[tbontob]

Originally posted by mlmbd:
Karras Barrens,

quote:

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can someone explain this boxing day thing to me?

Boxing Day is a holiday celebrated in Britain, Australia, New Zealand, and Canada. It falls on the day after Christmas, which is also St. Stephen's Day.

St. Stephen was a little known saint who achieved eternal fame by being the first Christian to be martyred for his faith, and he met his death by stoning.

Boxing Day is so called because on this day it was the customary for tradesmen to collect their Christmas boxes or gifts in return for good service throughout the year. Also, it included giving money and other gifts to charitable institutions, and the needy.

TerranC, shame on you!

mlmbd

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Hmmm....

I didn't know that St. Stephan had a "day" and in particular that it fell on December 26th.

Paul, who many Xians claim to be the founder of Christianity (without Paul, Christianity may never have been preached to the "gentiles" and remained a sect of the Jewish faith.), not only prosecuted Stephan but supervised his execution.

Stephan is said to have done the very Christian thing by forgiving Paul and his stoners while he was being stoned.

Some scholars believe that Stephan's behaviour affected Paul so deeply that it set the stage for his conVersion.

And with his conVersion on the road to Damascus, Christianity as we know it today, had its beginnings.

So I wonder about the connection between the charity displayed by St. Stephan to his stoners and the charity Xians of past centuries have displayed on boxing day.

But whatever the connection, the tradition seems to have died out.