News
27 November: what is celebrated today
On 27 November, the calendar invites us to look towards two different but equally human settings: the family table where what has been received is given thanks for, and the classroom where knowledge germinates. It is a day that smells of roast turkey and chalk, of home and school, of memory and gratitude. Two celebrations which, though born far apart, share the same spirit: recognition of what gives life meaning — generosity and teaching.
Thanksgiving Day
In the United States, on the fourth Thursday in November — this year, the 27th — homes fill with aromas and voices. Whole families gather around a golden turkey to give thanks for the year’s blessings. It is a custom rooted in the first English settlers, who, after surviving the winter and learning to cultivate the land with the help of the Wampanoag Indigenous peoples, offered a meal as a sign of gratitude. Since then, the tradition has become a national celebration that brings generations together, beyond faiths or borders.
But Thanksgiving is also a metaphor for reconciliation. In a world that often rushes on without stopping, this day offers a pause: to be grateful for simple things, to share, to remember that abundance is not measured in dishes but in affection. Between prayers, parades and American football games, the same ancestral purpose beats: recognising that everything we have — the harvest, companionship, love — is a gift.
Teachers’ Day in Spain
While America gives thanks with a banquet, Spain pays tribute to knowledge. Teachers’ Day, also celebrated on 27 November, honours Saint Joseph of Calasanz, a 17th-century Aragonese educator and pioneer of modern education. His dream was simple and revolutionary: a free school accessible to all children, regardless of origin or wealth. The Piarist Schools were born from that utopia, and with them, a new way of understanding teaching.
Today, this day is an opportunity to look towards those men and women who devote their lives to teaching. In times when information abounds and wisdom is scarce, the teacher’s role remains essential: they not only pass on knowledge, but also awaken curiosity, critical thinking and hope. Celebrating their day is giving thanks for the patience, vocation and faith in the future that is sown each morning in classrooms.