St. Martins Day is coming soon (something to read)

[Rolf]

Hi,

Martinstag (St. Martins Day) is the holy day of St. Martin of Tours, a Catholic saint. Originally Martinstag was celebrated in the Catholic areas of Germany and Austria (and other areas of Western Europe including Flanders, Netherlands, Portugal and Europe), but it has now spread to the more Protestant areas as well. It heralds the start of the Advent season; followed by Nikolaustag, Weihnachten, and Dreikonigstag.

In many areas of Germany, it is celebrated with a lantern parade the evening of November 11. Children carry their lighted lanterns (either homemade or store bought), singing the wonderful traditional songs. They are often led by a Roman soldier on horseback.

Martin was born in Hungary in 316 A.D., then lived in what is now Italy and France. As a teenager, he joined the Roman army, becoming a soldier like his father. He was eventually baptized into the Christian church, founded a monastery, and became Bishop of Tours (France). He died on November 8, 397 A.D. The Feast day of St. Martin is Nov. 11, the day he was buried.

One of the most famous legend of St. Martin is “Martin and the geese”.
Martin did not want to become Bishop, so he hid near some geese. The people searching for Martin heard the loudly cackling geese. They found Martin and ordained him Bishop of Tours.

Traditional this day a lot of geese will finish their life in the cooking pot as the so named "Martin geese" - crispy fried together with red cabbage and dumplings.

I thought at this little story when I saw a lot of geese this afternoon during my purchase at our organic farmer.

Sorry