Navarra Day

The Foral Law 18/1985, of September 27, 1985, approved by the Parliament of Navarre, declared December 3, the feast of St. Francis Xavier, as the Day of Navarre (Día de la Comunidad Foral de Navarra), providing that the Government of Navarre should adopt the necessary measures for the annual celebration of this feast and organize the relevant events. Since 1984, among other acts, the Gold Medal of Navarre is awarded on December 3 in a solemn institutional act.

The celebration of this date is much older; the Deputation of the Kingdom of Navarre adopted St. Francis Xavier as its patron saint shortly after his canonization and solemnly swore him in on August 2, 1622; the Cortes of Navarre ratified the oath in 1624 and ordered the Deputation to celebrate a solemn mass every year in the church of the Society of Jesus in Pamplona. In 1657 Pope Alexander VII declared San Fermín and San Francisco Javier as co-patron saints of Navarre and declared both feasts as holy days of obligation. From 1767 onwards, as a consequence of the expulsion of the Jesuits, the celebration took place in the Parish of San Saturnino in Pamplona. The Provincial Council of Navarre, constituted in 1836, agreed to continue with this celebration, although at the end of the 19th century it was moved to the last Sunday of November. From 1916 it was celebrated again on December 3; it ceased to be celebrated as an official holiday during the Second Republic, although the Diputación resumed its celebration in 1935. In 1946 the official mass was moved to the Cathedral of Pamplona, and in 1979 to the Basilica of the Castle of Javier.