Today is Maria’s conception day, a half holiday in Austria. Half, because the shops are still open. Perhaps they should rename the day into “Billa’s Birthday”, because today you get a 10% discount at your local Billa Supermarket
[edited 2003-12-09]
Thanks to Horst for pointing out, that yesterday was not maria’s conception of jesus but the immaculate conception (3 Weeks pregnancy would be a bit short, even for a god). I must admit that my background is too protestant to understand this catholic “thing”. Read Wikipedia for a more detailed description