St Sarkis Day · Surb Sarkis

Culture of origin: Armenian · Cultural

Holiday sources: Armenian

The Armenian Church remembers Sargis the General, his son Martiros and fourteen of his soldiers on a Saturday between 11 January and 15 February, 64 days before Easter. Shapur II had Sargis and his son executed in Sasanian Persia in 362 or 363. On the eve young people eat a salty biscuit and drink no water, hoping to dream that the one they will marry brings them water, and the day has become an Armenian day of love. Tehran's Armenian cathedral, built in 1970, is named after him.