June 24 is the feast day of St. John the Baptiste. It also has the same relation to a solstice that Christmas does. In other words, Christians appropriated pagan holidays marking the progression of the seasons with celebrations that had at least a partial Christian gloss.
St. Jean Baptiste is the patron saint of Quebec, and for generations it was celebrated with big bon fires and religious processions. In recent years, the feast day has become a secular celebration, with distinctly inclusive rhetoric lately.
I always put the Quebec flag on our balcony over this weekend in large part, to claim Quebec for those of us who chose it as home. In the same spirit, I've planted blue iris in the front garden to resonate with the fleur de lys on the flag. Many years the iris are in bloom right now, but this year they were at their loveliest about two weeks ago when this picture was taken.
No comments:
Post a Comment