Happy St. Andrew's Day! For anyone of Scottish descent this is a special night (although he is also patron of Malta, Russia, Greece, Sicily, Ukraine, Prussia and several other areas and diocese as well). Scotland has a lot of celebrations and holidays, but St. Andrew's day is especially important in a country in which Catholicism has had such a tumultuous past. It hearkens back to a time when Scotland was a small Catholic kingdom, prior to the Reformation. St. Andrew's Day used to be a very popular feast day in Scotland as well. Back in the day, the farm workers would "go St. Andra'ing," which involved catching rabbits and other game. The farmers would finish off the night by feasting...a fitting conclusion for any Scottish, not to mention Catholic, holiday.
The debate as to whether St. Andrew's Day should be a public holiday in Scotland continues, but we always try to make it a feast day in our family. Other Scottish feasts like Burns Night are also fun to celebrate, but St. Andrew's Day holds a special place, since it is a Catholic Scottish feast. Of course, as far as we're concerned, we'll baptize Burn's Night any day.
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