Spain (La Rioja) : public and bank holidays, closure of banks, stock exchanges, school vacations

School holidays :

Catholic or protestant : Maundy Thursday: Commemorates the Last Supper when Jesus instituted the Holy Eucharist (Lord's Supper).

Catholic or protestant : The First Council of Nicaea (a gathering of bishops in the early days of Christianity) wanted to find a day to commemorate the crucifixion and resurrection of Christ. This commemoration had to be linked to Jewish holiday traditions, since the last supper of Christ was believed to be a Jewish Passover meal. But the Jewish calendar is based on lunar and solar cycles, so the Easter celebration had to follow the same calendar.

Catholic : In the year 325, the Council of Nicée determined a date fo Easter. Full Moon would fall the 14th day of a moon month (1). Easter would be marked by the dominical letter(2)and the epactus(3). With the establishment of the equinox ne variatur on March 21, algorithms where elaborated to attribuate a date for Easter whatever the year. Time between two consecutive new moons: 20 days 12 hours 44 minutes 2.8 - Gives a letter code for the year's calendar Age of the moon on January 1st, minus one unity, 0 being the new moon's age.

School holidays :

Secular holiday : Chicago, Saturday May 1st, 1886: 350,000 workers go on strike to call for an 8-hour working day. Industries are paralyzed nationwide. On Monday, as demonstrations go on, the police open fire. On Tuesday, Chicago is again on strike. Following a bomb launched against them, the police shoot again. 12 dead, of which 7 policemen. 8 anarchists will be condemned and executed. In 1889, the Socialist International Movement met in Paris and declared this day international workers' day . The Soviets will follow suit, just as the Nazis. In France, under the Vichy regime (1940-1944), the celebration is renamed Labour Day .

Special Events :

Secular holiday :

Catholic : St Bernabas went to live with the Christians in Jerusalem after selling his estate and giving the money to the apostles. When Paul came to Jerusalem after his unexpected conversion, it was Barnabas who convinced the apostles to trust their old enemy. He and Paul then did missionary work together. At Iconium, the capital of Lycaonia, they narrowly escaped stoning at the hands of the mob whom the rulers had stirred up against them. A miraculous cure wrought by St Paul upon a cripple at Lystra led the pagan inhabitants to conclude that the gods were come amongst them. They hailed St Paul as Hermes or Mercury because he was the chief speaker, and St Barnabas as Zeus or Jupiter and were with difficulty restrained from offering sacrifices to them. But, with the proverbial fickleness of the mob, they soon rushed to the other extreme and stoned St Paul, severely wounding him (shagtown.com) Logroño only

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Culture : One of three witnesses of the Transfiguration of Christ in Mt. Tabor, but also a witness to Jesus' agony.

Catholic :

School holidays :

Catholic : St Matthew, Apostle, author of first gospel. Patron saint of tax collectors Logroño only