Store Bededag


Store Bededag

Between April 18 and May 21; fourth Friday after EasterA public holiday in Denmark, Store Bededag is a nationwide day of prayer which has been observed since the 18th century, when King Christian VII's prime minister, Count Johann Friedrich Struensee, decided that one great day of prayer should replace the numerous penitential days observed by the Evangelical Lutheran Church, the state church.
The eve of Common Prayer Day is announced by the ringing of church bells. In former times, it was customary for Copenhagen burghers to greet the spring by putting on new clothes and strolling around the city ramparts. Then they went home and ate varme hveder, a small square wheat bread, served hot. Today, people still dress in their spring finery and eat the traditional bread, but now they walk along the famous Langelinie, the boulevard that faces Copenhagen's waterfront.
CONTACTS:
Embassy of Denmark
3200 Whitehaven St. N.W.
Washington, D.C. 20008
202-234-4300; fax: 202-328-1470
www.ambwashington.um.dk
SOURCES:
FestWestEur-1958, p. 25

Celebrated in: Denmark