Happy Martinmas and Veterans Day!
Today we celebrate the Feast of St Martin of Tours or Martinmas and not coincidentally Veterans Day or what is also called Armistice Day.
The patron saint of soldiers is honored each year on the same day as Veterans Day.
World War I ended on November 11, 1918, when an armistice with Germany was signed, creating an immediate ceasefire. The “War to End All Wars” ended on that day and it began a new chapter in Europe, hoping that peace would prevail.
And what isn’t surprising is that by choosing the eleventh hour of the eleventh day of the eleventh month*, the Allies who sought the end of World War I revealed their heritage, seeped in the Catholicism that, for all practical purposes, built European civilization once Rome fell.
The yearly anniversary of the day would later, in 1938, be ratified in law as a legal holiday and was intended to be “a day to be dedicated to the cause of world peace and to be thereafter celebrated and known as ‘Armistice Day‘ … primarily a day set aside to honor veterans of World War I.” By 1954 the holiday was widened to include all veterans and became known simply as “Veterans Day.”
But other wars and conflicts also ended with treaties signed on this significant day…
Matthew 20:6 refers to the eleventh hour. Other treaties signed on the same day before 1918 include the following:
Treaty of Granada – 1500 – Louis XII of France and Ferdinand II of Aragon divided the Kingdom of Naples between them
Treaty of Zstiva-Torok – 1606 – Turkey and Austria
Canandaigua Treaty – 1794
Treaty of Sinchula – 1865 – Bhutan ceded lands east of the Teesta River to the British East India Company12
Last Saturday we honored the fallen who served this country by visiting the American Legion cemetery in Tampa during the Octave of All Saints to fulfill one of the requirement for the All Saints plenary indulgence and honor those who defended our country. We also heard from Retired Lt Gen Thomas Draude on the life and service of Servant of God Fr Vincent Capodanno.
May you and yours have a Blessed Celebration today!
https://gherkinstomatoes.com/2013/11/11/the-ancient-story-behind-veteransarmistice-day-or-the-significance-of-st-martin-of-tours/
https://aleteia.org/2017/11/10/the-liturgical-connection-between-veterans-day-and-st-martins-day/