User:The Uber Duber

In Canada only 20-30 years ago, in the Anglican (Church of England) Boxing Day was a religious holiday, not a Shopping Event. It is of course, very different now. It is actually called "St. Stephen's Day" or "St. Stephen's Feast". That day was set aside for acts of Christian Charity, and engaging in commerce on that day used to be forbidden. Sales recorded on that day were keyed into the 27th, and all commissions earned on sales were donated to charity, otherwise you were prevented from opening your business ( Atlantic Provinces) The idea, drawn from the phrase "Peace on Earth, and Goodwill to All Men" was that on Boxing Day, you were to give selflessly to others. It was traditional to invite relatives, friends, and sometimes even strangers into your home for dinner, who otherwise might spend Christmas alone. It was traditional to help out at a charity, a soup kitchen, a nursing home, a prison. You would try to bring a little Christmas cheer to the ill, the infirmed, the incarcerated, the indigent, and the poverty stricken. This concept is personified in the lyrics to the Christmas Carol "Good King Wenceslas", which illustrates the original meaning and way ( English Style) of celebrating Boxing Day. A person of means would give selflessly to the less fortunate. "Therefor, Christian Men be sure - (wealth or rank possessing) He who now shall bless the poor - shall Himself find blessing"