Editing Saint-Jean-Baptiste Day (section)

==Origins==
{{Main|Nativity of Saint John the Baptist}}
{{citation needed span|date=August 2024|The feast day of [[Saint John the Baptist]] or [[Midsummer]] was a very popular event in the ''[[Ancien Régime]]'' of France, and it is still celebrated as a religious feast day in several countries, including Denmark, Norway, Sweden, Finland, Estonia, Spain, Latvia, Ireland and Lithuania.}}

The tradition landed in [[Canada, New France|Canada]] with the first French colonists. The first mention of celebrations of Saint-Jean-Baptiste in North America dates back to 1606, when settlers en route to the future Acadia rested on the coast of Newfoundland, June 23.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Ouimet |first=Marc |title=Le lys en fête, le lys en feu : La Saint-Jean-Baptiste au Québec de 1960 à 1990 |publisher=Université du Québec |year=2011 |pages=41}}</ref> The second mention of celebrations, according to the [[Jesuit Relations|Jesuit ''Relations'']], occurred on the banks of the [[Saint Lawrence River]] on the evening of June 23, 1636, with a bonfire and five cannon shots.

[[file:Flag of the Patriote movement (Lower Canada).svg|thumb|The green, white and red tricolour used by the {{Lang|fr|[[Parti canadien|Parti patriote]]|italic=no}} between 1832 and 1838]]

In [[Lower Canada]], the celebration of the [[nativity of St. John the Baptist]] took a patriotic tone in 1834 on the initiative of one of the founders of the newspaper ''[[La Minerve]]'', [[Ludger Duvernay]], who would later become the first president of the [[Saint-Jean-Baptiste Society]]. In the spring of 1834, Duvernay and other ''patriotes'' attended the celebrations of the first [[St. Patrick's Day]], the celebration of the [[Irish diaspora]], in Montreal. This would give him and others the idea of organizing something similar for all the ''[[Canadiens]]'' and their friends.<ref name="Duvernay, Ludger">{{cite DCB |last=Lebel |first=Jean-Marie |title=Duvernay, Ludger |volume=8 |url=http://www.biographi.ca/en/bio/duvernay_ludger_8E.html}}</ref>

On that June 24, [[George-Étienne Cartier]]'s "''[[Ô Canada! mon pays, mes amours]]''" was first sung during a grand patriotic banquet gathering about sixty [[francophone]]s and [[English-speaking Quebecker|anglophones]] of [[Montreal]],<ref>Attending the event were reformist politicians [[Louis-Hippolyte Lafontaine]], [[Edouard Rodier]], [[George-Étienne Cartier]], Dr. [[Edmund Bailey O'Callaghan]], [[Louis Perrault]], [[Thomas Storrow Brown]], and Montreal mayor [[Jacques Viger (1787–1858)|Jacques Viger]].</ref> in the gardens of lawyer John McDonnell, near the old [[Windsor Station (Montreal)|Windsor Station]]. The ''Canada'' in the song refers to [[Lower Canada]], today's southern Quebec. Rounds of toasts went to the ''Parti patriote'', the United States, Ireland, and the [[Ninety-Two Resolutions]].<ref>Prémont, Donald. "[http://cgi2.cvm.qc.ca/glaporte/1837.pl?out=article&pno=0046 Duvernay, Ludger (1799–1852)] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090404140646/http://cgi2.cvm.qc.ca/glaporte/1837.pl?out=article&pno=0046 |date=April 4, 2009 }}", in the site ''Les Patriotes de 1837@1838'', May 20, 2000. Retrieved June 29, 2008</ref>

Two days later, ''La Minerve'' concluded: "This holiday, whose goal is to solidify the union of the ''Canadiens'', will not go without bearing fruit. It will be celebrated annually as a national holiday and will not miss producing the happiest results."<ref>"Cette fête dont le but est de cimenter l'union des Canadiens ne sera pas sans fruit. Elle sera célébrée annuellement comme fête nationale et ne pourra manquer de produire les plus heureux résultats", in ''La Minerve'', June 24, 1834</ref> The celebration recurred in 1835, 1836, 1837.

Following the defeat of the insurrectional movement during the [[Lower Canada Rebellion]] and the military repressions which followed, the day was not celebrated for several years.<ref name="Duvernay, Ludger" />

[[file:Drapeau-Carillon-Sacré-Coeur.jpg|thumb|right|[[Drapeau Carillon Sacré-Cœur]]: A Carillon flag waved by people on Saint-Jean-Baptiste Day from its creation in 1902 until 1948. The current [[flag of Quebec]] is based on this design, and was adopted in 1948.]]

In 1834, Duvernay established the charitable Association Saint-Jean Baptiste in order to have the Saint-Jean-Baptiste celebrated that year. The association was chartered in 1849 with the mission of promoting social and moral progress. (See [[Saint-Jean-Baptiste Society]].)

The celebrations were supported by the Catholic Church and were primarily religious around that time. The lighting of bonfires, a traditional custom on the Nativity of Saint John which ultimately reached back to pre-Christian [[Midsummer]] celebrations were still lit at night.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Nadeau |first=Claude |title=Histoire de la fête nationale des Québécois: la Saint-Jean Baptiste |url=http://www.claudenadeau.net/saint-jean.html |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120424121828/http://www.claudenadeau.net/saint-jean.html |archive-date=April 24, 2012 |access-date=October 4, 2008 |quote=" Déjà en des temps immémoriaux, les peuples païens célébraient le solstice d'été par un grand feu de joie, symbolisant la lumière qui était à son apogée."}}</ref> In addition, the first Saint-Jean-Baptiste parades were organized. They became an important tradition over time. The procession of allegorical floats was introduced in 1874.<ref>[https://archive.today/20130624235859/http://www.montrealgazette.com/Montreal+1874+F%C3%AAte+Nationale+remember/8560850/story.html Montréal Gazette, 2013]</ref>

On June 24, 1880, the Saint-Jean-Baptiste Society organized the gathering of all francophone communities across North America. The event was the first National Congress of French Canadians (''Congrès national des Canadiens français''). On this occasion, the citizens of [[Quebec City]] were the first ones to hear the "''[[O Canada|Ô Canada]]''" of [[Calixa Lavallée]], based on a poem by a Quebec Superior Court judge, [[Adolphe-Basile Routhier]]. The song was commissioned by the Saint-Jean-Baptiste Society. It was well received but did not become a widely known song for many years. English words were later written for a [[Royal tours of Canada|royal tour]] in 1901. In 1980, "O Canada" became the official national anthem of Canada.

In 1908, Pope [[Pius X]] designated [[St. John the Baptist]] as the [[patron saint]] of French Canadians. From 1914 to 1923 the processions were not held. In 1925, 91 years after the Ludger Duvernay's banquet in Montreal, June 24 became provincially a legal holiday in Quebec.<ref>{{Cite web |date=June 22, 2017 |title=Fête nationale: A guide to Montreal's festivities |url=https://montrealgazette.com/news/local-news/fete-nationale-a-guide-to-montreals-festivities |access-date=June 23, 2017}}</ref>