The Church Of Saint Maclou, Rouen, France. One Of The Finest Examples Of The Flamboyant Style Of Gothic Architecture.

English: The Church of Saint Maclou, Rouen, France, after renovation.

Français: Eglise Saint Maclou après rénovation.

Photo: 9 March 2014.

Source: Own work.

Author: Philippe Roudaut.

(Wikimedia Commons)

The Church of Saint Maclou is a Roman Catholic Church in Rouen, France, which is considered one of the best examples of The Flamboyant Style of Gothic Architecture in France. Saint Maclou, along with Rouen Cathedral, The Palais de Justice (also Flamboyant), and The Church of Saint Ouen, form a famous ensemble of significant Gothic buildings in Rouen.

Construction on Saint Maclou began sometime after 1435; it was to replace an existing Romanesque Parish Church that had suffered from several years of neglect, resulting in a collapsed Transept Roof. In its place, Master Mason Pierre Robin created a Basilica-Style Church with four radiating Chapels around an Octagonal Choir.

English: The Church of Saint Maclou, Rouen, France.

Français: Photo prise de la flèche de la Cathédrale Notre-Dame de Rouen.

Photo: 11 June 2010.

Source: Own work.

Author: Alphaclem.

(Wikimedia Commons)

The decoration of the Church is macabre, beckoning back to the Church's grim past rooted in The Black Death pandemic. The Transept is non-projecting, complete with Piers that support the above Lantern Tower. The Choir is rather large in size for the structure, and has two Bays and four radiating Chapels that branch off from The Ambulatory.

Overall, The Plan places its emphasis on the Transept, which is midway between the Choir and the Nave. Saint Maclou has the classic three-storey elevation of an Arcade, Triforium, and Clerestory. The famous Western Facade is Tower-less, with five Gabled Porches with Flying Buttresses above the Aisles that are attached to the Western Wall featuring a Rose Window.

English: The Church of Saint Maclou (before renovation), Rouen, France.

Français: Rouen, Seine-Maritime, Normandie, France. Église Saint-Maclou.

Photo: 4 September 2008.

Source: Own work.

Author: Tango7174.

(Wikimedia Commons)

The Church of Saint Maclou was built during the transition from the Late-Gothic period (15th-Century and 16th-Century) to the Renaissance in the 16th-Century. The space above a Portal within the Arch is referred to as the Tympanum. Typically, the Tympanum is filled with sculpture of a scene alluding to Heaven and Hell. The Tympanum of the main entrance of the Church of Saint Maclou displays Christ standing with His hands held out to people surrounding Him, those to His Right heading for Heaven and those to His Left heading for the fiery pits of Hell.

The Architectural Plan of the Church of Saint Maclou includes radiating Chapels. Saint Maclou, like most Gothic Churches, had many exterior Stone statues; however, they suffered much by The French Wars of Religion, weather conditions, and pollution. Most inside statues disappeared during The French revolution.

The Church Of Saint Maclou,

Rouen, France.

Available on YouTube at

YOU TUBE

Nevertheless, the Chapels inside had kept their wooden furniture and decorations made in the 18th-Century, but most of them were destroyed during the Allied bombings in 1944. The Church was partly damaged by the falling of two bombs. Concerning the Renaissance outside doors, with their carvings and the Renaissance Organ, they escaped destruction both during The French Revolution and The Second World War.

The Patrons of Saint Maclou were of the wealthy Merchant class that had experienced an immense social and economic growth during the 14th- and 15th-Centuries. The family most closely associated with the rebuilding of the Church was the Dufour family. The Patrons were responsible for the selection of the Master Mason, Pierre Robin, as well as for part of the overall style of the Church. The Dufours and others are cited as being the impetus behind the similarities between Saint Maclou and Rouen Cathedral.

O Valiant Hearts.

Illustration: THE ROYAL BRITISH LEGION

"O Valiant Hearts".

Available on YouTube at

YOU TUBE

O valiant hearts who to your glory came 

through dust of conflict and through battle flame; 

tranquil you lie, your knightly virtue proved, 

your memory hallowed in the land you loved.

Proudly you gathered, rank on rank, to war 

as who had heard God's message from afar; 

all you had hoped for, all you had, you gave, 

to save mankind - yourselves you scorned to save.

Splendid you passed, the great surrender made; 

into the light that nevermore shall fade; 

deep your contentment in that blest abode, 

who wait the last clear trumpet-call of God.

Long years ago, as earth lay dark and still, 

rose a loud cry upon a lonely hill, 

while in the frailty of our human clay, 

Christ, our Redeemer, passed the self-same way.

Still stands his Cross from that dread hour to this, 

like some bright star above the dark abyss; 

still, through the veil, the Victor's pitying eyes 

look down to bless our lesser Calvaries.

These were his servants, in his steps they trod, 

following through death the martyred Son of God: 

Victor, he rose; victorious too shall rise 

they who have drunk his cup of sacrifice.

O risen Lord, O Shepherd of our dead, 

whose cross has bought them and whose staff has led, 

in glorious hope their proud and sorrowing land 

commits her children to thy gracious hand

". . . If ye break faith,

With us who die,

We shall not sleep,

Though Poppies grow,

In Flanders fields."

Photo: 2006.

Source: Own work.

Author: Zephyrinus.

Remembrance Sunday. 13 November 2016.

Faure Requiem Op.48.

Durufle Requiem Op.9.

Available on YouTube at

http://youtu.be/UnilUPXmipM.

They shall grow not old,

as we that are left grow old.

Age shall not weary them,

nor the years condemn.

At the going down of the Sun,

and in the morning,

We will remember them.

Illustration: THE ROYAL BRITISH LEGION

We will remember them.

A Week-End-Return Ticket, On The Super Chief, From Huddersfield To San Bernardino, Please.

Illustration: PINTEREST

The Super Chief was one of the named Passenger Trains and the Flagship of The Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railway. It claimed to be "The Train of the Stars", because of the celebrities it carried between Chicago, Illinois, and Los Angeles, California.

The Super Chief (Nos. 17 and 18) was the first Diesel-powered, all-Pullman Sleeping Car Train in America, and it eclipsed "The Chief" as Santa Fe's Standard Bearer. The extra-fare ($10) Super Chief left Dearborn Station in Chicago for its first trip on 12 May 1936. Before starting scheduled service in May 1937, the lightweight version of The Super Chief ran 2,227 miles (3,584 km) from Los Angeles over recently-upgraded tracks in 36 hours and 49 minutes, averaging 60 mph (97 km/h) overall and reaching 100 mph (160 km/h).

With one set of equipment, the Train initially operated once a week from both Chicago and Los Angeles. After more Cars had been delivered, The Super Chief ran twice weekly, beginning in 1938, and daily, after 1948. Adding to the Train's mystique were its gourmet meals and Hollywood clientele.

Santa Fe RailRoad.

"The Super Chief".

1950s Passenger Trains in The USA.

Available on YouTube at

YOU TUBE

Competitors to The Super Chief were The City of Los Angeles, on The Chicago and North Western Railway and The Union Pacific Railroad, and (to a lesser extent) The Golden State, on The Rock Island and Southern Pacific. The Santa Fe Super Chief was one of the last Passenger Trains in The United States to carry an all-Pullman consist; only The Pennsylvania Railroad's Broadway Limited and The Illinois Central's Panama Limited survived longer. The Train maintained its high level of service until the end of Santa Fe Passenger Operations on 1 May 1971.

When Amtrak took over operation of the Nation's Passenger Service on 1 May 1971, the 35-year run of The Super Chief on The Santa Fe ended, though Amtrak used the name on the same route for three years. In 1974,The Santa Fe withdrew permission to use the name, due to a perceived decline in service, so Amtrak renamed it Southwest Limited. Following the delivery of new Superliner equipment, The Santa Fe allowed Amtrak to call it The Southwest Chief, in 1984.

STATION STOPS IN 1938.

Chicago, Illinois (Dearborn Station)

Kansas City, Missouri

Newton, Kansas (service only)

Dodge City, Kansas (service only)

La Junta, Colorado (service only)

Raton, New Mexico (service only)

Las Vegas, New Mexico (service only)

Albuquerque, New Mexico (service only)

Gallup, New Mexico (service only)

Winslow, Arizona (service only)

Seligman, Arizona (service only)

Needles, California (service only)

Barstow, California

San Bernardino, California

Pasadena, California

Los Angeles, California

The Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railway's

combined Super Chief / El Capitan Train

pulls into Track 10 at Los Angeles' Union Passenger Terminal.

Photo: 24 September 1966.

Source: From "Railfanning The Santa Fe in Southern California" —

copyright Surf Line Historical Society (2003),

free to distribute and/or use for any purpose.

Permission: PD-AUTHOR; Released into the public domain (by the author).

(Wikimedia Commons)

Never Forget The Benedictine Precept: Everything In Moderation.

Two Ordo Or Not Two Ordo ? That Is The Question. Whether 'Tis Nobler In The Mind To Suffer The Slings And Arrows Of Outrageous "Missalettes" !!!

               

Available soon !!!

From THE SAINT LAWRENCE PRESS LTD

The ORDO 2017

for The Extraordinary Form of The Mass.

ORDO 2017 will be available for despatch very soon.

Please watch this space on THE SAINT LAWRENCE PRESS LTD

A new Cart for ORDO 2017 will be set up when it is available.

It would be much appreciated if people did not order the 2016 Edition, hoping to get 2017. 

It is gratifying and pleasing to see so many enquiries already about the 2017 edition.

ORDO 2016 sold very well, with many new customers from around the World, as a new

generation starts to understand the richness of The Roman Liturgy and to follow

the Praxis of previous generations, now gone to The LORD. 

November is, of course, a most suitable time to remember them.

In addition, Fr Hunwicke comments on HIS Ordo (see, below),

for The Ordinary Form of The Mass,

at FR HUNWICKE'S MUTUAL ENRICHMENT

"For those who are Ordinary Form chaps and chappesses, but would enjoy something which somewhat elevates bog-standard Bugnini, I commend the ORDO which I still compile,

Order for the Eucharist and for Morning and Evening prayer in the Church of England 2016. It gives full information both for the Novus Ordo Roman Rite (Third Typical Edition of the Roman Missal) and for the Church of England (Common Worship). Tufton Books. (By the way, it starts with Advent.)"

Please NOTE: The above text for Fr Hunwicke is taken from 2015.

No doubt, Fr Hunwicke's 2017 Ordo will be available soon.

Please keep an eye on his Blog

FR HUNWICKE'S MUTUAL ENRICHMENT

For those who are Ordinary Form chaps and chappesses,

but would enjoy something which somewhat elevates bog-standard Bugnini,

Fr Hunwicke commends this ORDO.

Please NOTE: The 2017 Edition will be available very soon.

Illustration: TUFTON BOOKS

Two Ordo, or not Two Ordo: That is the question.

Whether 'tis nobler in the mind to suffer

The slings and arrows of outrageous "Missalettes",

Or to give arms against a sea of troubles,

And, by opposing, end them. To know what Feast it is.

And have a damn good read.

Shakespeare.

Hamlet.

(With Apologies)

Remembrance Day. At The Eleventh Hour. Of The Eleventh Day. Of The Eleventh Month. The Guns Fell Silent. Lest We Forget.

Text from Wikipedia - the free encyclopaedia,
unless otherwise stated.

LEST WE FORGET

HYMN TO THE FALLEN

Available on YouTube at

YOU TUBE

VISIT TO THE SOMME BATTLEFIELDS

Available on YouTube at

YOU TUBE

IN FLANDERS FIELDS.

LEST WE FORGET.

Remembrance Day at the John McCrae House (birthplace, museum, and Memorial) in Guelph, Ontario, Canada. A detail shot of the "Altar" of the Memorial, with the complete poem 

"In Flanders Fields"and the line "LEST WE FORGET" inscribed on it.

Photo: 11 November 2009.

Source: Own work.

Author: Lx 121.

Note: Part of a series of photographs taken at the John McCrae site 

in Guelph, Ontario, Canada, on 11 November 2009 (Remembrance Day).

(Wikimedia Commons)

Illustration: LANDSCAPES

Portrait photo of John Alexander McCrae (1872–1918).

Lieutenant-Colonel John McCrae was a soldier, physician and poet.

Date: 1918 or earlier.

Image from "In Flanders Fields, And Other Poems", by Lieut.-Col. John McCrae, M.D.,

with an essay in character, by Sir Andrew Macphail (New York, London: G.P. Putnam's Sons, 1919): http://www.archive.org/details/inflandersfields00mccr.

Author: Unknown.

(Wikimedia Commons)

An autographed copy of the poem "In Flanders Fields".

Unlike the printed copy in the same book,

McCrae's handwritten version ends the first line with "grow".

Facsimile of handwritten version of McCrae's "In Flanders Fields", in a volume of his poetry

where an acknowledgement is given "The reproduction of the autograph poem is from

a copy belonging to Carleton Noyes, Esq., of Cambridge, Mass., who kindly permitted its use."

Date: 1919.

Source: Scan of McCrae's "In Flanders Fields And Other Poems", 

obtained from archive.org, converted to PNG and Black and White, slight rotation.

Author: John McCrae.

(Wikimedia Commons)

Illustrated Page by Ernest Clegg.

Note that the first line ends with "grow".

Page 1 of the main content from a Limited Edition Book

containing an Illustrated Poem,

"In Flanders Fields".

Date: 1921.

Source: JP2 zip data at fieldsinflanders00mccrrich archive.org.

Author: John McCrae and Ernest Clegg.

(Wikimedia Commons)

The first chapter of "In Flanders Fields and Other Poems", a 1919 collection of McCrae's works, gives the text of the poem as follows:

IN FLANDERS FIELDS

In Flanders fields the poppies blow

Between the crosses, row on row,

That mark our place; and in the sky

The larks, still bravely singing, fly,

Scarce heard amid the guns below.

We are the Dead. Short days ago

We lived, felt dawn, saw sunset glow,

Loved and were loved, and now we lie

In Flanders fields.

Take up our quarrel with the foe:

To you from failing hands we throw

The torch; be yours to hold it high.

If ye break faith with us who die,

We shall not sleep, though poppies grow

In Flanders fields.

"Bleuet de France".

Circa 1950.

Source: Own work.

Author: Unknown.

(Wikimedia Commons)

Remembrance Day (11 November) is a national holiday in France and Belgium. It commemorates The Armistice, signed between The Allies and Germany at Compiègne, France, for the cessation of hostilities on The Western Front, which took effect at 11:00 a.m. —  the "eleventh hour of the eleventh day of the eleventh month."

Illustration: LABOUR UNCUT

Armistice Day is one the most important military celebrations in France, since it was a major French victory and the French paid a heavy price in blood to achieve it. The First World War was considered in France as the "Great Patriotic War". Almost all French villages feature Memorials dedicated to the Fallen. In France, the blue Cornflower (Bleuet de France) is used symbolically, rather than the Poppy.

"Ghosts of Vimy Ridge" 

depicts ghosts of The Canadian Corps on Vimy Ridge, 

surrounding The Canadian National Vimy Memorial.

Date: 1931.

Source: Canadian House of Commons Collection, (AN: O-4714) [1].

Author: William Longstaff.

(Wikimedia Commons)

English: The Australian Memorial at Villers-Bretonneux, Somme, France.

Français: Villers-Bretonneux (Somme, France).

La croix du cimetière militaire et la tour du Mémorial National Australien.

Photo: April 2008.

Source: Own work.

Author: Markus3 (Marc ROUSSEL).

(Wikimedia Commons)

Australian Remembrance Day.

Image: STITCHERS CORNER

"De Profundis.".

Psalm 129

(Douay–Rheims Bible)

By Orlando de Lassus.

Taken from 

The 

Prayers for The Dead.

Available on YouTube at

YOU TUBE

Psalm CXXIX.

De Profundis.

Out of the depths I have cried unto Thee, O Lord !

Lord, hear my voice.

Let Thine ears be attentive

To the voice of my supplication.

If Thou, O Lord, shalt mark iniquities,

Lord, who shall endureth ?

For with The Lord there is merciful forgiveness,

And by reason of Thy law I have waited upon Thee, O Lord.

My Soul doth rely on His word:

My Soul doth hope in The Lord.

From the Morning Watch, even unto night,

Let Israel hope in The Lord.

For with The Lord there is mercy,

And with Him plentiful redemption.

And He shall redeem Israel,

From all his iniquities.

V. Eternal rest give unto them, O Lord.

R. And let Perpetual Light shine upon them.

De profundis clamavi ad te, Domine:

Domine, exaudi vocem meam.

Fiant aures tuae intendentes:

In vocem deprecationis meae.

Si iniquitates observaveris, Domine:

Domine, quis sustinebit ?

Quia apud te propitiatio est:

Et propter legem tuam sustinui te, Domine.

Sustinuit anima mea in verbo ejus:

Speravit anima mea in Domino.

A custodia matutina usque ad noctem:

Speret Israel in Domino.

Quia apud Dominum misericordia:

Et copiosa apud eum redemptio.

Et ipse redimet Israel,

Ex omnibus iniquitatibus ejus.

V. Requiem aeternam dona eis, Domine.

R. Et lux perpetua luceat eis.

". . . If ye break faith,

With us who die,

We shall not sleep,

Though Poppies grow,

In Flanders fields."

Photo: 2006.

Source: Own work.

Author: Zephyrinus.

South African Infantry Soldier stands guard

at The Johannesburg Memorial

on the 90th Remembrance Day Ceremony.

Image: DIGITAL JOURNAL

Delville Wood,

near Longueval,

The Somme,

France.

Image: WORLD WAR ONE BATTLEFIELDS

Delville Wood was sometimes known as Devil's Wood, and the fighting there during The Battle of The Somme was particularly ferocious. The majority of Delville Wood was eventually taken by South African Soldiers on 15 July 1916, and they held on grimly during numerous German counter-attacks for six days, until they were relieved.

After the War, South Africa purchased the site in 1920, and it serves as a Memorial to those of that Nation who fell, not just there, but elsewhere.

The Tomb of The Unknown Soldier

in Confederation Square, Ottawa, Ontario, Canada, 

immediately following the Remembrance Day Ceremonies,

11 November, 2006. 

Since its installation, it has become traditional

to place Poppies 

on the Tomb,

after the formal Ceremony has concluded.

Photo: 11 November 2006.

Source: Own work.

Author: Mikkel Paulson.

(Wikimedia Commons)

New Zealand 

Remembrance Day Ceremony.

NEW ZEALAND DEFENCE FORCE WEB-SITE

Armistice Day (also referred to as Remembrance Day) marks the anniversary of the signing of the Armistice that ended World War One and commemorates the sacrifice of those who died serving New Zealand in this War, and all Wars and armed conflict.

The Great War of 1914 to 1918 was one of the most devastating events in human history. New Zealand, with a population of 1.1 million in 1914, sent 100,000 men and women abroad. 16,700 died and over 40,000 were wounded – a higher per capita casualty rate than any other country involved.

The coming of Peace, on the 11th hour of the 11th day of the 11th month of 1918, brought Blessed Relief for all involved.

They shall grow not old,

as we that are left grow old.

Age shall not weary them,

nor the years condemn.

At the going down of the Sun,

and in the morning.

We will remember them.

We will remember them.

(Fourth stanza of Laurence Binyon's Poem "For the Fallen")

Illustration: IN CAELO ET IN TERRA

No-Man's Land (Flowers Of The Forest).

WE WILL REMEMBER THEM.

"No-Man's Land".

(Flowers of the Forest)

Available on YouTube at

YOU TUBE

WE WILL REMEMBER THEM.

For The Anzacs And All The Fallen At Gallipoli.

WE WILL REMEMBER THEM.

"The Band Played Waltzing Matilda".

Available on YouTube at

YOU TUBE

WE WILL REMEMBER THEM.

The Return.

This painting can be found at Holy Innocents Church in New York.

The artist had just attended Mass, when he noticed

a 

young Soldier kneeling at the foot of a Crucifix.

He was so moved that he started work on this painting.

Illustration: DYMPHNA'S ROAD

Saint Martin. Bishop And Confessor. And Martinmas. Feast Day 11 November.

The Luttrell Psalter.

Roasting for The Feast Day of Martinmas.

© British Library.

Illustration: MEDIEVAL HISTORIES

This Article is taken from MEDIEVAL HISTORIES

Martinmas – A European Feast.

Martinmas is celebrated the night before 11 November by merrymaking and feasting. Since The Middle Ages, roast goose has been on the menu East of The Rhine.

Martin of Tours (circa 316 A.D. - 397 A.D.) was a soldier in The Roman Army, when he decided to convert to Christianity and afterwards was imprisoned for his refusal to fight. He later became a Monk, founded a Monastery in Gaul, at Marmoutier, and became Bishop of Tours, a career choice he, according to legend, vehemently tried to avoid by hiding in the goose-pen of the Monastery.

However, the geese honked loudly and he was discovered by the people, who carried him in triumph to The Throne in the Cathedral. It is believed that he built the Monastery, after his appointment as Bishop, in order to have a secluded place to withdraw to.

The Feast Day, 11 November, has its own roots in The Eastern Byzantine Church, where the Fast before Christmas, the Quadragesima Sancti Martini, still measures up to forty days. It begins the day after The Feast Day of Saint Martin. From this, stems its somewhat carnival-esque character, with different Traditions of merrymaking documented from all over Europe; Processions of children carrying lanterns, people eating goose, or other meaty delicacies, or just – as in Portugal – gathering at the fireplace, eating roasted chestnuts and drinking new wine.

Martin Walsh, who has surveyed a huge amount of very diverse source-material, was able to demonstrate that the Celebration of Martinmas in England can be documented back to the 14th-Century and was, at that time, accompanied “by conspicuous feasting, supplemented by musical entertainment”.

In England, and elsewhere, the Tradition was to have blood-puddings and freshly-roasted meat stemming from the slaughter of what cattle and other animals had to be culled in November. At the same time, it was “Settling Day”, when servants might leave in order to take up new employments. At the same time, peasants paid their dues to their lords and The Tithe to their Church; often partly paid in birds, like hens, ducks and geese, the Tradition grew to eat these birds roasted at the end of Autumn and beginning of Winter.

However, roast goose at Martinmas does not seem to have been quite so ubiquitous in an Early-English setting or French context.

European Traditions.

Quite the opposite is the case in Continental Europe, where the same elements of The Feast may be found – processions, merrymaking, reckoning, settling. Here, however, the goose was definitely on the table very early on, as is witnessed by some very charming “Martin-Ballads” composed by an otherwise unknown Monk, who lived at the Court of the Archbishop of Salzburg, 1365 -1396.

The Martin Ballads.

The Monk composed two secular ballads. The first one - Martein lieber Herre - is a vernacular translation of a Latin Hymn asking the Saint to present the company with roast goose and new wine. Another poem – Wolauf, lieben gessellen unuerczait – has more the character of being a subversive form of Eucharistic Liturgy, complete with a Chorus and a Tenor singing intermittently. The poem consists of seventy lines, divided into four verses, and the Text for the Tenor.

The song starts with an invitation to form a company, where social differences are laid aside, in order to create a sympathetic society. However, the joy is decidedly coupled with the introduction of (lots) of wine into the company. To this, is later added dishes of beans, apples and roast goose. The job of the Tenor is to invite the Saint –“Lord Martin” – to this joyful occasion as "King of the Merriments" – and to deliver all the goodies; wine and delicacies. It is obvious the Text was meant to be performed among a group of (celibate) men, being able to appreciate the definite Eucharistic connotations of the Text.

The following Text is from Wikipedia - the free encyclopaedia,
unless otherwise stated.

Saint Martin's Day, also known as The Feast of Saint Martin, Martinstag or Martinmas, The Feast of Saint Martin of Tours, or Martin le Miséricordieux, is Celebrated on 11 November each year. This is the time when Autumn wheat seeding was completed, and the annual slaughter of fattened cattle produced "Martinmas Beef". Historically, Hiring Fairs were held, where farm laborers would seek new jobs.

Saint Martin of Tours started out as a Roman soldier, then was Baptised as an adult and became a Monk. It is understood that he was a kind man who led a quiet and simple life. The best-known legend of his "Life" is that he once cut his cloak in half to share with a beggar during a snowstorm, to save the beggar from dying from the cold. That night, he dreamed that Jesus was wearing the half-cloak. Martin heard Jesus say to the Angels: "Here is Martin, the Roman soldier who is not Baptised. He has clothed me."

English: Saint Martin's Day (Martinmas) Procession,

Germany.

Deutsch: Sankt Martinszug.

Erwachsene und Kinder mit Laternen beim St.-Martins-Umzug.

St. Martin auf dem Pferd.

Date: 1949.

Photographer: Lachmann, Hans.

Institution: German Federal Archives, Koblenz, Germany.

Sammlung Hans Lachmann (Bild 194).

Attribution: Bundesarchiv, Bild 194-0273-45 / Lachmann, Hans / CC-BY-SA 3.0.

(Wikimedia Commons)

The following Text is from The Saint Andrew Daily Missal.

Saint Martin.
Bishop and Confessor.
Feast Day 11 November.

Double.

White Vestments.

English: Children going door to door, with paper lanterns,

on Saint Martin's Day in The Netherlands.

Nederland: Sunte-Marten/Sint-Maarten/St. Martins' Day (NL).

Source: Source: nl:Afbeelding:Sintmaarten.jpg.

This File: 4 November 2006.

User: Servien.

(Wikimedia Commons)

In the first three Centuries, the Saints were mostly Martyrs. Saint Martin is the first Bishop and Confessor honoured by The Church in The West. As Durand de Mende remarks, The Liturgy gives him a Rank equal to The Apostles, for he was the principal Apostle of Gaul.

His Feast Day was everywhere of obligation. Taking place often during "Saint Martin's Summer", that is at the end of Autumn, it rivalled in importance and popular rejoicings The Feast of Saint John. It had an Octave, like the Feast of Saint Laurence, for Saint Martin, "Priest of Priests" (The Response at Matins), occupied among Confessors the Rank of Saint Laurence among Martyrs.

Saint Martin, born at Savaria, in Pannonia, came to Gaul as a soldier. While still a Catechumen, he one day, near Amiens, gave part of his cloak to a poor man who asked him for alms in the name of Christ. During the following night, Jesus appeared to him clothed in this half of his cloak and said to him: "Martin, a simple Catechumen, covered Me with this garment."

Abbey of Marmoutiers, France.

Founded by Saint Martin of Tours.

Illustration: OLIVER'S TRAVELS

At the age of eighteen, he was Baptised, and, having become a Disciple of Saint Hilary, Bishop of Poitiers, he built, two leagues from the Episcopal City, in the desert of Ligugé, a Monastery, whither he retired with a few Disciples. He thus was the Founder of Monastic Life in Gaul.

But God would not allow this Light to remain hidden under the bushel (Gospel). Saint Martin had to leave his solitude and was made Bishop of Tours (Introit, Epistle, Gradual). He then Founded the famous Abbey of Marmoutiers, or Martin's Monastery, where he often retired. There, he had around him eighty Monks who imitated the Lives of The Hermits of Thebaid.

He lived more than eighty years, devoting himself to The Glory of God and The Salvation of Souls. He died at Candes, near Tours, France, in 397 A.D. His tomb became famous through many Miracles, and attracted crowds from all parts of the Country.

Saint Gregory, Bishop of Tours in the 6th-Century, does not hesitate to call The Holy Worker of Miracles the special Patron of the whole World. Few Saints have been so popular, In France, alone, there are about 4,000 Parish Churches Dedicated to Saint Martin and 485 Market-Towns or Villages that still bear his name.

Rome has a Church of Saint Sylvester and Saint Martin, where The Station is held on The Thursday of The Fourth Week in Lent. Saint Martin's Cope used to be borne at the head of the Army in Times of War and, on it, were sworn Solemn Oaths in Times of Peace.

Mass: Státuit ei Dóminus.
Commemoration: Saint Mennas.