Store Bededag

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Store Bededag, translated literally as Great Prayer Day or more loosely as General Prayer Day, "All Prayers" Day, Great Day of Prayers or Common Prayer Day, is a Danish Holiday celebrated on the 4th Friday after Easter. It is also celebrated in the Faroe Islands, where it is called Dýri biðidagur.

It is a collection of minor Christian holy days consolidated into one day. The day was introduced in the Danish Church in 1686 by King Christian V as a consolidation of several minor (or local) Roman Catholic holidays which the Church observed that had survived since the Reformation. Store Bededag is a statutory holiday in Denmark. Some sources date this day of prayer more recently to the time of Christian VII, when his Prime Minister, Count Johann Friedrich von Struensee, decided upon one great day of prayer. The day was introduced as a more efficient alternative to individually celebrating a number of holidays honoring various minor saints in the Spring. Bells in every church announce the eve of Store Bededag.

Historically, it was customary for the people of Copenhagen to greet the Spring by putting on new clothes and strolling along the city ramparts, then went home and ate varme hveder, a traditional bread. Today, instead of walking along the ramparts, they walk on the Langelinie, a street which faces Copenhagen's water front.

[edit] Sources

Danish Ministry of Foreign Affairs