In one of his earlier comments, John asked about the tradition behind Boxing Day in Canada. Boxing day is a holiday celebrated not only in Canada, of course, but in many other countries such as the UK, Australia, New Zealand and Ireland to name a few.
If you’ve ever looked at a calendar — even those from Hallmark — you’ve probably seen it listed and wondered about it. I’ve noticed it and wondered why anyone would annually list a holiday like Boxing Day and completely ignore some other major holidays (e.g., Talk-Like-A-Pirate Day.)
A few years ago I did some extensive research on its origin and the results were less than satisfying. It appears that no one is really sure why the day is called Boxing Day and aren’t even really sure why its a holiday or what they are “celebrating.”
When I first heard about it as a kid, I thought it had something to do with boxing, which was much more of a sport than it is now. I thought it was like the day of the championship boxing matches — kind of a boxing super bowl.
Although theories of why it’s called Boxing Day vary, most in some way tie it to St. Stephen — but that connection gets messy, too. There is more than one St. Stephen and there is really no proof that there is any connection between St. Stephen and Boxing Day.
One common thread seems to be that the day after Christmas, no matter what its called, has been, since the middle ages, the day when gifts of money were given to hired help, apprentices and others of the “poorer” classes. All the explanitions I found involve the giving of food, clothing or money to persons of lower financial status than the giver.
One theory I like is that St. Stephens Day/Boxing Day was traditionally when the poor boxes at the churches were opened and the money distributed to the poor. My extensive research revealed that early-day poor boxes were made of clay with only a slot in the top to insert money. So the only way to open the boxes was to break them. Of course that begs the question, why call it Boxing Day and not something like Smashing Day?
I mentioned earlier there being more than one St. Stephen — one is the one we usually refer to when we mention St. Stephens Day. I think he may have been Irish, but Im not sure. At any rate he was a martyr that was stoned to death in the days following the crucifixion. According to the Catholic Church, he was the first Martyr to the teachings of Christ. St. Stephen is also the name of the patron Saint of Hungary — St. Stephens Day is celebrated there in August, the day his holy relics were brought to the city of Buda. He was canonized by Pope Gregory VII, and is usually called St. Stephen of Hungary to differentiate him from the “other” St. Stephen.
So whether you choose to believe the day got its name from people giving “boxes” of goods to their servants or the lower class or the distribution of money from alms-boxes placed in churches, it’s still a strange name. Maybe because of the name, it lost its true meaning through the years. Seems like today, for those who observe it, Boxing Day is just a day to lounge around the house and spend time with the family, watch TV and recover from the excitement of the 25th. That’s probably why its not on my list of favorite holidays….
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