26 December – Saint Stephen
In Italy it’s a holiday even on December 26
You know, we are Italians, when it comes to vacations, we always abound.
The holiday was born, simply, to extend the holidays; having no other ideas, the decision was simple.
We celebrate the Saint of the day, which is Saint Stephen.
The excuse was simple:
St. Stephen is the first Christian martyr, therefore called “protomartyr”.
He was accused of blasphemy and stoned to death around 36AD.
You’d think it was the Church that requested this holiday from the Italian State?
But no, in 1947 the goal was not a religious vacation, but simply to extend the vacations, and give Italians 2 consecutive days of vacation.
There is another Italian holiday born with the same objective
We will talk about it in a few months 😅
