represent how the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit could all exist as separate elements of the same entity. His followers adopted the custom of wearing a shamrock on his feast day.
The St. Patrick's Day custom came to America in 1737. That was the first year St. Patrick's Day was publicly celebrated in this country, in Boston.