Jeûne genevois (meaning Geneva fast) is a public holiday in the canton of

Geneva Geneva ( , ; ) ; ; . is the List of cities in Switzerland, second-most populous city in Switzerland and the most populous in French-speaking Romandy. Situated in the southwest of the country, where the Rhône exits Lake Geneva, it is the ca ...

, Switzerland which occurs on the Thursday following the first Sunday of September. It dates back to the 16th century.

Background

The Swiss Federal Diets of 1480 and 1483 talked about national days of

fasting Fasting is the act of refraining from eating, and sometimes drinking. However, from a purely physiological context, "fasting" may refer to the metabolic status of a person who has not eaten overnight (before "breakfast"), or to the metabolic sta ...

as penitence and thanksgiving, but in the end, left these decisions to the cantons. With no federal law, fast days became pilgrimages, processions, litanies and fasts. In 1522

Huldrych Zwingli Huldrych or Ulrich Zwingli (1 January 1484 – 11 October 1531) was a Swiss Christian theologian, musician, and leader of the Reformation in Switzerland. Born during a time of emerging Swiss patriotism and increasing criticism of the Swis ...

, who helped stir

Protestant Protestantism is a branch of Christianity that emphasizes Justification (theology), justification of sinners Sola fide, through faith alone, the teaching that Salvation in Christianity, salvation comes by unmerited Grace in Christianity, divin ...

Reformation in Switzerland The Protestant Reformation in Switzerland was promoted initially by Huldrych Zwingli, who gained the support of the magistrate, Mark Reust, and the population of Zürich in the 1520s. It led to significant changes in civil life and state matte ...

, said fasting laws were only human notions which had nothing to do with the Holy Writ. Nonetheless, the plagues of

Basel Basel ( ; ), also known as Basle ( ), ; ; ; . is a city in northwestern Switzerland on the river Rhine (at the transition from the High Rhine, High to the Upper Rhine). Basel is Switzerland's List of cities in Switzerland, third-most-populo ...

(1541) and

Bern Bern (), or Berne (), ; ; ; . is the ''de facto'' Capital city, capital of Switzerland, referred to as the "federal city".; ; ; . According to the Swiss constitution, the Swiss Confederation intentionally has no "capital", but Bern has gov ...

(1565 and 1577) were followed by days of penitence and

, asking God for

clemency A pardon is a government decision to allow a person to be relieved of some or all of the legal consequences resulting from a criminal conviction. A pardon may be granted before or after conviction for the crime, depending on the laws of the j ...

and mercy.

Began before St. Bartholomew's Day massacre

was a cradle of Protestantism and the

Reformation The Reformation, also known as the Protestant Reformation or the European Reformation, was a time of major Theology, theological movement in Western Christianity in 16th-century Europe that posed a religious and political challenge to the p ...

. There was a Geneva-wide fast in the beginning of October 1567 as a sign of friendship with Protestants undergoing

persecution Persecution is the systematic mistreatment of an individual or group by another individual or group. The most common forms are religious persecution, racism, and political persecution, though there is naturally some overlap between these term ...

Lyon Lyon (Franco-Provençal: ''Liyon'') is a city in France. It is located at the confluence of the rivers Rhône and Saône, to the northwest of the French Alps, southeast of Paris, north of Marseille, southwest of Geneva, Switzerland, north ...

, France, and this was most likely the first ''Jeûne genevois'' (Genevan fast). Five years later, news of the St. Bartholomew's Day massacre and the slaughter of several thousand

Huguenot The Huguenots ( , ; ) are a Religious denomination, religious group of French people, French Protestants who held to the Reformed (Calvinist) tradition of Protestantism. The term, which may be derived from the name of a Swiss political leader, ...

s beginning on 24 August 1572 triggered a fast throughout Geneva on the following 3 September, which could be why the date of later yearly fasts was shifted forward by almost a month. By 1640, through sway of the reformed cantons, the fast had become yearly and was carried on even after the Genevan revolution of 1792. ''Jeûne genevois'' later became a patriotic holiday, symbolizing both Geneva's proud identity and its

Protestantism Protestantism is a branch of Christianity that emphasizes Justification (theology), justification of sinners Sola fide, through faith alone, the teaching that Salvation in Christianity, salvation comes by unmerited Grace in Christianity, divin ...

. By the beginning of the

Helvetic Republic The Helvetic Republic (; ; ) was a sister republic of France that existed between 1798 and 1803, during the French Revolutionary Wars. It was created following the French invasion and the consequent dissolution of the Old Swiss Confederacy, ma ...

folklore had thoroughly linked ''Jeûne genevois'' with the widely remembered St. Bartholomew's Day massacre and fasting in Geneva as the slaughter of whole Protestant families carried on throughout France.

In Geneva

In 1831 the Federal Diet decreed a ''Jeûne Fédéral'' (federal fast) for all cantons, fixing the date at 8 September. This was later made the third Sunday in September but for Geneva, which fixed the day of its own ''Jeûne genevois''. In 1869 Geneva decreed that the holiday was no longer official, but ''Jeûne genevois'' was celebrated unofficially until 1965, slowly losing its religious significance. On 1 August 1966 it was again declared a public holiday and the date fixed as the Thursday following the first Sunday of September. The religious fasting of ''Jeûne genevois'' is not widely followed. Banks and post offices along with many shops, restaurants and bars close for the day. However, unlike

Thanksgiving Thanksgiving is a national holiday celebrated on various dates in October and November in the United States, Canada, Saint Lucia, Liberia, and unofficially in countries like Brazil and Germany. It is also observed in the Australian territory ...

in the U.S., which also falls on a Thursday, a four-day weekend is not usually taken and most businesses are open on Friday.

Plum tart

Plum tart(''tarte aux pruneaux'') is often served as dessert in Geneva homes on ''Jeûne genevois''. Any knowledge as to how this tradition began seems to have been lost, although it may have come about as a means to allow women and housekeepers a way to spend the day in prayer, having cooked plum tarts the day before (area plums being in season). The plum tarts would thus be the only food eaten in many Geneva households on this particular day.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Jeune genevois Culture in Geneva Public holidays in Switzerland September observances Thursday Holidays and observances by scheduling (nth weekday of the month) Christian festivals and holy days Autumn in Switzerland