St. Catherine's Day

St. Catherine's Day

November 25 (suppressed in 1969 in the Roman Catholic Church)

St. Catherine is now thought to have been a folkloric figure rather than a historical person; for that reason, her feast day is no longer observed in the Roman Catholic Church calendar. According to apocryphal writings, St. Catherine of Alexandria was sentenced to death by Emperor Maxentius for her extraordinary success in converting people to Christianity in the fourth century. He placed her in a torture machine that consisted of wheels armed with sharp spikes so that she would be torn to pieces as the wheels revolved. She was saved from this grim fate by divine intervention, but then the Emperor had her beheaded. The "Catherine Wheel" in England today is a type of firework that revolves in pinwheel fashion. In the United States, the "cartwheels" performed regularly by aspiring gymnasts repeat the motion of St. Catherine on the wheel of torture.
In 18th-century England, young women in the textile districts engaged in merry-making or "catherning" on this day, which is sometimes referred to as Cathern Day . As the patron saint of old maids, St. Catherine is still celebrated in France by unmarried women under 25, especially those employed in the millinery and dressmaking industries. They wear "Catherine bonnets" on November 25—homemade creations of paper and ribbon. The French expression coiffer Sainte Catherine (to don St. Catherine's bonnet), is used to warn girls that they are likely to become spinsters.

SOURCES:
BkFest-1937, p. 128
DaysCustFaith-1957, p. 295
DictDays-1988, pp. 19, 101
DictFolkMyth-1984, pp. 197, 1168
FestSaintDays-1915, pp. 213, 215
FestWestEur-1958, p. 48
FolkWrldHol-1999, p. 662
OxYear-1999, p. 474
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Celebrated in: Estonia

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St. Catherine's Day (Estonia)

November 25

Estonian folklorists believe that the customs associated with Kadripäev, or St. Catherine's Day in Estonia, may date back to pre-Christian times. The holiday is strongly associated with women and their traditional activities, such as herding. People dress up in light-colored clothing, symbolizing winter's snow, and visit their neighbors, singing songs and offering blessings for the family's sheep and other herd animals. In return householders offer them cloth, wool, or food. An old superstition connected with the day forbade such activities as shearing and weaving, and sometimes knitting and sewing, as a means of protecting the sheep. Estonians associate Kadripäev with the arrival of winter.

CONTACTS:
Estonian Institute
Suur-Karja 14
P.O. Box 3469
Tallinn, 10506 Estonia
372-6-314-355; fax: 372-6-314-356
www.einst.ee
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Celebration day: Nov 25

Celebrated in: Estonia