Another Danish Day Off

Tomorrow (Friday) marks another one of those days that people know they have off, yet they only vaguely remember why. I copied the article below from the Copenhagen Post.

Store Bededag is a uniquely Danish leftover holiday created shortly after the Protestant break from Catholicism

Most Danes know that this Friday is a holiday and that it has something to do with the National Church.
But if you ask the under-40 generation about the origins of Store Bededag - Great Prayer Day in English - it is doubtful they would have any idea.
The holiday was created by Bishop Hans Bagger in 1686, 38 years after the Treaty of Westphalia, which legitimised the Protestant faith.
There had previously been numerous prayer days scattered throughout the yearly calendar, but Bagger's proposal consolidated them into the three days, with Store Bededag being the most important.
Always falling on the fourth Friday after Easter, Bagger wanted a day where the average citizen could concentrate on prayer. The timing of the holiday was also placed at a period just prior to when the king would begin his traditional travels abroad, so that the monarch could also take part in the prayers.
The holiday also coincided with the time of the traditional crop procession, where the people would walk across the fields, praying that the year would bring a good harvest.
A myth surrounding Store Bededag is that Johann Friedrich Stuensee, Royal Physician to the mentally ill King Christian VII, created the day as per his holiday reform plan in 1770, which reduced the existing 22 holidays to 11. Store Bededag was one of the holidays spared in the reduction.
Although Store Bededag always falls on Friday, the holiday quickly began to be celebrated on the evening before, marked by the ringing of the local church bells - allegedly to remind people to stay sober for the next day's mass.
A tradition linked to Store Bededag is the baking and eating of warm wheat buns. The buns were originally made by bakers the day before so they could be reheated on the holiday, when the bakers were not allowed to work. But like other facets of the holiday, people began to eat the buns the evening before.
Another tradition of the holiday is the walk around the ramparts of Copenhagen that same evening. Begun sometime in the 1700s, the walk was probably the natural result of people wanting to listen to the bells of Vor Frue Kirke (Church of Our Lady).
The walk is still alive today, though it now takes place along the city piers at Langelinie. (RC)