Happy St Bartholomew Day!

Today, Aug 24, is St Bartholomew Day, the patron saint of bookbinders. Aug 24 is also the day of the traditional printer’s wayzgoose. A wayzgoose is an entertainment given by a master printer to his workmen. It marks the traditional end of summer and the start of the season of working by candlelight. Later, the word came to refer to an annual outing and dinner for the staff of a printing works or the printers on a newspaper. The picture I found of St Bart with a book also shows him with quite a ferocious knife! Maybe he’s bent on defending that book! So, today, make a book, print something, or just have a very nice dinner!

saint bartholomew

3 thoughts on “Happy St Bartholomew Day!”

  1. The knife is the symbol he is always portrayed with, to remember us that he was flayed (skinned) alive by his persecutors, according to what Catholic tradition says…

  2. I had to go and looked him up, the knife triggered my curiosity. I wished he was defending the book, it sounds to me like a good endeavor.
    I guess he is the patron of bookbinders because he is the patron of tanners, and I can see the relationship between both trades.
    Wikipedia says: “According to the Synaxarium of the Coptic Orthodox Church, his martyrdom is commemorated on the 1st day of the Coptic Calendar (1st day of the month of “Thout”), which currently falls on September 11 (corresponding to August 29 in the Gregorian Calendar). His feast is June 11 in Eastern Christianity and August 24 in the Anglican Communion and both forms of the Roman Rite of the Catholic Church.”
    Whatever the case might be, it is always good to celebrate!

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