St. John the Evangelist's Day, Make Cut Out Snowflakes Day, National Fruitcake Day, December 27th

There are three very different things to do to celebrate December 27th:

1) Learn about St. John the Evangelist's Day,

2) Make Cut Out Snowflakes,

3) Make or eat Fruitcake.

St. John the Evangelist's Day

"A special reverence and interest is attached to St. John—'the disciple whom Jesus loved.' Through a misapprehension of the Saviour's words, a belief, we are informed, came to he entertained among the other apostles that this disciple should never die, and the notion was doubtless fostered by the circumstance, that John outlived all his brethren and coadjutors in the Christian ministry, and was indeed the only apostle who died' a natural death. He expired peacefully at Ephesus, it is stated, at the advanced age of ninety-four..."Chamber's Book of Days

I can't find any specific type of feast of celebration for St. John, unlike yesterday's Feast of Stephen. I did however discover that the Masons highly honor him.

"“Erected to God and dedicated to the Holy Saints John” – these are familiar words known to every Freemason. The “Holy Saints John” are, as we know, John the Baptist (also known as “St. John the Precursor”) and John the Evangelist sometimes known as “St. John the Divine”...Legend has set December 27th as the Evangelist's “birthday”. These two men were exact opposites in temperament: The Baptist was an extrovert and man of action, while the Evangelist was an introvert and a man of thought, meditation, and vision.

John the Evangelist was a Galilean, and the cousin of Jesus. In his early years, he was impulsive, impetuous, and vindictive as evidenced by the time he wanted to call down fire from Heaven. During that period of his life, the Christian Master called him and his brother, James, the “Sons of Thunder”. In his later years, his disposition mellowed, and he became known as the Disciple of Love or, in Masonic terminology, “Brotherly Love” ...St. John the Evangelist teaches us to subdue our passions, one of the first lessons every new Freemason learns in Lodge. When we examine the writings of St. John the Evangelist, we see a major transformation of a young man. He goes from being a hot-tempered young radical to one who exhibits peace in his old age. He goes from being intolerant of others to working with others by sharing his theology of a “better way of life”." St. John the Evangelist's Feast Day

2) Make Cut Out Snowflakes: While some may consider this cheating, there are snowflake patterns you can use, if you want your snowflakes to be symetrical.
12 Sided, 6 Sided, and Fan Folded.

3) National Fruitcake Day

"On National Fruitcake Day, those with a sweet tooth can celebrate by eating a slice or two. Otherwise, we suggest you use this day to give your fruitcake to someone....anyone."

My dad told me this year that he likes fruitcake, but only homemade fruitcake. I planned to make him one this year, but I didn't. Maybe today I will look up a few recipes... for next year. After all, what better day to plan for fruitcake next year!