Septreeblog1_1Well happy belated Martinmas day anyway since it was actually yesterday. Some traditions even believe that Martinmas begins November 11th at 11:11am. The festival of St. Martin marks not only the traditional beginning of winter in some European countries, but also the start of the Christmas season. In this vein, "St. Martin’s summer" is a way of speaking of what Americans call an "Indian summer."

Since it’s also harvest time, the day has been associated withPump1blog_3 these types of celebrations, which traditionally include goose and wine. Some have considered this festival to be the start of a mini-carnival since Advent is only a few weeks away. The harvest connection has resulted in drawing parallels to Thanksgiving Day and St. Martin’s Day has been viewed as a sort of "Catholic" Thanksgiving.

Now, I love Thanksgiving Day and it’s one of my favorite holidays for the food, family, tradition, etc. However, it is ultimately a holiday that is Puritan in origin. It may not be a bad idea for Americans, especially American Catholics, to recover (or discover) a devotion to St. Martin and the celebrations surrounding his day.

Happy Martinmas!

Sources/more info

Feast of St. Martin (NB: site is a bit on the radtrad side, but doesn’t appear schismatic)
Thanksgiving Glossary (Part II) (about.com)

Photos (an attempt to capture the fall/harvest theme) by Jonathan Bennett