August 2 Virgen de los Angeles - Patron Saint of Costa Rica On August 2, 1653, the story goes that a local woman found a representation of the Virgin Mary. She tried to take this somewhere and twice it reappeared back at the location where she found it. The people then built a shrine in the location where it was. In 1824, it was taken as the patron saint of Costa Rica. Many people from around the country will walk the distance from the capital to the shrine every year on this day, some 22 kilometers, some even making the last of the journey on their knees. Happy Virgen de los Angeles! Republic Day Macedonia Celebrating two events that both happened on this day that contribute to the current country of Macedonia, located in part of the area that was once the Turkish Empire, The first of these events was the Llinden Uprising in 1903, when for a short time there was a Macedonian Republic. Then in 1944, the first assembly of ASNOM, helped to establish what today is the current nation. The holiday has been celebrated since 1944. It also happens to fall on Saint Elijah day, a holiday that has been important in the area for many many years. On this day there will be a parade of horses from the Capital Skopje to where the Uprising happened, Krusevo. Happy Republic Day Macedonia!