FEASTS OF SAINTS Amanda Pizzolatto
As the year draws to an end and the holidays loom ever larger on the horizon, starting with Thanksgiving, I would like to talk about some big holidays in Europe that take place in autumn before we leave the season behind for the year. Two of these holidays are about two saints, St. Michael and St. Martin, both saints associated with soldiers and horses. St. Michael’s feast day, better known as Michaelmas, is mostly referenced in older English novels, like the works of Jane Austen, when the celebrations of the holiday were fairly big. Full feasts and balls were given in honor of the day. Food such as goose and blackberries were the main focus of the meal, especially as blackberries were in their ripe season. An old legend states that after the feast of St. Michael, September twenty-ninth, the devil ruins the blackberries. More like they got mildewy and old, but saying the devil ruins them is more fun. And being the holiday that takes place not long after the autumn equinox, it was also the date when many people would pay their bills. Every quarter, the bills were due, so the closest holiday to the seasonal change was chosen for bill payment. But once that was done, the party commenced. Eating,
Artwork: St Nicholas of Bari by Mattia Preti, 1653
dancing, games, the typical party fare, all proceeded by a Mass to commemorate the bravery of the angel who stood up to an angel greater than him for the love of God. St. Martin’s feast day on November eleventh, or better known as Martinmas, was, at first, a strictly French holiday since St. Martin is one of the patrons of France. Then it spread to other parts of Europe and it became celebrated in a way quite similar to the way Americans celebrate Thanksgiving, as a kind of harvest festival. The typical feasting and merrymaking was involved along with Mass at the beginning of the day. And while St. Martin is associated with soldiers, since he was one, he is best remembered for cutting his cloak in half and giving it to a poor man. Later, the poor man is seen in his bed and is revealed to be Christ in disguise, thanking him for the kindness. Martin leaves the military not long after that and becomes a priest, eventually becoming bishop of Tours and later patron of all of France. While many do not associate the first half of December with being still in autumn, it technically is since the first day of winter isn’t until December twenty-first. As such, these next two holidays are still considered autumnal
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