Dismal Day

Today marks the traditional "Dismal Day." Also called, the "Egyptian’s Woe," this day was associated with the plagues of Egypt during the early Christian era and thus was believed to be a day of repentance, woe, and mourning. The word “day” in the phrase is actually an etymological tautology since the word “dismal” was originally the English form of the Latin dies mali or “evil days." “Dismal” was at first used as a noun; only later did it become an adjective. Observed somberly, this occasion was intended to be a reminder of the consequences of rejecting the gracious beckoning of God.