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Merry Christmas / Veselé Vánoce 🎄🎁 Illustration by Josef Lada.

On November 11th many European nations celebrate Saint Martin’s Day. Here is a little history who he was. There are many stories related to Martin from Tours. One of the most famous is the one about his mantle. Martin was a righteous and honest soldier who honored his faith even in the army. According to the legend, he lived in modesty and respect for all people. He treated his slave like a brother. He differed significantly from the other soldiers and his good heart is also mentioned in this (probably best known) legend about Martin. In 335, on a freezing winter night, Martin met a beggar at the gates of Amiens in the north of France. He was only modestly dressed, obviously hungry and freezing. The old man asked Martin for help. However, Martin didn’t have anything with him so he shared his warm cloak with the beggar. He cut the cloak with his sword into two halves and gave one half to the poor man so that he could at least warm up. The legend also says that Jesus appeared to Martin the night afterwards, wrapped in the gifted half of his cloak. The scene of the cloak was afterwards one of the most famous and popular motifs of church artists for centuries. To St. Martin’s Day belongs inherently goose roast. But why goose? Legend has it that St. Martin, in his modesty, did not want to accept the rank of bishop in Tours and hid himself among a flock of geese from the ambassadors who carried his report of election. However these geese betrayed him with their loud noises. Another version says that the geese disturbed Martin during his sermons, so he condemned them for their wrongdoing so on the day of his remembrance to be roasted. The goose was always enjoyed by the whole household and the distribution of its meat had precise rules. The lowest servant was given a wing so he could fly at work, the higher servant had a thigh, the farmer himself kept the rest. St. Martin's pastries were called differently in different regions: St. Martin's horns, rolls or horseshoes of St. Martin. At that time, so-called St. Martin's wines were opened, which are the first wines of the new year.
On this day if you got the first snow we would say that Martin visited on his white horse.
Illustration by Josef Lada

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