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marcie
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Can anyone tell me whose blog had a post about this day? I can't find it and I am not sure where I saw this.
Thanks so much!
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Marcie Melancon
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alicegunther
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MacBeth and I had a huge Martinmas party two years ago. MacBeth made lanterns with the children (based on instructions from Mrs. Sharp's Traditions), and we had a nighttime procession round the yard as the children sang hymns to St. Martin. The Derham kids also put on a short skit about St. Martin and the poor man, much to the delight of all!
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Brew yourself a cup of tea, and come for a visit!
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Lissa
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Alice, I was just about to scold you for not linking to the blog post you must surely have written about it, and then I rememembered your Martinmas party predates your blog! Life is ever so much richer now that we're all Cottage Blessed.
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marcie
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My church parish is St. Martin de Tours Catholic church in St. Martinville, LA. Which is also the home of Evangeline. Church records go back to 1756. Over our altar is a painting of St. Martin de Tours and it was done in the 1830's.
I wanted to find any traditions for November 11 to present to our priest.
So, if anyone can help........I would surely appreciate it!
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Marcie Melancon
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MichelleW
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The kids and I take blankets down to "Blanket Coverage" (an organization that covers homeless people with warm blankets while they sleep--imagine waking up to find someone has covered you up in the night!) We also try to make a trip to Goodwill to donate the winter clothes we've outgrown.
We always plan a big tea party (a dinnertime tea, so it is hearty fare) and then exchange gifts of warmth. I usually get the kids a new sweater each. This year our budget is really tight, so I am thinking I'll knit up some quick scarves.
Michelle
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St. Ann
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In many parts of Germany this is a well loved feast day, especially with children. There are many songs sung and legends told. Duriing the days approaching St. Martin, the children will bring certain food items to kindergarten to be donated to a Goodwill type of center in town. In kindergarten we will be crafting lanterns which the children carry during the procession from our parish church to the old folks home, where we will be received by the elderly. Martin arrives on his horse with his cape, that he ultimately divides to give the half to the beggar. Each child then receives a Martins Goose. According to one legend, Martin hid in a barn full of geese to avoid the crowds who wanted him to become bishop. Needless to say the geese gave him away. The Martins goose is made of a sweet yeast dough shaped as a goose. It is also tradition to roast a goose for dinner on that day.
When Martin's day arrives you know that St. Nikolaus(dec. 6) is just around the corner! Oh Excitement!
Stephanie in Germany
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marcie
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Thanks for the wonderful ideas! I knew I could count on this board to help me out! 
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Marcie Melancon
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JennGM
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marcie wrote:
My church parish is St. Martin de Tours Catholic church in St. Martinville, LA. Which is also the home of Evangeline. Church records go back to 1756. Over our altar is a painting of St. Martin de Tours and it was done in the 1830's.
I wanted to find any traditions for November 11 to present to our priest.
So, if anyone can help........I would surely appreciate it! |
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Oh, I absolutely loved visited St. Martinville and your church. I was a teenager then, but it left a beautiful memory.
Now sit tight, I'll be filling you with tons of links. Alice and MacBeth have the real life part, I'm just passing on some references. Much of this feast day has European customs. I'm not sure if you want to draw from certain countries or what. Pardon me if there are duplicates.
Two threads from last year:
Veteran's Day
Irish Feast of St. Martin
Here is an encyclopedia of German traditions related to St. Martin
And, not that the kids will indulge, but new wine was tasted on this feast. My siblings and parents have gotten together a few years in a row to enjoy the new Beaujolais Nouveau (or Noveau Beaujolais) on this feast day! Such fun.
Wilson's Almanac
Martinmas Legends
Wine Day
Fun Studies on St. Martin, including Making a Paper Lantern. MacBeth has used the instructions from Mrs. Sharp's Traditions. And on the CCM list a few years back she shared her Martinmas day, and someone else posted their directions for their paper lanterns.
Women for Faith And Family has an excerpt from the excellent Book of Feasts and Seasons
Religion Facts St. Martin
Reluctuant Bishop and Goose Soup
Catholic Culture, especially
Martinmas Traditions by Florence Berger,
Clothing the Naked,
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~Rachel~
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Jenn... you always have the best links for this kind of thing. I discovered n old post I had saved to my hard drive the other day with all the liturgical year books you recommended on it... and I bought the Bogle book as a result. It is such a treat
THANKS!
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marcie
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Wow.Jenn!! Thanks so much for all of the helpful links.
I have found tons of information from all of the suggestions everyone has given.
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Marcie Melancon
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Kelly
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On the eve of St. Martin's feast day, we're having our much belated Barn Blessing---appropriate since St. Martin is our beloved patron saint of horses We'll have a Mass, a blessing of the horses and barn, dinner a la roasted goose, a bonfire and hitching up the horses for lantern-lit wagon rides! We also made St. Martin's Day candles with sillouettes of horses on them. Used tall jars, glued the horseheads on the outside, then wrapped the glass jars with green cellophane and rolled the finished product in glitter-a fun project, and pretty. Love the idea of sampling the Beaujolais Nouveau on St. Martin's Day, Jenn. 
On St. Martin's Feast Day, our German school is having a lantern procession around a downtown lake, complete with St. Martin in his bishop's attire putting in a performance. This is THE highlight of our German school year-even more than Oktoberfest-which is so odd, because most of the class is Protestant, and we're the only real practicing Catholics of the bunch  Go figure. Maybe I'll bring St. Martin's holy cards to hand out to the children, hmmmmmm...
Thank you so much for the lovely idea of taking blankets to the shelter, MichelleW. What a great way to celebrate this saint!
Kelly in FL
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St. Ann
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Kelly
That sounds like a wonderful feast!
A few years back we attended a St. Martin's procession with a protestant kindergarten, because the little neighbor boy invited us to go with him and his family. After the procession in their gathering hall the Pastor spoke very cautiously about Martin being a very good man, "but, we do NOT pray to men! We only pray to God." It seems that even educated men today still have no idea about the real Catholic Faith! I am thankful though, that he did not mention Martin Luther.
I sent you a pm.
Stephanie
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Argh. I spent the better part of the day researching Martinmas customs. I should have known there would be an existing thread here. Thanks so much, Jenn and everyone!!! I think we'll be having the roast goose, and the nonsanguineous soup .
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We'll be simple in the food category, but I posted about our St. Martin Paper Lanterns. Can't get Flickr to cooperate with me...so it will require a few more clicks to view the pictures better. Or go straight to my St. Martin Paper Lanterns set.
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hmmm what exactly does the lanterns and or lantern walk have to do with St. Martin? I tried following the links and reading it.. but haven't figured out the connection between the two.
And how do you sing song you haven't ever heard? Is there somewhere online that you can hear them?
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JennGM
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JodieLyn wrote:
| hmmm what exactly does the lanterns and or lantern walk have to do with St. Martin? I tried following the links and reading it.. but haven't figured out the connection between the two. |
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That's a good question. Joanna Bogle's A Book of Feasts and Seasons talks about the Lanterns:
Quote:
| But undoubtedly the main festivity on St Martin's Day especially in France and Germany is that of making paper lanterns and carrying them in procession. Children form groups--either informally or as part of an official organisation with a band--and walk through the streets with paper lanterns that they have eithe rmade or bought. Shops produce a large variety of lanterns depicting everything from spacement to Mickey Mouse for the processions. Undoubtedly, it is as much a celebration of the arrival of winter, with its long dark evenings, as of St Martin. There are lantern songs and nonsense rhymes to accompany the processions. |
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This is a big harvest feast and seasonal change, so of course not all customs are directly linked to the saint.
But I thought about it a little more. This is only my personal theory. Patron Saints Index includes one of his symbols as a globe of fire...not too far off from a glowing lantern, don't you think?
This paragraph
Quote:
| Learning that the emperor had authorized Hilary's return, Martin ran to him in 361, then became a hermit for ten years in the area now known as Ligugé. A reputation for holiness attracted other monks, and they formed what would become the Benedictine abbey of Ligugé. Preached and evangelized through the Gallic countryside. Many locals held strongly to the old beliefs, and tried to intimidate Martin by dressing as the old Roman gods, and appearing to him at night; Martin continued to win converts. He destroyed old temples, and built churches on the land. Friend of Saint Liborius, bishop of Le Mans. |
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gave me a little more to think about. Because St. Martin was fighting some of the pagan beliefs and gods of Gaul and Rome, one could say that the light of Christ and Christianity that St. Martin was teaching and spreading fills the night, overcoming the darkness of ignorance. Or that the little lanterns each represent our souls, lit up with the grace of Christ, overcoming evil darkness.
Not too much of a stretch, because light and dark are constant symbols.
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thank you Jenn.. I just couldn't make sense of what was going on with the lantern walk.. which sounds fun.
Do you just walk along singing? (songs that we don't know, and can't sing at this point  ) or is there something else supposed to be happening?
My sister isn't Catholic but I was thinking she's not that far away and would probably find the whole thing fun.. and we could walk from my house over to her house and have a fire in the "fire pit" there and roast hotdogs for dinner or something simple like that.. the weather is getting awful cold here for much but she has a covered patio which is why I was thinking going over there to end.
But does anyone actually walk along "city" streets? or just like around your own yard/property?
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Jodie, I haven't actually done the walk. Last year we did a bonfire and the kids did a miniature procession, but everything was in my sister's backyard.
To add another fun song, St. Martin's Canon from "Around the Year with the Trapp Family".
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dollylima
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JennGM wrote:
JodieLyn wrote:
| hmmm what exactly does the lanterns and or lantern walk have to do with St. Martin? I tried following the links and reading it.. but haven't figured out the connection between the two. |
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... Because St. Martin was fighting some of the pagan beliefs and gods of Gaul and Rome, one could say that the light of Christ and Christianity that St. Martin was teaching and spreading fills the night, overcoming the darkness of ignorance. Or that the little lanterns each represent our souls, lit up with the grace of Christ, overcoming evil darkness.
Not too much of a stretch, because light and dark are constant symbols. |
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Jenn, this is very much my understanding of the lantern walk, and anyway, it is the meaning I choose to inhabit as we celebrate the feast.
For me, the lanterns represent our faith that although darkness covers the earth, the Light of the World has come to bring peace, light, love and salvation.
It is also a very special feast day for me because it marks the beginning of the time of year when we don't have the luxury of daylight as long as we do at other times of the year, and it is a symbol, for me, that as we prepare for the winter and Advent and a tendency to turn inward, that the Light can be found in our hearts, and it will sustain us through the darkness until the days become longer and we celebrate the Resurrection in the spring.
Of course, this is my own personal mythology that I apply to the feast, but it is a great source of comfort to me and I do not believe it strays too far, if at all, really, from the original meaning of the celebration.
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4Real Forums : Domestic Church
Topic: st. martinmas day
