Ante Diem VII Kalendas Februarias

Modern Date : January 26th

Ante Diem VII Kalendas Februarias
Seventh Day to the Kalends of February

This is one of the dies comitiales when committees of citizens could vote on political or criminal matters.

This day was Mecheir 1 (Macedonian Xandicus 1), the first day of the month Mecheir, in the Egyptian calendar.

This month is sacred to Janus, the god of Beginnings. The Romans had numerous temples to Janus. Whenever war was declared, the chief magistrate would lead a ceremony in which the doors of the main temple of Janus were opened. In time of peace they were normally shut.


Cerunnos
In the ancient Britannic calendar, this is one of the year's most solemn festivals of initiation. It is sacred to Cerunnos, the deer- horned God who is considered the master of all communications with animals, and the threshold keeper who tests the worthiness of all who seek knowledge of the secrets of nature.


St. Francois de Sales
In the Roman Catholic calendar, this is the feast of St. Francois de Sales, who gave up the promise of a spectacular career in the King's service to dedicate himself to missionary work, and went to Geneva in the late 16th century to convert Calvinists, a task at which he is said to have achieved the huge success of bringing some 72,000 of Europe's most dismal Protestants back to the fold, largely through methods that were mild and joyous rather than stern. He reportedly coined the saying that "You can catch more flies with a spoonful of honey than with a barrel of vinegar."