Martin of Tours

November 11th is also known as Martinmas and celebrates, Martin of Tours. Martin was born in Hungary and educated in Italy in the late 4th century.  He became a Roman Army soldier for Constantine. While stationed in Amiens, France, he found a beggar dying of the cold in a snowstorm. Martin slashed his cloak in half with his sword and gave it to the man to keep him warm. Legend has it that Christ appeared to him in a dream wearing this same garment, causing Martin to convert. He became a monk and led a peaceful life, and he was known to be kind to the sick and the poor. He is the Patron Saint of Beggars, Drunkards, Innkeepers, Equestrians, Harvests, Horses, the Military, New Wine, and Tailors.

Sint Maarten | Saint Martin

Halloween, despite its roots in Scotland and Ireland (Samhain), Halloween is a distinctly American tradition. The celebration of Halloween is a special day for light-hearted, community-sanctioned mischief, totally devoid of meaning and the best example of runaway consumerism.

While Halloween has taken over England, it still hasn’t reached the Netherlands. Outside the American expat sanctuaries of Amsterdam, Den Haag, and Utrecht, Halloween is simply another day. In the Netherlands we celebrate the Dutch tradition of Saint Martin (Sint Maarten of Tours). The two celebrations are actually quite similar under the premise that it’s a children’s holiday involving going door-to-door and receiving special treats or sweets.

Saint Martin is regarded as a friend of the children and patron of the poor in the Catholic tradition. November 11 is the day that Saint Martin passed away. Saint Martin’s day is traditionally an old harvest festival that is celebrated in many European countries and precedes the fasting period of Advent, which begins on November 12. 

Part of the celebration involves an informal parade of hand-crafted, or store-bought lanterns made out of paper as children go around the neighbourhood, door to door.

Traditionally, children’s lanterns were made of hollowed out sugar beets or turnips hanging on a string tied to a wooden stick. Now children often decorate their own paper lanterns at school, or purchase it at the local grocery store. As soon as the sun sets, which often feels like around 4:30 p.m., small groups of Dutch children make processions around their neighbourhoods with their lanterns.

There’s something romantic and nostalgic about seeing little children with little paper latterns going door-to-door and lighting up the dark, cold “winter” night. The “11th day of the 11th month” after all, is traditionally considered to be the first day of “winter” according to the agricultural calendar.

The real city banner, in use since the citizens

of  Utrecht presented it on 5 May 1956, 

does have the image of St. Martin.

Have you ever taken the time to look at the coat of arms and the city flag of Utrecht? Did you know that it was made in honor of Saint Martin, the patron saint of Utrecht? The red part is the Roman coat and the white part is the undergarment of Saint Martin.

Sint Maarten is practiced only a handful of pockets in the Low Countries – traditionally in Utrecht, Limburg, Noord-Holland, Groningen, Friesland, Drenthe and Noord Brabant. Perhaps it’s about time that the Dutch embrace this beautiful tradition as an entire country.