Happy St. Urho's Day - Celebrate in Purple & Green!

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In summary, St. Urho is the patron saint of the Finnish grape industry, and we celebrate the event on March 16th.
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Janus
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I know that I'm a day early, but I've been having some computer problems lately and I'm not sure that I'll be able to get this posted tomorrow.

As you may (or may not) know, St. Urho is the patron Saint of the Finns (I'll ignore that nasty little man in the back who is pointing out that 99% of Finns are Lutheran).

As the Story goes, St. Urho singlehandedly saved the Finnish grape industry by driving out a plague of giant grasshoppers.

We celebrate this event on March 16th. (which already gives it precedence over that other St.'s day, as it occurs first.)

Another difference is that while St. Patrick's day is mainly celebrated by wearing green and drinking oneself into into a stupor, St. Urho's day is celebrated by wearing purple and drinking oneself into a stupor. So as you can plainly see, St. Urho's day is a much classier holiday.

With that I'd like to leave you with the Traditional St. Urho's day poem:

Ooksie kooksie kollme vee
Santia Urho is the boy for me
He chase out the hopper as big as pirds
Never before have I heard those words

He really told those bugs of green
Bravest Finn I ever seen
Some celebrate for St. Pat and his snake
But that Urho boy got what it takes

He got tall and strong on feelia sour
And ate Kalla Mojakkaa every hour
Thats why that guy dould chase those beetles
That crew as thick as jack pine needles

So let's give a cheer
in our very best way
On the sixteenth of March
St. Urho's Day!
 
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  • #2
Janus said:
I know that I'm a day early, but I've been having some computer problems lately and I'm not sure that I'll be able to get this posted tomorrow.

As you may (or may not) know, St. Urho is the patron Saint of the Finns (I'll ignore that nasty little man in the back who is pointing out that 99% of Finns are Lutheran).

As the Story goes, St. Urho singlehandedly saved the Finnish grape industry by driving out a plague of giant grasshoppers.

We celebrate this event on March 16th. (which already gives it precedence over that other St.'s day, as it occurs first.)
Woohoo! The wearin' o' the purple! (the color of royalty by the way).
 
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  • #3
juoda moni ja nauraa !
{drink much and laugh}
 
  • #4
Janus said:
As the Story goes, St. Urho singlehandedly saved the Finnish grape industry by driving out a plague of giant grasshoppers.

We celebrate this event on March 16th. (which already gives it precedence over that other St.'s day, as it occurs first.)

Seems if you drove out some sort of pest or another back in the day, it was pretty easy to make it to sainthood, wasn't it? I wonder if anyone has informed the Terminix guy about this? :smile:

Another difference is that while St. Patrick's day is mainly celebrated by wearing green and drinking oneself into into a stupor, St. Urho's day is celebrated by wearing purple and drinking oneself into a stupor. So as you can plainly see, St. Urho's day is a much classier holiday.

Ooooh, I much prefer purple. Though both green and purple look good on me. I think I shall wear purple tomorrow (should I wear a big red hat too? :biggrin:)
 
  • #5
Bravest Finn I ever seen

Boy, us Finns are really brave. You won't find any of those grasshoppers around here. I'll kick their little butts! :mad:
 
  • #6
Ivan Seeking said:
Boy, us Finns are really brave. You won't find any of those grasshoppers around here. I'll kick their little butts! :mad:

Want to take a crack at some spiders next? :biggrin:
 
  • #7
Thanks & YYEEESS ... knew had some subliminal genetically encoded reason to get wasted today ! There really aren't that many grasshoppers around here ... glad to finally discover the scientific explanation for this larger than life puzzle.
 
  • #8
Ivan Seeking said:
Boy, us Finns are really brave. You won't find any of those grasshoppers around here. I'll kick their little butts! :mad:

Well, they were "as big as pirds(birds)".
 
  • #9
Janus said:
Well, they were "as big as pirds(birds)".

LOL! A few more generations of telling the story and they'll be big as cats, and then as big as the fish I caught, which also gets bigger every year. :biggrin:

Happy St. Urho' Day! (Any other saints we should know about this week? If we line up enough of them, we can keep drinking through the weekend.)
 

Related to Happy St. Urho's Day - Celebrate in Purple & Green!

What is St. Urho's Day?

St. Urho's Day is a fictional holiday celebrated on March 16th in the United States and Canada. It is a humorous parody of St. Patrick's Day and is primarily celebrated in Finnish and Finnish-American communities.

Why is St. Urho's Day celebrated in purple and green?

The colors purple and green are associated with St. Urho's Day because they are the colors of the fictitious grape and grasshopper that St. Urho is said to have driven out of Finland to save the crops from destruction.

Who is St. Urho?

St. Urho is a fictional saint created by Finnish-Americans in Minnesota in the 1950s. He is said to have driven out grasshoppers from Finland by chanting "Heinäsirkka, heinäsirkka, mene täältä hiiteen!" which translates to "Grasshopper, grasshopper, go away!"

Is St. Urho's Day a religious holiday?

No, St. Urho's Day is not a religious holiday. It is a humorous celebration that parodies St. Patrick's Day and celebrates Finnish-American heritage and culture.

How is St. Urho's Day celebrated?

St. Urho's Day is celebrated with parades, parties, and other festivities. People dress up in purple and green, wear fake grape leaves and grasshoppers, and enjoy traditional Finnish foods and drinks. Some communities also hold grape stomping competitions or crowning ceremonies for a "King" and "Queen" of St. Urho's Day.

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