Lance-Sergeant Stuart Laing, from the 1st Battalion Welsh Guards, plays “The Last Post” during a small Armistice Day Ceremony at The Cenotaph, in Whitehall, London, marking 100 years since the inauguration of the permanent version of The Cenotaph. The bugle was found next to the body of a Welsh Guard who fought during
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.
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,
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."
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
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.
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")
The following Text is from Wikipedia - the free encyclopædia.
Charles Bosseron Chambers (1882 - 1964) was a painter, illustrator and teacher. Known as the "Norman Rockwell of Catholic art", his Religious paintings have become highly collectable. He is best known for "The Light Of The World, the most popular Religious Print in America during the first half of the 20th-Century.
Photograph from the Soviet Film of the liberation of Auschwitz, taken by the film unit of The First Ukrainian Front,. by Alexander Voronzow and others in his group. Child survivors of Auschwitz, wearing adult-size prisoner jackets, stand behind a barbed wire fence. Among those pictured are Tomasz Szwarz; Alicja Gruenbaum; Solomon Rozalin; Gita Sztrauss; Wiera Sadler; Marta Wiess; Boro Eksztein; Josef Rozenwaser; Rafael Szlezinger; Gabriel Nejman; Gugiel Appelbaum; Mark Berkowitz (a twin); Pesa Balter; Rut Muszkies (later Webber); Miriam Friedman; and twins
Miriam Mozes and Eva Mozes wearing knitted hats.
Date: 1945.
Source: USHMM/Belarusian State Archive of Documentary Film and Photography
Author: Alexander Voronzow and others in his group,
ordered by Mikhael Oschurkow, head of the photography unit.
(Wikimedia Commons)
"Arbeit Macht Frei".
"Work Makes You Free".
This was a sign commonly seen throughout Concentration Camps, such as Auschwitz, often seen on The Front Gate, upon entry. It was essentially psychological torment, as most prisoners were aware that the only way to earn "Freedom" was to die.
The following Text is from Wikipedia - the free encyclopædia.
Itzhak Perlman was born in Tel Aviv in 1945, then the British Mandate of Palestine, now Israel. His parents, Chaim and Shoshana Perlman, were natives of Poland and had independently migrated to Palestine in the mid-1930s before they met and later married.
Perlman first became interested in the violin after hearing a classical music performance on the radio. At the age of three, he was denied admission to the Shulamit Conservatory for being too small to hold a violin. He, instead, taught himself how to play the instrument, using a toy fiddle, until he was old enough to study with Rivka Goldgart, at the Shulamit Conservatory, and at the Academy of Music in Tel Aviv, where he gave his first recital at age ten, before moving to The United States to study at The Juilliard School, with the violin pedagogue, Ivan Galamian, and his assistant, Dorothy DeLay.
Perlman contracted polio at age four. He made a good recovery, learning to walk with crutches. Today, he uses crutches, or an electric Amigo scooter, for mobility, and plays the violin while seated.
Violinist Itzhak Perlman plays during The White House State Dinner
Saint Mennas, an Egyptian Soldier in The Roman Army, suffered a glorious Martyrdom at Cotyea, a Town in Phrygia, under the Emperor Diocletian in 295 A.D.
Mass: Lætábitur.
Collects: From The Mass: In Virtúte.
The following Text is from Wikipedia - the free encyclopædia, unless stated otherwise.
Saint Mennas (also Mina, Minas, Menas, Meena; Coptic: Ⲁⲃⲃⲁ Ⲙⲏⲛⲁ; 285 A.D. – circa 309 A.D.), a Martyr and Wonder-Worker, is one of the most well-known Coptic Saints in The East and The West, due to the many Miracles that are attributed to his Intercession and Prayers.
Saint Mennas was a Coptic Soldier in The Roman Army, Martyred because he refused to recant his Christian Faith. The common date of his Commemoration is 11 November, which occurs thirteen days later (24 November) on The Julian Calendar.
Although Saint Mennas is recognised as a Minor Saint in Western Churches, it is considered likely by many historians that he is Celebrated in these Churches under the name of Saint Christopher (i.e. the "Christ-Bearer"), as one of the legends associated with Saint Mennas has him, like Christopher, carrying The Christ Child.
Martinmas is celebrated the night before 11 November by merry-making 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 encyclopædia, 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. Sankt Martin auf dem Pferd.
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."
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.
In the reign of Emperor Decius, Saint Tryphon suffered Martyrdom at Nicea in Bithynia. The Tribune, Respicius, touched by his fortitude, was converted and both were condemned to death by scourging (250 A.D.).
Two Centuries later, Saint Nympha, a Sicilian Virgin from Palermo, Sicily, fled to Italy before the invading Goths, and died in Tuscany. Her Feast Day is kept on this day, because her body, taken to Rome, was laid in the Church of Saints Tryphon and Respicius.
The Lenten Station on The Saturday after Ash Wednesday was formerly held in this Church.
Mass: Clamavérunt.
The following Text is from Wikipedia - the free encyclopædia, unless stated otherwise. Saint Tryphon (also spelled Trypho, Trifon, or Triphon, and known as Tryphon of Campsada) is a 3rd-Century A.D. Christian Saint. He is Venerated by The Roman Catholic Church and The Eastern Orthodox Church as a Great Martyr and Holy Unmercenary.
Saint Tryphon was formerly Celebrated jointly with Saints Respicius and Nympha on 10 November in The Liturgical Calendar of The Latin Church (Editor: Catholic Church) from the 11th-Century until the 20th-Century. Saint Tryphon continues to be Celebrated (separately) on 1 February [O.S. 14 February] on both The Orthodox Liturgical Calendar and The Roman Catholic Calendar of Saints.
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