My colleague Haroon Siddique mentions, in his live coverage of the election results that today is Saint Boris's Day. Well, yes and no.
Boris-Mihail I of Bulgaria. Photograph: WikiCommons
True, the Orthodox calendar of saints lists May 2 as the commemoration of Saint Boris (Boris-Mihail of Bulgaria) and of the translation of the relics of Boris and Gleb, princes of Russia, whose main feast day is on July 24. But the Russian Orthodox church uses the Julian calendar (though, confusingly, this does not apparently make it Old Calendarist). Consequently, celebrations at the Russian Orthodox Cathedral in London today will be for Bright Friday, it being April 19 in the ecclesiastical calendar. Saint Boris (the Russian) will have to wait until May 15 in the secular Gregorian calendar. To make things a little clearer, the Bulgarian and Greek churches follow the Gregorian calendar, though not in all things, and thus for those churches it is indeed May 2. (Unless you're talking about the Old Calendar Orthodox Church). So, is it Saint Boris's Day? It very much depends on who you ask.
