{The photos for this post are from my friend Christina. Her boys made the lanterns and they are pictured below doing the coloring. Christina blogs at A Button and a Fig.}
Did you ever hear of the tradition of a procession in honor of St. Martin?
This great saint's feast is on November 11 (isn't it interesting that we celebrate Veteran's Day on the feast of this military saint?). It used to be that this day was the sort of unofficial start of Advent, which makes sense when you notice the days getting so much shorter and your thoughts do turn to the coming preparations for the feast of the Nativity.
If we're thinking about building authentic traditions to build our culture — the culture of our family but also our neighborhood, circle of friends and relatives, and ultimately the whole of society, it's things like the St. Martin procession that stand out as really meaningful.
For one thing, no one will ever be impervious to a great story. You can read about St. Martin here and here. When we think about our boys, we do want for them this strength and big-heartedness — the man on his horse who stoops to share what he has with a beggar! Note well that he shares his cloak. He and the beggar will be facing the cold together, in a fraternity of charity. When we think of our girls, we want them to admire men like this — magnanimous men!
For another, it's lovely to go out in the darkness with lanterns!
I do wish I had known about this long ago, but I am recording it here for the collective memory. I hope that in our own family as well, in the next generation, we can cultivate this tradition of a feast and a fun-filled procession in the darkness!
The day falls on Tuesday this year.
If you have the day off, maybe the festivities can happen on the evening before. The evening of is good too… or the Sunday before… or in our case, we will be joining our friends on the following Friday, because, well, I'm out of town this weekend, and they are graciously deferring the celebration to include us!
A feast needs food! It's traditional to serve roast goose. Now, this you might not be able to swing, and for us, on a Friday, we will share some delicious clam chowder and other soups, in solidarity with the poor, as our host Christina puts it, and in remembrance of the suffering of Our Lord. But it can still be a special meal, with treats.
The children love to hear the story of the saint while they are drawing or coloring a picture of him. In my religion class, we made prayer cards. (I've uploaded documents so you can print out the materials — each one is linked in these directions that follow.)
The way to do this is to give each child a half-page of card stock (cut them with a paper-cutter). Each one gets a small picture of the saint to cut out (here is the same picture but with directions and then two regular coloring pages), color, and glue to his card. He puts on his card the name of the saint and his feast day. The card can be bordered with decorations of the child's choosing and embellished with his symbols. If the child wants to, he can write down the things that St. Martin is the patron of. I don't understand “broken images” — do you? (You will see when you click on the link!) You can tell him the story while he works.
When he's done, the card can go on the family oratory or in his personal one near his bed.
A procession needs lanterns, which are fun to make the day before or the day of, if your other preparations are simple. You can also use oil lanterns, which the Chief, Habou, and I will probably do.
And of course, singing is part of celebrating! The same words will go for this chant* and this hymn. (The chant has different words as heard, but the muffled quality of the recording means that it's easy to substitute the words that go with this feast). It's said that the chant, words, and hymn were composed in honor of St. Martin! Don't be intimidated by any of it. The chant is super easy to learn, if you just listen a few times. I taught it to my Atrium class of 9-12 year-old boys just the other day, and two whole families learned it in one go.
What do you think? This is an ideal activity for your St. Greg's Pocket! A few families getting together to enjoy a meal, set some things on fire, and sing — all in honor of a great saint! Or, this year, start with your own family, and be ready next year to widen the circle.
*This is my first time trying to share an audio file, I think. If it doesn't work for you, please let me know in the comments. And if you've never really thought about singing chant before, be sure to listen a few times before you decide it's too hard. It's really not! xoxo
Anne says
Interesting note: Here in Canada, on November 11th, we mark Remembrance Day. On the 11th day, of the 11th month, at the 11th hour. We wear a poppy in the month leading up to the 11th (and we don’t wear it after the 11th…they do this in the UK as well).
This year is especially poignant. I live in Ottawa…about 3 weeks ago there was a shooting in our downtown. At the War Memorial, where our Tomb of the Unknown Soldier is, a man shot and killed Cpl. Nathan Cirillo, who was part of the Guard of Honour that day. This same man was able to enter the Parliament Buildings, still armed. Our Sgt. At Arms shot and killed him, saving the lives of countless Senators, MPs, and workers on the Hill. They are expecting a very large turnout this year for Remembrance Day.
Blessings.
Rachel says
I read about this terrible event in the UK news. I am so sorry for you all. Those guarding your Parliament were brave in their duty, I pray for peace for all affected by this tragedy.
Melissa says
Hi Leila! Are the words for the chant available, too? Thanks for sharing this – I’ve been wondering about this feast for quite some time because I know Waldorf schools observe it but I didn’t see it much among Catholic circles. We made lanterns last year and will do it again this year. I’d really like to figure out the chant to teach to our littles.
Leila says
The link for the words is in the post but you might need to click on “first line” to get them. I am not able to link to a printable document right now, but try that link from the post: http://www.hymnary.org/text/he_whose_confession_god_of_old_accepted
Melissa says
I see the words from the link but they are different from the chant – or is it supposed to be that we use those words from the link with the chant instead of the words from the chant? It that makes sense…
Anne says
Loved this post. What a good reminder. My boys are so focused on weapons and wars these days that I’m not always sure what to do with it. A few reminders of what/who the enemies are and brave examples of intrepid saints would be perfect.
briana says
St. Martin is one of my favorite feast days, and this year for CCD we are collecting coats for the less fortunate in our town (our church has a food pantry and during collection days the director often hands out coats, hat, and mittens if any need).
Last week I also had my students make lanterns with mason jars, and we’ll be processing through the Marian garden at our next class (Monday). The chant is JUST what I needed, so thank you very much!
Mary Elizabeth says
Can you tell me more about how to make the lanterns?
K says
Does anyone know the connection between St. Martin and the lanterns? Maybe I am not digging hard enough, but I would like to understand the connection to explain it to my kids! Thanks!!
Anne-Marie says
I don’t think there is one. You just need the lanterns so you don’t trip in the dark. I think these processions are more common in norther Europe, and in November it’s dark by early evening.
Rachel says
I thought there is a story of St Martin involving him lighting the way or something similar. I recall reading this some time ago. I have looked for a refernce but can’t see one, perhaps someone here may know?
Kathy@9peas says
This is a tradition we only began a few years ago, so my older boys did not grow up with this – but they love that we are doing it now. A bonfire, special treats, hymns and lanterns. I know one of my neighbors loves to hear us outside when we do this, such a wonderful and fun tradition that I’m glad is being added to our own collective.
Anne-Marie says
My introduction to this kind of celebration of St Martin came in Cologne in 1996. There was a procession through the streets, with dozens of kids carrying lanterns–some homemade, some store-bought, most with candles, but some with little electric bulbs. The procession ended in the yard of the local elementary school, where the meeting of St Martin and the beggar was reenacted (St Martin played by a mounted police officer). Then the bonfire was lit and treats were distributed, including fruit punch for the kids and Gluehwein for the grownups. My husband looked around and said, “A religious festival being celebrated on the grounds of a public school, involving law enforcement officers, a large animal, children, alcohol and open flame, in the dark. It would never happen at home.”
Annalisa says
Yes! I read your comment to my family. My husband says, “Ain’t that the truth.” My daughter says, “But that sounds really fun!” and my 4 year old boy says, hopefully, “Alcohol for the kids?”
Carol says
I’m probably too late for today, but does anyone know where I can find the lovely picture the boys are coloring in the photos above? We just used the simple one linked to in the post, but this one is so beautiful! I flipped through “A Year With God” (because the photo reminds me of some of the Saint pages in there), but I don’t see it there. Google doesn’t show me anything like it, either.
It’ll be too cold here to go out tonight, but a friend and I are going to make lanterns out of soup cans, with electric tea lights, work on the chant (hopefully), and have the kids “process” in the house, with a couple lovely desserts afterward. Thanks so much for the idea!
Leila says
Carol, Christina copied it from some book that she can’t find right now, but I updated the post to include a document with two more images that can be printed out and colored. You can do a search for images for St. Martin of Tours and use the search tools to look for just black-and-white ones. Some of them I can’t really post here!
Leila says
Also, I strongly encourage candles! No one will get hurt if they are in soup cans 🙂
Annalisa says
Oh! I hadn’t looked closely at the pages they were coloring before, but when you drew my attention to them I thought it looked familiar. It’s from “Saints: Lives and Illuminations” by Ruth Sanderson.
Vicky says
We have celebrated Martinmas for years, introduced to us through my girls Waldorf pre-school, then we co-opted it into our Children’s Liturgy program. We used to talk about how Martin provided a bright light of charity and kindness in a dark time, and the lantern symbolizes our own light that we carry. Now that my girls are older we have hot soup and bonfire, some singing and we light all our old lanterns.
Marlon Davis says
Love this! Our small parish family in Whitehorse, Yukon (Canada) put on a small St. Martin Celebration. The kids made mason jar lanterns. We had a huge bonfire and we launched floating lanterns into the sky. Our priest celebrated mass and we had a potluck. So wonderful for everyone- especially the kids. I read the story of St. Martin to the kids- you can see me reading the pics. Would love to know how to make the lanterns in the post above!
The feast of St. Martin also historically has marked (for European countries) the transition from autumn to winter, and the lanterns remind us to continue to be Christ’s light in the darkness as St. Martin was.
Here is a link to our parish pictures from the event: http://www.sacredheartcathedral.ca/gallery.html