John The Baptist

Saint John The Baptist

Today is Saint John the Baptist National Day in Quebec, Canada.

This Provincial Holiday has two meanings:

1. It is the Catholic Feast Day of Saint John the Baptist (celebrating his Birthday.)

2.  It remembers and celebrates French Culture and History in Quebec.

The first Saint John the Baptist Day was celebrated in 1606 in New France (France’s Colony in North America – today Quebec) and continued until the British Takeover in 1763 when it was forbidden by the British.

In 1834 the Province of Lower Canada (which included Quebec) and was a separate British Colony in North America brought back Saint John the Baptist Day to celebrate French Culture.

Celebrations continued after Canadian Confederation in 1867 (Confederation is when the separate British Colonies of the Province of Canada, the Province of Nova Scotia, and the Province of New Brunswick—were united into one British Colony called the Dominion of Canada,)

In 1908, Pope Pius X designated St. John the Baptist as the Patron Saint of French Canadians.

In 1925, June 24th became a legal Provincial Holiday in Quebec.

In 1977, Saint John the Baptist Day on June 24th became a National Provincial Holiday for all Quebecers (rather than only for French-Canadian Quebecers or Catholics.)