The Press Junior THURSDAY, JUNE 23, 1938. St. John and Midsummer

Press, Volume LXXIV, Issue 22435, 23 June 1938, Page 4 (Supplement)

The Press Junior THURSDAY, JUNE 23, 1938. St. John and Midsummer

The festival of St. John the Baptist is an exception among the saints’ days observed by- the Western Church; for it is ob- - served on the anniversary of the nativity or the birthday of the saint and not,as is general, on the anniversary of his death. This day, June 24, || one of the most popular- of the religious festivals of the year in Europe,: and it is made more popular than it otherwise might be because it is also the day on which the midsummer festivals are held. • As with most saints’ days, St. John’s Day encourages many strange; and superstitious beliefs in those who observe it. Some of the practices of the festival, though l they are now religious in nature r and are regarded as definitely belonging to the saint’s day itself, were once known in pre-Christian Europe and were then the practices of the pagan observers "of the midsummer festival. The exact date of the ancient midsummer festival may not be' known, but the practice of bringing from the forests and fields on midsummer eve the branches of trees and garlands of flowers, centuries ago became the ; practice of bringing these decorations in on the evp of the Nativity of St. John to.make the churches beautiful for the services next' day. Some writers have believed that the building of bowers and the decking of churches with green foliage for the* sermons was done “that the preaching might resemble that of the Baptist in the wilderness.” When the bowers were built and the churches decked, the people had the habit of gathering from midnight onwards round a large bonfire, dancing about it with vigour and mirth, the men occasionally leaping through the flames. For many years the superstition persisted that it was unlucky to sleep on this one night of the year. So a watch was set In the villages and towns; sometimes processions .of torchbearers carrying torches in barrbd torch-pots at the tops of long poles; and the people marched about or sat with open doors keeping watch for the night. The belief was that those people who went to sleep would lose their spirits for that one night; their spirits going wandering to be watched by all the people' who kept awake for the night Such superstitions as this were held by many people of Europe for a great many years, and possibly are still held in the more remote places to-day.. For . Europeans still find this time of the year, the high summer time . of June, one that encourages them to hold feasts and fairs and open-air gatherings. And here in New Zealand St John’s Day is mid-winter day, and we have thoughts of fires and closed doors and warm clothes.