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St. Martin’s Day

Apart from the fact that November 11 is the Independence Day of Poland, it is also associated with St. Martin’s Day.

Saint Martin was a knight from Cappadocia who helped a beggar during his journey around the earth. When he saw the beggar,  he cut his cloak in two using his military sword and gave it to the beggar with a purse of money in the depth of winter. One of the legends says that after the aforementioned situation, St. Martin realized that the beggar was Jesus Christ after which he decided to devote his life to contemplation of god (became a monk).

Since then, one of the most associated animal with the Saint is goose . It is connected with the fact that Saint Martin was elected bishop of Tours, however, not wanting to get too honorable title for him, he hid in a cell with poultry. However, birds betrayed his presence. In Poland, this holiday is associated with the killing and baking of goose. On this day, the great parties were organized where people used to share the food with the poorest. Probably you have also heard about Saint Martin’s croissants. In the old times in Poland, the November 11 was the last day of work in the field (so fields could take “rest” during the winter time). The fishermen also used to end their work on that day. It was also the last day of cattle grazing, then after the dusk, the cattle were driven to the cowshed using a birch or spruce twig. Every good host adhered to this custom.