Martinmas, the Holy Souls and the Road to Advent
As the Octave of All Saints concludes and November’s prayers for the departed continue, Catholic households encounter one of the great forgotten festivals of the Christian year: Martinmas. Once celebrated throughout Europe with feasting, lantern processions, hospitality and charity, St Martin’s Day also heralded a longer period of preparation for Christmas. This week’s Domestic Church explores those traditions, the continuing Nativity Fast of the Eastern Churches, and the practical ways in which families can recover a Catholic rhythm of celebration, self-denial and prayer.
There was a time when the approach of winter brought rather more than an increase in heating bills and the premature appearance of Christmas decorations in the shops. The harvest had been gathered, livestock brought in from the fields, provisions stored against the colder months, and the business of the agricultural year was drawing to its conclusion. For Christian households, these familiar changes belonged to a calendar which was both agricultural and ecclesiastical. The Church’s feasts gave meaning to the seasons, while the seasons themselves furnished reminders of the truths which the Church proclaimed.
November was particularly rich in such associations. All Saints directed the faithful towards the happiness of Heaven; All Souls reminded them of their duty towards the departed; and the approach of Advent turned their attention towards the coming of Christ. Between these observances stood Martinmas, the feast of St Martin of Tours on 11 November, once among the most familiar and widely celebrated festivals of Christian Europe.
Much of that inheritance has disappeared from ordinary Catholic family life. The saints remain in the calendar, certainly, but many of the customs by which their feasts were celebrated have vanished. Children may learn the names of saints without discovering why earlier generations lit lanterns, roasted chestnuts, shared bread or gathered neighbours around a festive table.
There is no reason why these customs should be left entirely to museums and folklore societies. Nor is it necessary to recreate every feature of medieval village life. What matters is understanding how such practices helped successive generations learn their Faith, and recovering those which still have something worthwhile to teach.
This week offers an unusually good opportunity. The Octave of All Saints concludes on Sunday 8 November, which is also Remembrance Sunday in Britain. The dedication of the Lateran Basilica follows, then the feast of St Martin, the commemoration of Pope St Martin I, and the feasts of St Didacus and St Josaphat. On Sunday 15 November, as the Roman liturgy continues with the resumed Sixth Sunday after Epiphany, Christians of the Byzantine tradition following the corresponding calendar begin their forty-day Nativity Fast.
It is a remarkable conjunction. We remember the dead, honour the saints, give thanks for God’s gifts, practise charity towards the living, and begin preparing for the birth of Our Lord.
Last week’s Domestic Church provided the basic prayers, the Family Book of the Departed, arrangements for Requiem Masses and guidance concerning November’s indulgences and devotions.¹ These should continue. There is no advantage in repeatedly introducing new arrangements when the purpose is to establish habits which will endure.
Our attention this week turns instead towards the Christian customs which once made November such a distinctive month, and towards the possibility of restoring something of their character within the modern Catholic home.
YOUR FAMILY’S PLAN FOR THE WEEK
One principal observance each day, with something children can help to do. The programme may be adapted according to the circumstances of the household.
| Day | Family action | Children’s activity |
|---|---|---|
| Sun 8 Nov — Octave Day of All Saints; Remembrance Sunday | Attend Mass, conclude the octave and pray for those who died in war. | Make a remembrance wreath or card bearing the names of departed relatives and service personnel. |
| Mon 9 Nov — Dedication of the Lateran Basilica | Pray for the Church, the Pope, bishops and priests; visit a church if possible. | Discover why the Lateran is the Pope’s cathedral. Draw a church and identify the altar, sanctuary and tabernacle. |
| Tue 10 Nov — St Andrew Avellino | Prepare spiritually for Advent through an examination of conscience and plans for Confession. | Make a Martinmas lantern and learn the story of St Martin’s cloak. |
| Wed 11 Nov — St Martin of Tours; Martinmas; Armistice Day | Celebrate a Martinmas meal, provide food or warm clothing for somebody in need, and remember the war dead. | Carry lanterns, share bread, prepare chestnuts or pastries and enact St Martin’s act of charity. |
| Thu 12 Nov — St Martin I, Pope and Martyr | Begin a modest voluntary St Martin’s Lent and pray for persecuted Christians. | Make a household preparation chart for the weeks before Christmas. |
| Fri 13 Nov — St Didacus of Alcalá | Observe Friday penance and undertake a practical work of mercy. | Prepare food, write to a sick or lonely person, or contribute to a charitable collection. |
| Sat 14 Nov — St Josaphat; St Erconwald in the English tradition | Pray for the unity of Christians in the Catholic Faith and remember the early Church in Britain. | Discover the Byzantine Catholic tradition or investigate the history of St Erconwald and Old St Paul’s. |
| Sun 15 Nov — Resumed Sixth Sunday after Epiphany; Eastern Nativity Fast begins | Attend Mass, reflect on the Gospel of the mustard seed and leaven, and settle the family’s Advent preparations. | Plant seeds, make an Advent calendar of good works, or begin a St Philip’s Chain of charitable acts. |
Families who can manage only one additional observance this week should choose Martinmas, combining a simple celebration with a genuine act of charity. The other activities may be undertaken as time and circumstances permit.
CONTINUING THE NOVEMBER REMEMBRANCE
The Family Book of the Departed should remain beside the household crucifix throughout November. Names already entered need not be copied into another book, and the prayers supplied in last week’s guide may simply be continued.
Children can be encouraged to remember departed relatives whom they knew personally, but also those who died before they were born. Photographs and family stories may help them recognise that these were real people, with particular lives, responsibilities and affections, rather than merely names upon a page.
Where a family has not yet arranged a Mass intention for the deceased, November remains an appropriate time to do so. The Old Roman Apostolate’s Guild of Holy Souls, approved in November 2022, also offers opportunities for participation in regular suffrages, the remembrance of names in Chantry Books and practical assistance towards traditional Catholic burial.²
The evening remembrance candle, the De profundis and the customary prayer for eternal rest should continue without elaborate alteration.
There is something to be said for keeping familiar devotions familiar. A child who hears the same prayer every evening will eventually know it by heart. The occasional addition of a particular intention or a reading concerning the Holy Souls can deepen the observance without destroying that valuable regularity.
SUNDAY 8 NOVEMBER: THE OCTAVE DAY OF ALL SAINTS AND REMEMBRANCE SUNDAY
White — Octave Day of All Saints, Double Major; commemoration of the resumed Fifth Sunday after Epiphany and the Four Crowned Martyrs, according to the accompanying Ordo.
Today brings the traditional Octave of All Saints to its conclusion. For eight days the Church has prolonged her celebration of the blessed in Heaven, recalling the innumerable multitude who have reached their eternal reward through the grace of Christ.
The octave also reminds us that the Church’s celebrations are intended to do more than mark anniversaries. They invite us to contemplate particular mysteries of the Faith and allow their significance to enter more deeply into our lives.
The Gospel of the occurring Sunday, taken from the Fifth Sunday after Epiphany, concerns the wheat and the cockle growing together until the harvest. It provides a fitting conclusion to the octave, for while the saints have already received their eternal reward, the faithful upon earth continue their pilgrimage towards judgement. The final separation belongs to Christ, not to our impatient attempts to anticipate His judgement of individual souls.³
The coincidence with Remembrance Sunday gives the day a further significance, particularly for Catholic families in Britain and the Commonwealth.
At eleven o’clock, communities throughout the country will observe the customary two-minute silence in memory of those who died through war. The national service at the Cenotaph in London falls on Sunday 8 November this year.⁴
Catholics can participate readily in these public observances while bringing something distinctly Christian to the act of remembrance. We honour courage, sacrifice and faithful service; but we also pray for those who have died.
The distinction matters. Public commemoration preserves the memory of the dead. Christian prayer seeks their eternal welfare.
Families might visit a war memorial after Mass, observe the silence together or read the names of relatives who died in military service. Children can make a remembrance card bearing a cross, a poppy or a simple wreath, and place it near the Family Book of the Departed.
It is also fitting to remember the civilian victims of war, including those whose deaths received little public recognition. Christian charity cannot be confined to the dead of one’s own nation.
Suggested devotion: Offer a decade of the Rosary for the faithful departed who died in war, followed by the De profundis and a prayer for peace among nations.
MONDAY 9 NOVEMBER: THE DEDICATION OF THE LATERAN BASILICA
White — Double of the Second Class; commemoration of St Theodore.
The Church commemorates the dedication of the Archbasilica of the Most Holy Saviour and Saints John the Baptist and John the Evangelist at the Lateran, the cathedral church of the Bishop of Rome.
Many Catholics suppose that St Peter’s Basilica is the Pope’s cathedral. It is an understandable assumption, given the basilica’s prominence and its association with the papacy. Nevertheless, the Lateran possesses that distinction, and bears the historic designation of mother and head of the churches of Rome and the world.
Its origins reach back to the Constantinian period, when the Church emerged from persecution and acquired the freedom to worship publicly.⁵
The feast affords parents an opportunity to explain the difference between the domestic church and a consecrated church building.
A Catholic home is a place where the Faith should be taught, prayer offered and Christian charity practised. Yet it does not replace the consecrated altar, the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass or the sacramental ministry of the priesthood.
The family participates in the Church’s life. It is not an independent church unto itself.
Children might study pictures of the Lateran, discover what makes a church a cathedral, and learn why the altar occupies the principal place within a Catholic sanctuary.
If circumstances allow, visit a church outside Mass time. Explain the purpose of the sanctuary, tabernacle, baptismal font and confessionals. Even the simple act of entering reverently and making a genuflection before the Blessed Sacrament teaches something which ordinary explanation cannot convey so readily.
At home, clean and arrange the family prayer corner. Sacred pictures, crucifixes and prayer books should be treated with the care appropriate to their purpose.
Suggested devotion: The Collect for the Dedication of a Church, followed by prayers for the Pope, bishops, priests and the preservation of the Catholic Faith.
TUESDAY 10 NOVEMBER: ST ANDREW AVELLINO — PREPARING THE SOUL
White — Double; commemoration of Saints Tryphon, Respicius and Nympha.
St Andrew Avellino, the Theatine priest who died in 1608, is remembered for his religious discipline, pastoral zeal and devotion to holiness.
An incident early in his life contributed to his conversion. While engaged in legal proceedings, he spoke falsely in the course of an argument. His subsequent examination of conscience led him to reconsider his conduct and eventually to devote himself more completely to the service of God.⁶
His example is useful as we approach Advent.
The examination of conscience should not be treated merely as a list of offences to be recited before Confession. Its purpose is to help us recognise where our conduct fails to correspond with the commandments of God and the duties of our state in life.
Parents might encourage children to identify one habit which they would like to improve before Christmas: perhaps speaking truthfully, attending more carefully to their responsibilities, obeying promptly or showing greater consideration towards others.
The exercise will be more useful if adults undertake it themselves.
Families should also consider arranging Confession before Advent. There is little sense in preparing the house for Christmas while neglecting the more important preparation of the soul.
In the evening, children can begin making lanterns for Martinmas. Coloured card, translucent paper and battery-operated lights will suffice.
While they work, tell them the story of St Martin of Tours, whose feast follows tomorrow.
Suggested devotion: The Miserere, Psalm 50, or a short examination of conscience, together with a prayer for perseverance and the grace of a good death.
WEDNESDAY 11 NOVEMBER: ST MARTIN OF TOURS — MARTINMAS
White — Double; commemoration of St Menna.
The soldier and the beggar
Martin of Tours is among those saints whose lives have furnished the Church with an image so memorable that it has survived long after many details of their history have been forgotten.
Born in Roman Pannonia, in the territory of modern Hungary, Martin served as a soldier in the Roman army. While stationed at Amiens, he encountered a poor man who was suffering from the cold and begging for assistance.
Martin possessed little with which to relieve his distress. Taking his sword, he divided his military cloak and gave half to the stranger.
That night he saw Christ in a vision, wearing the portion of the cloak he had given away. Sulpicius Severus, Martin’s early biographer, records that Martin was still a catechumen when this occurred, and that he subsequently received Baptism.⁷
The story has sometimes been presented as though its importance lay chiefly in the extraordinary vision which followed. Yet the decisive action had already taken place. Martin saw somebody in need and gave what he could.
The poor man did not first have to establish that he was deserving. Martin was not troubled by whether the gift would be publicly acknowledged. He recognised an obligation of charity and fulfilled it.
Here is a lesson which children can understand immediately, and which adults may find rather less comfortable.
Christian charity is not exhausted by sympathy for the unfortunate. It requires us, according to our means and circumstances, to do something about their misfortune.
The Gospel of St Matthew teaches that what we do for the least of Christ’s brethren we do for Him. Martin’s experience made that truth visible in an extraordinary fashion.
Martinmas in medieval England
For centuries Martinmas was one of the great autumn festivals of Europe. In medieval England it was called Martinmesse, and its observance was closely associated with the conclusion of the agricultural year.
The harvest had been gathered, winter provisions prepared, and animals which could not conveniently be kept through the colder months were slaughtered. The resulting abundance of food contributed to seasonal celebrations, while rents and other obligations were frequently settled around this time.
Martinmas was therefore both a religious feast and a recognisable point in the economic and social life of the countryside.
The medieval English evidence records feasting, hospitality and customary celebrations which placed the saint’s festival firmly within ordinary community life. It was not simply a German tradition which the English occasionally imitated.⁸
One of the best-known customs was the Martinmas goose.
Across parts of northern and central Europe, particularly in Germany, Denmark and Sweden, the feast became associated with the eating of roast goose.
According to a popular legend, Martin attempted to avoid being chosen Bishop of Tours by hiding among geese, whose noisy behaviour betrayed his whereabouts. The story is charming, although it belongs to the realm of folklore rather than established biography. The seasonal abundance of geese, ready for slaughter in late autumn, offers a more practical explanation for the tradition.⁹
There is, of course, no religious obligation to eat goose on Martinmas. A household might celebrate with roast chicken, a warming stew or a favourite seasonal dish.
The point is not the expense of the meal but its character as an occasion of thanksgiving and hospitality.
A family with plenty to eat should also remember those whose tables are less generously supplied.
Lantern processions and the light of charity
In Germany, particularly in the Rhineland and other regions, St Martin’s Day is associated with children’s lantern processions, known as Martinszüge or Laternenumzüge.
Children carry illuminated lanterns, sing traditional songs and sometimes follow a figure representing St Martin on horseback. Bread rolls and seasonal treats may be shared, recalling the saint’s generosity.
These customs have developed over many generations. The familiar organised lantern processions are not all direct survivals from the Middle Ages; their present form owes much to later local practice. The Archdiocese of Cologne, for example, records the revival and expansion of organised Martinmas celebrations around the beginning of the twentieth century.¹⁰
Their popularity is nevertheless understandable. A procession of children carrying lanterns through the November darkness is both attractive and memorable, especially when the story of the saint is properly explained.
Catholic families can adapt the custom quite easily.
Children may prepare lanterns during the preceding day, then carry them through the garden, around the home or during a short supervised walk. Battery-operated lights are preferable for young children.
At the conclusion, gather before the household crucifix or an image of St Martin, recall his act of charity, and offer a prayer for the poor.
It would be possible to regard the lanterns simply as an attractive seasonal amusement. There is no harm in their being enjoyable. But their place within a Catholic household should also remind children that they are celebrating a saint whose charity was animated by faith in Christ.
Chestnuts, pastries and the customs of Catholic Europe
Portugal preserves another charming Martinmas tradition: the magusto, a gathering associated with roasted chestnuts and the tasting of the season’s new wine.
In rural communities the feast retains its connection with the autumn harvest. Families and neighbours gather, chestnuts are roasted, and the occasion becomes one of shared food and conversation.¹¹
Children can participate by helping prepare paper cones for the chestnuts, collecting suitable seasonal decorations or assisting with the table. Adults should supervise the cooking.
In Poznań, Poland, St Martin’s Day is associated with the rogal świętomarciński, a distinctive crescent-shaped pastry traditionally filled with white poppy seeds and other ingredients.
The custom is documented from the nineteenth century and has become a celebrated feature of the city’s local identity. Indeed, the pastry’s geographical designation is formally protected, the European Commission having registered it in 2008.¹²
Families elsewhere may prefer to bake simple crescent-shaped pastries or bread rolls. Those without the time or inclination to undertake elaborate cooking need not feel that the feast is thereby diminished.
What matters is recognising that Christian hospitality may be expressed through the ordinary pleasure of sharing food.
These customs reveal something of the strength of the older Catholic culture. The feasts of the Church were not confined to what occurred within the sanctuary. They entered the kitchen, the village street, the marketplace and the family table.
Children learnt the calendar by living within it.
Celebrating Martinmas at home
A family Martinmas celebration can be both simple and memorable.
Prepare a seasonal meal, perhaps with roast poultry, chestnuts, freshly baked bread or a favourite family dish. Set an image of St Martin upon the table and invite a relative, neighbour or friend where practicable.
Before eating, recall the story of the cloak. Children may divide and share a bread roll, or present a small portion of food to each member of the family as a reminder of Christian generosity.
The gesture should lead to something more substantial.
Martin gave what he possessed because somebody else needed it. Families might therefore collect warm coats, scarves, blankets or other useful clothing for distribution to those in need.
Others might contribute groceries to a food bank, provide a meal for a lonely neighbour or assist a family experiencing financial difficulty.
Children should be involved in deciding what will be given and, where suitable, in preparing the donation.
There is a useful lesson here. Charity does not consist in disposing of possessions which are no longer fit for use. Articles intended for donation should be clean, serviceable and genuinely helpful.
Nor need the contribution be extravagant. A family of limited means can still find some appropriate expression of generosity, just as Martin shared what little he had.
The celebration is most successful when the charitable act is actually undertaken, rather than remaining a worthy intention which never quite comes to fruition.
Martinmas and Armistice Day
In Britain, 11 November also marks the anniversary of the Armistice which brought an end to the fighting on the Western Front in 1918.
The coincidence of the feast of a former Roman soldier and the modern remembrance of those who died in war provides a fitting opportunity for prayer, although the two observances have distinct historical origins.
Families may observe the customary silence and pray for departed soldiers, civilians and all who have suffered the consequences of conflict.
St Martin subsequently left military service, embraced the monastic life and became Bishop of Tours. His holiness was not confined to one celebrated act of charity, but was manifested throughout a life of prayer, self-denial, pastoral labour and fidelity to Christ.
That broader example brings us to another important Martinmas tradition, one which has largely disappeared from the Western Church.
ST MARTIN’S LENT: THE OLDER PREPARATION FOR CHRISTMAS
When Advent began before Advent
Few Catholics today will have heard of Quadragesima Sancti Martini, the Forty Days of St Martin, commonly called St Martin’s Lent.
Yet the practice once held an important place in the preparation for Christmas in parts of Western Christianity.
The Roman Advent familiar to most Catholics consists of four Sundays before Christmas. In 2026 it begins on 29 November. Earlier Western observances, however, were not everywhere arranged in precisely the same manner.
In Gaul, the approach of the Nativity was marked by an extended period of fasting associated with St Martin’s feast.
The First Council of Mâcon, held in 581, prescribed fasting on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays from St Martin’s Day until Christmas, together with liturgical observances of a penitential character.
John Dowden, in his historical study The Church Year and Kalendar, identifies the council’s ninth canon as an important witness to this practice, while noting that the length and arrangements of the season varied considerably.¹³
Dom Prosper Guéranger, writing in The Liturgical Year, likewise describes the development of the longer Western Advent and its eventual contraction, noting evidence of pre-Christmas fasting in Gaul, England and elsewhere.¹⁴
The practice was sometimes called a forty-day fast, although the precise number of fasting days and the period covered differed according to local discipline.
It would therefore be misleading to speak as though the whole Latin Church had once observed a single, uniform forty-day fast before Christmas.
The important point is that Christians regarded the Nativity as sufficiently solemn to require an extended period of spiritual preparation.
Martinmas feasting was consequently followed, in some communities, by an interval of greater restraint.
The arrangement reflects a familiar principle of Catholic life. The Church celebrates the goodness of God’s gifts, but she also teaches her children not to become enslaved by them.
Feasting and fasting are not opposing ideas. Each assists us to understand the other.
The Nativity Fast is still observed in the East
The longer preparation for Christmas has not disappeared from the whole Christian world.
In the Byzantine tradition, Eastern Catholics and Eastern Orthodox Christians continue to observe the Nativity Fast, commonly known as St Philip’s Fast or Philip’s Lent.
It begins on 15 November, the day following the Byzantine feast of the Apostle St Philip, and continues through 24 December, comprising forty calendar days of preparation for the Nativity of Our Lord.
The Byzantine Catholic Eparchy of Parma describes the period as an opportunity for prayer, fasting, repentance, spiritual reading, charitable works and more attentive participation in the Church’s liturgical life.
Its guidance recommends practical forms of self-denial suited to the circumstances of the faithful, including abstinence, reduced consumption, additional prayer and assistance to the poor.¹⁵
The Ukrainian Catholic Eparchy of Edmonton has also produced resources for families observing St Philip’s Fast, encouraging children and parents to prepare together through Scripture, prayer, acts of repentance and practical expressions of charity.¹⁶
The Orthodox Churches likewise preserve the Nativity Fast in their liturgical tradition.
The actual fasting discipline varies according to the particular Church and its customs. Traditional Byzantine practice involves abstinence from meat and dairy products, with different provisions for fish, wine and oil on particular days.
It is important, however, to distinguish the older and sometimes stricter ascetical rules from the minimum obligations presently imposed upon particular communities. Eastern Catholic Churches do not all prescribe an identical discipline, and pastoral provision is made for age, illness and other circumstances.
Nor do all Eastern Christians celebrate Christmas on the same civil date. Communities observing the Julian calendar begin the fast on what is presently 28 November in the Gregorian calendar and celebrate the Nativity on 7 January.
The point remains that a substantial part of the Christian world still recognises the weeks before Christmas as a period of fasting and penitential preparation.
There is something instructive in this survival.
Western Catholics have sometimes become accustomed to regarding Advent almost entirely as a season of anticipation and celebration, with penitential preparation playing a comparatively modest role in ordinary domestic practice.
Yet the Eastern observance reminds us that the discipline of fasting before Christmas is neither a recent invention nor a peculiarity of medieval Western Christianity.
It forms part of a much wider Christian inheritance.
The old Western St Martin’s Lent and the Byzantine Nativity Fast have distinct historical developments. We should not pretend that they were once identical, or that one simply derives from the other.
Nevertheless, both bear witness to the same underlying conviction: the celebration of the Incarnation deserves preparation of body as well as soul.
Why should this be so?
Because the Christian Faith does not regard man as a disembodied spirit. We worship God with our bodies, senses, actions and material possessions, as well as with our intellect and will.
Fasting is therefore not undertaken because food is evil, nor because the pleasures of ordinary life are unworthy of a Christian.
It is undertaken because good things must be enjoyed in their proper order. By voluntarily setting aside something lawful, we acknowledge that our final happiness does not consist in the possession or consumption of earthly goods.
Such discipline also gives practical expression to repentance. It teaches us to govern our appetites, exercise freedom over our habits and make room for greater attention to God and neighbour.
The fast does not diminish the joy of the feast which follows. It helps us receive that joy more intelligently.
The East has preserved something of this understanding in a particularly visible manner. The Western Church possesses its own rich Advent liturgy, but contemporary Latin Catholics may nevertheless profit from considering an ascetical tradition which remains a living part of Eastern Christian life.
Recovering a modest St Martin’s Lent in the family
Catholic families who follow the Roman Rite may freely adopt a voluntary discipline from 12 November until Christmas, provided it accords with their health, duties and circumstances.
There is no necessity to reproduce the full rigour of historical fasting rules.
A family might decide to abstain from certain luxuries on Mondays and Wednesdays, retain the customary Friday penance, or set aside a small amount each week for the poor.
Others may choose to reduce unnecessary expenditure, limit recreational screen time, undertake additional spiritual reading or make a more deliberate effort to assist somebody in need.
Children can participate through modest sacrifices appropriate to their age. These should be explained and undertaken with parental guidance, never imposed in a manner harmful to their health or development.
Nor should the family confuse a freely adopted observance with a universal obligation of the Church.
The object is to cultivate a greater readiness to receive Our Lord, not to introduce an unnecessary burden into already demanding family circumstances.
Families may begin their voluntary observance on Thursday 12 November and then mark Sunday 15 November as the beginning of the Eastern Nativity Fast in the communities using the corresponding calendar.
This provides an excellent opportunity to explain that Catholics of different liturgical traditions share the same central mysteries of Faith, even when their calendars and disciplines vary.
The exercise will be particularly worthwhile if the family combines a modest fast with some positive act of charity.
It is not sufficient merely to abandon an indulgence for several weeks. The freedom gained through self-denial ought to make us more attentive to the needs of others.
A child who forgoes a treat and contributes its value towards a charitable gift has learnt something both about fasting and about Christian stewardship.
THURSDAY 12 NOVEMBER: ST MARTIN I — THE COST OF FIDELITY
Red — Semidouble.
The day after Martinmas brings the feast of another Martin: Pope St Martin I, who defended the Catholic doctrine of the two wills of Christ against the Monothelite heresy.
The Church teaches that Our Lord, being true God and true Man, possesses both a divine and a human will. His human will is perfectly obedient to the divine will, without ceasing to be genuinely human.
This was no theological dispute of merely academic interest. The integrity of Christ’s human nature, and therefore the truth of the Incarnation and Redemption, was at stake.
Pope Martin’s defence of orthodox doctrine brought him into conflict with the Byzantine imperial authorities. Arrested and subjected to humiliation, imprisonment and exile, he died after prolonged suffering.¹⁷
His feast affords an opportunity to explain why Catholics must take doctrine seriously.
Christian unity cannot be secured by treating revealed truth as something negotiable. The martyrs and confessors understood that fidelity to Christ sometimes required them to endure consequences which they might easily have avoided through compromise.
Parents might explain this in terms children can understand: there are occasions when doing what is right costs us something, and when loyalty to Christ must take precedence over the desire to be popular or comfortable.
Pray especially for Christians experiencing persecution, and for bishops and priests called to defend the Faith under difficult circumstances.
If the household has decided to undertake a voluntary St Martin’s Lent, begin the observance today.
Suggested devotion: The Litany of the Saints, with particular petitions for the Church’s pastors, persecuted Christians and the grace of perseverance.
FRIDAY 13 NOVEMBER: ST DIDACUS — THE HOLINESS OF ORDINARY SERVICE
White — Semidouble.
St Didacus of Alcalá, commonly known as San Diego, was a Franciscan lay brother whose life demonstrated how ordinary duties, faithfully performed, become occasions of sanctification.
His work included humble domestic responsibilities, service to the poor and care for the sick. His charity towards those suffering from illness was especially remembered during his time in Rome.¹⁸
There is an important lesson here for Catholic families.
Much of the charity required within a household will never resemble the more dramatic incidents recorded in the lives of the saints. It consists in preparing meals, looking after children, caring for elderly relatives, visiting the sick, completing necessary work and attending patiently to people whose needs are not always convenient.
Such duties may be spiritually fruitful precisely because they require regular perseverance.
We should not imagine that Christian charity begins only when we undertake something exceptional.
Friday’s customary penance may be offered for the Holy Souls, particularly those who have nobody to pray for them.
Families might visit a lonely person, prepare food for somebody unable to cook, or arrange a practical contribution to a local charitable organisation.
Children should be encouraged to assist, according to their abilities, and to recognise that doing a task carefully and willingly is itself a valuable part of the offering.
Suggested devotion: Psalm 50, the Miserere, with a prayer for the sick and an intention for the Holy Souls.
SATURDAY 14 NOVEMBER: ST JOSAPHAT — UNITY IN THE CATHOLIC FAITH
Red — Double. St Erconwald’s translation is commemorated in the English tradition according to the relevant proper.
St Josaphat, Archbishop of Polotsk and martyr, worked for the preservation and strengthening of Catholic unity among Christians of the Byzantine tradition.
His life reminds us of a distinction which deserves to be better understood: the Catholic Church is not exclusively Latin in her liturgical expression.
Eastern Catholics possess their own legitimate rites, ecclesiastical customs and spiritual inheritance while remaining in communion with the Apostolic See.
Their liturgies, vestments, chant and ceremonial may differ substantially from those familiar to Catholics of the Roman Rite. Such differences do not diminish their Catholicity.¹⁹
Indeed, the Eastern Nativity Fast which begins tomorrow provides an immediate example of this wider inheritance.
Parents might show children photographs of the Byzantine Divine Liturgy, explain the use of icons and introduce them to the different forms of Catholic worship which have developed in the East.
The lesson should be clear. The unity of the Church rests upon the profession of the Catholic Faith, the sacraments and communion in ecclesiastical government. It does not require every Catholic to adopt the same liturgical language or ceremonial tradition.
In England, 14 November is also associated with St Erconwald, Bishop of London in the seventh century, whose relics were solemnly translated on this date in 1148.
Erconwald founded religious houses at Chertsey and Barking, the latter entrusted to his sister St Ethelburga. His shrine at Old St Paul’s became an important place of pilgrimage before the Reformation.²⁰
English families might investigate his history and the Christian foundations of their own region. Families elsewhere can undertake a similar exercise concerning an early missionary saint associated with their country.
Suggested devotion: The Collect of St Josaphat, followed by prayers for the unity of Christians in the Catholic Faith, for missionaries and for the perseverance of persecuted Catholics.
SUNDAY 15 NOVEMBER: THE MUSTARD SEED, THE LEAVEN AND THE BEGINNING OF THE NATIVITY FAST
Green — Twenty-fifth Sunday after Pentecost, with the Mass of the resumed Sixth Sunday after Epiphany; commemoration of St Albert the Great according to the relevant calendar.
The Gospel appointed for today, Matthew 13:31–35, contains two parables concerning the Kingdom of Heaven: the mustard seed, which grows from a small beginning, and the leaven which gradually works through the whole measure of meal.
The lessons are particularly appropriate after a week spent considering the ordinary practices through which Catholic households may cultivate the Faith.
A seed is small, and its growth is not immediately visible. Leaven works quietly, but its effect eventually reaches the whole.
Our Lord uses these familiar examples to teach the manner in which the Kingdom of God grows and exercises its transforming influence. The Church has always recognised in these parables both the extraordinary expansion of Christ’s Kingdom and the quieter operation of grace within individual souls.
The domestic church provides an obvious field for such growth.
A child who learns a prayer, hears the story of a saint, accompanies a parent upon an errand of charity or observes the family gathering regularly before the crucifix may appear to have accomplished very little.
Yet religious formation seldom depends upon one extraordinary occasion. It is ordinarily the consequence of habits, example, repetition and the grace of God working through faithful perseverance.
The mustard seed does not become a tree in an afternoon.
This is also the day on which Byzantine Catholics and Orthodox Christians following the corresponding calendar begin their Nativity Fast. The coincidence gives Roman Catholic families an opportunity to consider what they wish to accomplish during the remaining weeks before Christmas.
The First Sunday of Advent is still a fortnight away. There is time to prepare without confusing preparation with celebration.
Children might plant mustard or cress seeds and observe their growth during the coming weeks. Parents can explain the Gospel’s lesson, connecting the hidden growth of a plant with the development of Christian habits.
Another suitable activity, inspired by Eastern Catholic family resources, is a St Philip’s Chain: paper links bearing a prayer, charitable act or small sacrifice, added as the family progresses towards Christmas.
The same idea can be adapted into an Advent calendar of good works, prepared now but begun when Advent arrives.
The Roman calendar commemorates St Gertrude the Great on 16 November. Her profound devotion to the Sacred Heart, the Holy Eucharist and the love of Christ, together with her association with prayers for the Holy Souls, will provide a suitable continuation of November’s observances in the following week.
Suggested devotion: Read Matthew 13:31–35 after Mass, followed by prayers for the family’s perseverance in charity and for Eastern Christians beginning their Nativity Fast.
FURTHER PRAYERS AND DEVOTIONS FOR NOVEMBER
Last week’s Domestic Church provided the familiar prayers of Catholic family life, including the Angelus, Rosary, De profundis, prayers for the Holy Souls and the examination of conscience. Those texts need not be reproduced.
Families wishing to deepen their observance during the remainder of November may draw upon the following additional devotions.
The Office of the Dead
The traditional Office of the Dead is among the Church’s most beautiful forms of liturgical prayer for departed souls.
Its Vespers, Matins and Lauds contain psalms, lessons and responsories which express the gravity of death, the need for mercy and the hope of eternal life.
Families possessing a suitable traditional breviary or prayer book might begin by praying Vespers of the Dead on one evening each week.
There is no requirement to undertake the entire Office immediately. Its introduction can be gradual, particularly where children are unfamiliar with the psalms.
Psalm 50 — The Miserere
The Miserere is especially suitable for Friday penance and the voluntary observance of St Martin’s Lent.
Its petitions for forgiveness and the creation of a clean heart remind us that preparation for Christmas requires more than the arrangement of outward circumstances.
Older children might learn its opening verses, while younger children may simply listen as a parent recites the psalm.
The Dies irae
The great sequence of the Requiem Mass provides a profound meditation upon death, judgement and the mercy of Christ.
Nuntiatoria’s previous commentary upon the Dies irae may be used to introduce older children to its imagery and doctrinal significance.²¹
The sequence should be understood within the Church’s complete teaching concerning judgement, repentance, grace and salvation. Its purpose is not to encourage despair, but to awaken the soul to the seriousness of its eternal destiny and the need for Christ’s mercy.
The Collect of St Martin of Tours
The traditional Collect for Martinmas is particularly appropriate for family prayers throughout this week:
Deus, qui conspicis, quia ex nulla nostra virtute subsistimus: concede propitius; ut, intercessione beati Martini Confessoris tui atque Pontificis, contra omnia adversa muniamur.
O God, Who seest that we cannot subsist by any strength of our own, mercifully grant that, through the intercession of blessed Martin, Thy Confessor and Bishop, we may be defended against all adversity.
The Collect may be said before the Martinmas meal or following the family’s act of charity.²²
A family prayer for those who died in war
O Lord Jesus Christ, Prince of Peace and Judge of the living and the dead, we commend to Thy mercy all who have died through war and violence. Grant eternal rest to the faithful departed, comfort those who mourn, protect those who suffer, and turn the hearts of men away from hatred and injustice. May Thy truth and charity prevail among nations, and may all entrusted with the government of peoples be guided by Thy holy law. Who livest and reignest for ever and ever. Amen.
A family prayer before the preparation for Advent
O Lord Jesus Christ, Who didst come into this world for our salvation and Who wilt come again to judge the living and the dead, grant that we may prepare ourselves worthily for the celebration of Thy holy Nativity. Deliver us from sloth, selfishness and attachment to passing things. Strengthen us in prayer, penance and charity, that our hearts may be ready to receive Thee with faith and love. Who livest and reignest with God the Father in the unity of the Holy Ghost, God, world without end. Amen.
PREPARING THE HOUSEHOLD FOR ADVENT
The First Sunday of Advent falls on 29 November 2026.²³ This leaves two weeks in which families may prepare for the season without abandoning November’s particular emphasis upon the Holy Souls.
There is wisdom in preserving that distinction.
The Church has not yet entered Advent in the Roman Rite, still less Christmas. The appearance of Christmas merchandise in shops is hardly a compelling reason for Catholics to begin celebrating the Nativity before its appointed time.
Nor does preparation require premature decoration.
Advent candles, evergreen foliage and suitable devotional materials can be obtained and arranged in readiness. The family may select spiritual reading, consider opportunities for Confession and additional Mass attendance, and decide upon particular works of charity.
Children might prepare an Advent calendar containing small acts of generosity rather than merely sweets or other treats. They might also begin constructing a paper chain of good works inspired by the Eastern Nativity Fast.
Some practical domestic preparations may be undertaken now, especially those which otherwise make December unnecessarily demanding. Gifts, cards, travel arrangements and family commitments are all easier to manage when considered in advance.
The object is not to organise a perfectly efficient Christmas. It is to ensure that the spiritual purpose of the season is not overwhelmed by its practical arrangements.
The old Western custom of St Martin’s Lent and the continuing Eastern Nativity Fast remind us that preparation for Christmas once meant something considerably more substantial than purchasing presents and arranging festivities.
It involved prayer, repentance, self-denial and charity, undertaken because the Incarnation of the Son of God was considered an event of such importance that Christians wished to prepare themselves worthily for its annual celebration.
There is no reason why that understanding cannot once again become familiar within Catholic homes.
THE CLOAK, THE SEED AND THE CHRISTIAN HOME
One might reasonably ask whether any of these observances make much difference. Does it really matter whether a family eats chestnuts on Martinmas, carries lanterns through the garden, or prepares a paper chain of good works before Advent?
Not particularly, if such activities are regarded merely as quaint diversions.
Their importance lies in what they teach and in the Christian habits they help establish.
St Martin did not divide his cloak in order to establish a custom. He did so because another man was cold. The custom survives because the Church has never ceased to recognise the beauty and necessity of that act of charity.
The lantern procession is worthwhile when it leads children to remember the saint and imitate his example. The Martinmas meal has greater significance when those who possess enough remember those who do not. A voluntary fast is spiritually useful when it increases our freedom to love God and neighbour.
Even the ordinary family prayers for the Holy Souls belong to this same pattern. They teach us to remember those who can no longer ask for our assistance in this life, and to exercise charity towards them through the means which the Church places at our disposal.
There is a temptation to imagine that Catholic life is sustained chiefly by great public events, exceptional religious experiences or elaborate programmes of instruction. Yet much of the Faith has been transmitted through the ordinary perseverance of parents, grandparents, priests and teachers, whose apparently unremarkable fidelity shaped successive generations.
A prayer repeated every evening, a saint’s feast remembered each year, a Mass intention faithfully offered, a visit to somebody who is lonely, a small sacrifice undertaken for the love of God: none of these things is likely to attract much attention.
The Gospel of the mustard seed suggests that we should not mistake small beginnings for insignificant ones.
The Kingdom of God grows according to a wisdom greater than our own. Grace is capable of transforming lives through acts whose consequences we may never see.
That is the proper work of the domestic church: not to recreate the ceremonies of a monastery within an ordinary household, nor to burden family life with an impossible succession of religious activities, but to allow the Catholic Faith to become familiar through the ordinary duties, affections, celebrations and sacrifices of home.
Martinmas provides an excellent occasion to begin. A cloak was divided, a beggar was clothed, and a saint’s example has endured for more than sixteen centuries.
There is a lesson in that for all of us.
- Nuntiatoria, The Domestic Church: 1–8 November 2026, 30 October 2026.
- Old Roman Apostolate, Guild of Holy Souls, 21 November 2022.
- Nuntiatoria, Ordo w/c 01.11.26, 30 October 2026.
- UK Government, National Service of Remembrance: Sunday 8 November 2026, 8 October 2026.
- Vatican News, The Dedication of the Lateran Basilica.
- Michael Ott, St Andrew Avellino, The Catholic Encyclopedia, vol. 1, 1907.
- Sulpicius Severus, On the Life of St Martin, ch. 3.
- Martin W. Walsh, Medieval English Martinmesse: The Archaeology of a Forgotten Festival, Folklore 111, no. 2 (2000): 231–254.
- Nordiska museet, Mårtensgås.
- Archdiocese of Cologne, Sankt Martin: Bräuche zum Martinsfest mit Laternen, Liedern und Gänsen, 23 October 2026.
- Visit Braga, Magusto — Dia de São Martinho.
- European Commission, Commission Regulation (EC) No 1070/2008: Rogal świętomarciński, 30 October 2008; Commission Implementing Regulation (EU) No 597/2013, 19 June 2013.
- John Dowden, The Church Year and Kalendar, Cambridge Handbooks of Liturgical Study, 1910, ch. VII.
- Dom Prosper Guéranger, The Liturgical Year, vol. 1, Advent, “The History of Advent”.
- Byzantine Catholic Eparchy of Parma, Nativity Fast Begins November 15.
- Ukrainian Catholic Eparchy of Edmonton, St Philip’s Fast for Families.
- Institute of Christ the King Sovereign Priest, St Martin Ier, pape et martyr.
- New Catholic Dictionary, St Didacus, 1910.
- Vatican News, St Josaphat Kuntsevych, Bishop and Martyr.
- The Catholic Encyclopedia, St Erconwald, 1909.
- Nuntiatoria, Dies Irae: Four Notes of Death, 30 October 2026.
- Missale Romanum, S. Martini Episcopi et Confessoris, 11 November, Collect.
- Catholic Bishops’ Conference of England and Wales, Table of Moveable Feasts, 2020–2060, 2026 entry.
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