St. Mark's Day
St. Mark's Day
In England, it was believed that if you kept a vigil on the church porch from 11 o'clock on St. Mark's Eve until one o'clock in the morning, you would see the ghosts of all those who would die in the coming year as they walked up the path and entered the church. Young girls believed that if they left a flower on the church porch during the day and returned for it at midnight, they would see a wedding procession, including an apparition of their future husband, as they walked home. Because it involved an all-night vigil, St. Mark's Day eventually came to be associated with various forms of licentious behavior, which is why the parochial clergy in the Middle Ages decided that the day should be one of abstinence.
AmerBkDays-2000, p. 314
BkDays-1864, vol. I, p. 549
DaysCustFaith-1957, p. 101
DictDays-1988, p. 104
FestSaintDays-1915, p. 98
OxYear-1999, pp. 170, 172
Celebrated in: Hungary
St. Mark's Day (Hungary)
BkFest-1937, p. 169
FolkWrldHol-1999, p. 302
Celebrated in: Hungary