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Show French celebrate New Year's Day Just as it is everywhere else in the world, January 1 is a day of celebration, visiting and toasting of health in France. But, la jour de la bonne annee, as the French call it, has a more serious side. Churches are generally crowded on New Year's Eve, which is also the Vigil of St. Sylvester, an early pontiff and father of the Church. In rural communities cattle are driven to the door of the village church where they are blessed by the priest who also says Mass for their protection during dur-ing the year. It is French custom to remember re-member the dead as well as the living on New Year's Day and most families visit the graves of departed members. |