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Tuesday, November 17, 2015
Wednesday, November 11, 2015
Veteran's Motto: I will not avoid the toil
“I Will Not Avoid the Toil”: The
Motto of Veterans and St. Martin Alike
by Marge Fenelon 11/11/2015
Here's one of my favorite quotes from St. Martin:
“Lord, if your people still
have need of my services, I will not avoid the toil. Your
will be done. I have fought the good fight long enough. Yet if you bid me
continue to hold the battle line in defense of your camp, I will never beg to
be excused from failing strength. I will do the work you entrust to me. While
you command, I will fight beneath your banner.” (St. Martin of Tours, Bishop
and Confessor, Patron Saint of Soldiers)
I will not avoid the toil. Six
little words that say volumes.
Not avoiding the toil means
hanging in there, day after day, through thick and thin, and remaining faithful
to my Christian ideals and all that the Church - that Christ himself - asks of
me.
It means not shirking my
responsibilities to my fellow man and not skimping on my prayer and
sacramental life.
It means following God's every
command without question and to the best of my ability, regardless of whether I
agree with it or not.
It means showing fervor and love
of Christ in all I do, in spite of human frailty, laziness, or indifference.
Sounds a lot like the life of a
soldier, doesn't it?
It is. It's the life of a soldier
for Christ.
That's what St. Martin of Tours
was and still is. He's a great example for all of us and the perfect patron for
our military men and women who face the toil of military life day in and day
out.
So, today, on this Armistice
Day/Memorial of St. Martin of Tours, pray with me. Pray for the physical,
emotional, mental, and spiritual safety of all our military personnel. Pray for
the repose of the souls of the departed military. And pray, for yourself and
for the entire Church, that we may be given the grace and strength to fight the
good fight and not avoid the toil.
From the Collect of today's Mass:
O God, who are glorified in the
Bishop Saint Martin both by his life and death, make new, we pray, the wonders
of your grace in our hearts, that neither death nor life may separate us from
your love. Through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son. who lives and reigns with
you in the unity of the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever.
Drink of the Day: Grey Goose Martini
After St. Martin left the Roman Army and became a monk, the
people of Tours chased after him asking him become their bishop. He tried
to run and hide from them, but he was betrayed by a flock of honking
geese. True or not, goose was the main course at medieval
celebrations of St. Martin’s Day (Martinmas), and this tradition even
influenced the American celebration of Thanksgiving. The protestant
Pilgrims were aware of the Martinmas goose from their stay in Holland, and they
used North American turkeys for their banquets only when they could not find
enough geese.
Cocktail of the Day
In honor of St. Martin, you should drink a
Martini. And in a nod to St. Martin’s association with geese, you
should drink a martini made with Grey Goose Vodka. Here is the
Martlemas Martini:
2 oz. Grey Goose vodka
1 dash dry vermouth
1 lemon twist
Beer of the Day
The Cloak of St. Martin Ale from the Brunehaut Brewery in
Belgium.
There are some ales named St. Martin’s Ale.
Wine of the Day
St. Martin is credited with creating the Chenin Blanc grape
to the Touraine Region of France.
Any wine from the San Martino Winery of Rockwall in Texas
which is named in honor of St. Martin.
Toast of the Day
In the Middle Ages, swine would be slaughtered on or before
Martinmas in preparation for the winter. This custom led to several
proverbs which you could include in your toasts of the day:
In Spain: “Every pig has its
St. Martin’s Day.”
In England: “His Martinmas
will come as it does to every hog.”
Song of the Day
While drinking, listen to “Iste Confessor” which is
dedicated to St. Martin:
From Drinking With The Saints by Michael P. Foley
How To Celebrate Today
St. Martin's
Feast, also known as
"Martinmas" in Europe arrives in autumn, the beginning of the
wine harvest. This was also the time of slaughter of the stock for winter meat.
His images are usually depicted with a goose, symbolizing that Martinmas was
the last festive meal before Advent, because in France in the Middle Ages, the
strict 40 day Advent fast (called Quadragesima Sancti Martini or
Forty Days' Fast of Saint Martin's) began the next day. So in past centuries
November 11 was celebrated as a thanksgiving day. Thus it was the custom to
have "St. Martin's goose" and taste the new wine ("Saint
Martin's Wine") on his feast day. A quick spell of warm weather around his
feast day (usually termed "Indian Summer" in the US) is known as
"St. Martin's Little Summer" in Europe.
Patron: Against impoverishment; against
poverty; alcoholism; beggars; Burgenland; cavalry; equestrians; France; geese;
horse men; horses; hotel-keepers; innkeepers; Mainz, Germany; quartermasters;
reformed alcoholics; riders; soldiers; tailors; vintners; wine growers; wine
makers.
Symbols of
St. Martin: Horse;
sword and coat cut in halves; goose; scourge; hare; broken images; chair in
flames; demon at his feet; globe of fire;
Often Portrayed As: Man on horseback sharing his cloak with beggar; man cutting cloak in half.
Often Portrayed As: Man on horseback sharing his cloak with beggar; man cutting cloak in half.
—Excerpted
from The Church's Year of Grace, Pius Parsch
Things to Do
Today:
- Recite
the Iste
Confessor in honor of St. Martin.
- Cook
a special dinner of roast goose or duck in honor of St. Martin. Bake some
horseshoe cookies.
- In
Europe this day is traditionally known as Martinmas. Many foods and
traditions are connected with this day. See also Women for
Faith and Family for more Catholic traditions.
- St.
Martin is patron saint of wine growers, wine makers and vintners. In
France, the tasting of the new wine is done today. Have a Martinmas
gathering, serving this year's Noveau Beaujolais wine from France.
- Read Painting
Angels, Saints and Their Symbols for a discussion about St.
Martin's symbols in art.
- For
more biographies and other information on St. Martin, read Patron
Saints Index.
- See
the Life of St Martin as depicted in the stained glass of Chartres
Cathedral (c.1220) here.
- The
children will enjoy this dessert St.
Martin's Horseshoes and you can learn more about customs for this
feast.
- Read
about the Real
St. Martin of Tours by Jennifer Gregory Miller
Merry Martinmas!
St Martin died
on Sunday 8 November 397. His funeral was solemnly celebrated in Tours on
November 11, which ever afterwards has been celebrated as St Martin’s Day
in Germany and France. (Editor’s Note: It was the day chosen for the Armistice
between these two powers at the end of World War I and since celebrated as Remembrance
Day in the UK and Veteran’s Day in the US.)
On 11 November each year, the
feast of St. Martin is solemnly celebrated in the Basilica of Tours.
Today, there
are St Martin lantern parades for children on the evening of November 11
throughout France and Germany. (Editor’s Note: Though most Germans and French
today have only a very hazy idea of who Martin actually was, the traditions
surrounding his day – of bringing light to the darkness – remain strong.)
Today, there are 1573 Churches in France
named after St Martin, 652 in Germany, 912 in Italy, 212 in the UK, and 157 in
the USA.
Saint Martin of Tours, Ora
Pro Nobis (Pray For Us)
Happy St. Martin's Day!
St. Martin of Tours
Saint Martin of Tours (c. 316-397) was born into a pagan family in what is now Hungary, and grew up in Italy after his father, a senior officer in the Roman army, was stationed there.
At the age of 10 Martin joined the Church as a catechumen
shortly after Christianity was legalized across the empire.
Taking after his father, he joined the cavalry at the age of 15.
At one point during his time of service he encountered a beggar
who lacked adequate clothing. St. Martin cut his heavy officer cloak in half
and gave the other half of it to the beggar. Following this act of charity, St.
Martin had a vision in which he saw Jesus wearing the portion of his cloak and
telling the angels that it was Martin who clothed him. After this vision Martin
was baptized at the age of 18 and proclaimed himself a soldier for Christ.
He left the military, adopted the life of a
hermit, and went on to became the Bishop of Tours in France.
St. Martin of Tours is the patron saint of cavalry,
soldiers, innkeepers, horses and riders, beggars, and those in need.
Saturday, November 7, 2015
Did Jesus Christ have a middle name?
Of
course not. He also didn’t have a last name. “Christ” means “Messiah” or
“Anointed One” and is a title. Our Lord’s only name was “Jesus,” though he was
sometimes referred to as “Jesus, son of Joseph” (e.g. John 6.42) or “Jesus
of Nazareth” (e.g. Matthew 26.71) to differentiate him from anyone else who may
have had his first name.
But in a
devotional culture that likes to fill in supposed gaps and often takes
honest mistakes and runs with them, there is fairly
modern tradition about what Jesus’ middle name was.
Are you
ready for it?
Harold.
Yep,
the old English-German-Danish name.
In this
folk tradition, “Christ” would also be taken (wrongly!) to be his last name,
making his full name Jesus Harold Christ, often abbreviated to Jesus H. Christ. This misnomer
dates back at least to the 19th century, and is sometimes unfortunately used as
a swear word.
But
where did this come from?
Scholars
aren’t sure exactly, though the most popular theory says it comes from a
misreading of a common shorthand for Jesus called the divine
monogram. The Greek word for Jesus used in the New testament
is Ἰησοῦς. The first three letters in capital form is IHS, also
sometimes written as IHC, JHS, or even JHC.
This
last form, the theory goes, may have been misunderstood to be Jesus’
initials, making his middle initial “H.”
Ok, so
that gets us the first letter of his supposed middle name, but why would the “H”
represent “Harold”?
Again,
scholars aren’t entirely sure, but one theory is that it comes from a childish
misunderstanding of the traditional rendering of the Lord’s prayer in
English.
At the
beginning of the prayer, you say “hallowed be thy name.” The phrase means
something like “may thy name be hallowed,” but could be easily misunderstood as
specifying God’s name as being the word “hallowed.” But of course, “hallowed”
isn’t really a name. However, “hallowed,” especially when pronounced by small
children who can’t distinguish between L’s and R’s, sounds like
the real name “Harold.”
Put that
together with the mistaken idea that Jesus’ middle name begins with “H” and
you’ve got yourself his supposed middle name.
Funny
how these things go, huh?
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