St. George's Day

St. George's Day is celebrated by several nations of which Saint George is the patron saint, including England, Portugal, Georgia, Serbia, Bulgaria, Bosnia and Herzegovina, and the Republic of Macedonia, as well as the region of Catalonia (Spain) and the city of Moscow.

For England, St. George's Day also marks its National Day. Most countries who observe St. George's Day, celebrate it on 23 April, the traditionally accepted date of Saint George's death in 303 AD.

For those Eastern Orthodox Churches that follow the Julian Calendar (the Old calendarists), the 23 April (Julian Calendar) date of St George's Day falls on 6 May of the Gregorian Calendar in the 20th and 21st centuries.

Besides the 23 April feast, some Orthodox Churches have additional feasts dedicated to St George. The country of Georgia celebrates the feast St George on 10 November (Julian Calendar), which currently falls on 23 November (Gregorian Calendar). The Russian Orthodox Church celebrates the dedication of the Church of St George in Kiev by Yaroslav I the Wise in 1051 on 26 November (Julian Calendar), which currently falls on the Gregorian 9 December.

The Scout movement has been celebrating St. George's Day on 23 April since its first years.

In the Latin Rite Roman Catholic Church, 23 April has long been Saint George's feast-day. It is classified as an optional memorial, equivalent to a commemoration in the calendar as revised by Pope John XIII in 1960, and to a simple feast in the General Roman Calendar as in 1954. The feast is ranked higher in England and in certain other regions. It is the second most important National Feast in Catalonia, where the day is known in Catalan as Diada de Sant Jordi and it is traditional to give a rose and a book to a loved one. This tradition inspired UNESCO to declare this the International Day of the Book, since 23 April 1616 was also the date of death of both the English playwright William Shakespeare (according to the Julian calendar) and the Spanish author Miguel de Cervantes (according to the Gregorian calendar).

-from: wikipedia