On April 20, two holidays are celebrated at once - National Donor Day in Russia and Chinese Language Day. In addition to them, a few more lesser-known, but important for believers holidays - the Day of the Appearance of the Icon of the Mother of God "Life-Giving Spring" and the Day of St. George, Metropolitan of Mitylensk, are timed to April 20.
National Donor Day in Russia
This event, which is celebrated every April 20 in our country, is important for the social life of Russia. This holiday is dedicated to people who voluntarily help others by donating their blood, the very problem of the lack of donor blood in medical institutions, as well as doctors who control blood sampling and the sanitary condition of blood transfused.
The reason for the founding of the Donor Day in Russia was April 20, 1832, when the obstetrician Andrei Martynovich Wolf for the first time successfully transfused his own blood to a dying woman in labor in a St. Petersburg hospital.
According to public organizations, despite the constantly increasing number of socially conscious volunteers, about half a million people in our country continue to need donor blood every year. Most of them are patients suffering from oncohematological diseases, as well as women in the postpartum period, the rest are people who have suffered as a result of road accidents or complex medical operations, in which part of the blood, important for life, was lost.
On April 20, a series of events dedicated to the problem of donation is held in Russia: already experienced "donors" of their blood talk about their experience, representatives of public organizations appear on television and radio, covering the existing problem, as well as many other socially important events.
Chinese Language Day
This holiday was founded in 2010 at the initiative of the UN, together with all other "language" days. The creators of the Day of the Chinese language dedicated this event to the memory of the scientist Cang Jie, who is the founder of writing in the Middle Kingdom.
According to an ancient legend, Za Jie was the historiographer of the emperor Huang Di, under whom he developed a set of pictograms that became the basis for the construction of hieroglyphs, replacing the previously accepted nodular writing.
Chinese writing in the modern world is recognized as one of the most complex, including about 80 thousand different hieroglyphs. At the same time, the Chinese themselves do not use all of them, but only about 3-5 thousand characters. The Chinese language is also recognized as one of the most ancient of the now known dialects, being adopted at the state level not only in the Celestial Empire itself, but also in Taiwan and Singapore. Collectively, it is spoken by over 1.3 billion people. On this day, exhibitions and other events dedicated to Chinese writing, culture and works of art are held around the world.
Other religious holidays
The Day of the Appearance of the Icon of the Mother of God "Life-Giving Source" is dedicated to the memory of the restoration of the temple of the same name, located in Constantinople. Its construction was carried out during the lifetime of Emperor Leo I, who highly appreciated and respected the healing source. According to legend, the water in it could heal almost all ailments. The temple was destroyed long ago, but Orthodox Christians continue to celebrate this memorable holiday.
April 20 also celebrates the Day of St. George, Metropolitan of Mytilene, who was a righteous and virtuous monk. The future metropolitan knew his mission from a very young age and devoted his life to serving God.
During the reign of Leo the Isaurian, George suffered many persecutions and hardships from the iconoclasts, but, as a result, received the name of the Confessor. Then, after Constantine Porfirodny came to power, the Monk George was elevated to the episcopal see. During his long life, Metropolitan of Mitylene became famous for many good deeds and deeds, after his death he was declared a saint and is now revered by believing Christians around the world.
