On June 24, our members in Quebec celebrate the "Fête nationale", formally called Saint-Jean-Baptiste Day.

The first documented Canadian celebration of this originally French colonial holiday is said to have occurred on the Saint Lawrence River banks on the evening of June 23, 1636 and is still celebrated as a religious feast day in several other countries including Finland, Denmark and Sweden.

 In 1834, the spirit of celebrating Saint-Jean-Baptiste Day turned from religious to patriotic primarily through the actions of Ludger Duvernay, founder of La Miverve newspaper. Inspired by the first St. Patrick’s Day celebration in Montreal, he and others organized a similar event to show their patriotic love of Lower Canada. In the gardens of John McDonnell near the old Windsor Station, a grand patriotic banquet attended by approximately 60 francophones and Anglophones of Montreal took place, where George-Etienne Cartier first sang “Ô Canada! mon pays, mes amours” as a tribute to Lower Canada, which is now Southern Quebec. The celebration recurred a few times prior to 1843, when Duvernay established the charitable Association Saint-Jean Baptiste, later chartered in 1849, to ensure the celebration would take place annually to promote social and moral progress.

During the 1880 Saint-Jean-Baptiste celebration in Quebec City, the first National Congress of French Canadians was attended by all francophone communities across North America. It was during this gathering that Franco-American Calixa Lavallée sang “Ô Canada”, based on a patriotic poem by sir Adolphe-Basile Routhier. The song remained popular and was later translated into English in 1901 for the royal tour of George V and Mary Duchess of Cornwall. On July 1, 1980, this song became the first national anthem of Canada through The National Anthem Act.

The religious and political undertones of this holiday are entrenched in the history of the Saint-Jean-Baptiste Holiday. In 1908, Pope Pius X designated St. John the Baptist as the patron saint of French Canadians on behalf of the Catholic Church. In 1925, June 24 became a legal holiday in Quebec. In 1977, the provincial government under René Lévesque declared June 24 as the "Fête nationale du Québec". Today, although the religious undercurrents have mostly faded, political and societal statements are still very intertwined in the observance of this holiday, which evokes a sense of pride, solidarity, love of language, culture, history, and joy in the hearts of Quebecers. Festivities will be taking place throughout the province of Quebec on and around June 24. Members are invited to visit the www.fetenationale.qc.ca Web site for a listing of events throughout the regions.