St. Martin's Day. St. Martin's Day, celebrated annually on November 11, is a — major folk festival in a number of Catholic countries in honor of the day of remembrance of Bishop Martin of Tours.
On St. Martin's Day, after the completion of rural work, fires were first lit on every street and in every yard. Baskets containing fruits had recently been thrown into these fires. They jumped over these fires and organized processions, lighting torches from their fire. These processions were attended by mummers: Saint Martin on horseback and Martin's man — boy, whose torso and limbs were wrapped in straw.
Saint Martin is considered the patron saint of the poor, soldiers, cloth makers, pets and birds, as well as alpine shepherds. The basis of the legend of St. Martin is the legend of how one day the legion in which Martin served approached the French city of Amis.
It was autumn. A sharp cold wind whistled in the field and howled. He penetrated right through. The soldiers dreamed of a warm hearth and accelerated their pace. Now they have already entered the city gates. The warriors did not notice an old, half-naked man sitting at the city gate. From cold and hunger, he banged his teeth and, in a trembling voice, asked for small alms.
But the soldiers passed by him with firm, quick steps. They did not honor the beggar even with their gaze. Martin, who led his legion, sat on a horse in an ornate, long red cape. When he saw a freezing and hungry beggar begging for alms, he, to the surprise of the soldiers, stopped the legion and took out a sword. The soldiers did not understand what was going on. What is he going to do? Why did he take out his sword? After all, a helpless person, a beggar, sits in front of him.
And Martin calmly grabbed his red cape with his left hand and cut off half of it with a sharp sword, then quickly threw a piece of the cape into the hands of a beggar. After that, he took bread from his bag and gave it to the beggar. The old man wanted to thank Martin, but he was already entering the city of Amis.