St. Martin's Day,
Or the Feast of St.
Martin,
Martinstag, Martinmas
Or Martin le
Miséricordieux
The Feast of St Martin
of Tours,
Is a time for feasting
celebrations
On November the 11th
When the autumn wheat
fields
Were sown for the
following year
And the annual
slaughter
Of well fattened
cattle
To produce
"Martinmas beef"
And it was also the
time
When hiring fairs were
held
Where farm unemployed labourer’s
Could find new work
Feast Day November 11th
Started out as a Roman soldier
But was baptized as an
adult
And then became a monk
It is understood that
he was a kind man
Who led a quiet and
simple life
The most famous legend
of his life,
Was when he was still
a soldier,
It is the story about
the time
That he cut his cloak
in half
To share with a beggar
To protect him during
a snowstorm,
Which saved the
beggars life
That same night he
dreamed that Jesus
Was wearing the
half-cloak
Martin heard Jesus say
to the angels,
"Here is Martin,
the Roman soldier
Saint Crispin's Day
Falls on 25th October
And is the feast day
Of the martyred twins
Crispin and Crispinian
The Christian Saints
Martyred c. 286
A Christian Legend tells
That Crispin and
Crispinian
The Roman Princes,
Saints and shoemakers,
Lived for a short time
During the 3rd century
In the Kent town of
Faversham
The association is
recalled
By a plaque on the
Swan,
In Market Street
Born to a noble Roman family
In the 3rd century AD,
Crispin and
Crispinian,
Persecuted for their
faith,
Fled their homeland
And travelled to Gaul
And preached
Christianity
To the Gaul’s in
Soissons.
They made shoes by
night
To support themselves
And also aided the
poor
But their evangelical
success
Brought them to the
attention
Of a jealous Rictus
Varus,
Governor of Belgic
Gaul,
Who brought their good
works
To a savage end
25th October is the feast day
Of Crispin and Crispinian
Although now removed
From the Universal
Liturgical calendar
Of the Roman Catholic
Church
The Sainted Twins
Are still commemorated
On that day in the
Roman Martyrology
And the feast remains
as a
"Black Letter Saints'
Day"
In the calendar of the
Anglican
Book of Common Prayer
Archangel Michael
Lucifer’s nemesis
Angelic warrior
In the war in heaven
Protector against
The dark of night
