November 22nd, 2016
My friend, Amy, is my German-culture Guru. She is always filling me in on the latest, cultural events going on. Since her boys attend German schools, their family has an entirely different level of inculturation. I’m thankful that she shares her insider tips and information with us! Near the beginning of November, Amy told us about the St. Martin Lantern Procession on November 11th. Her son’s class was doing a program at the Catholic Church followed by a procession, bonfire and treats. Children make lanterns at school and home (and can even purchase one if needed) to carry in the procession. Often a man, dressed as St. Martin with a long red cloak, leads the parade on horseback. There is also singing. The more she talked about it, the more excited I got for our family to participate!
As the date approached, I did some research to learn more about St. Martin. The boys and I also came across several picture books about him in the children’s section of our favorite, downtown bookstore. For those who aren’t familiar with him, here’s a quick lesson compliments of Wikipedia…”Saint Martin of Tours started out as a Roman soldier then was baptized as an adult and became a monk. It is understood that he was a kind man who led a quiet and simple life. The best known legend of his life is that he once cut his cloak in half to share with a beggar during a snowstorm, to save the beggar from dying from the cold. That night he dreamed that Jesus was wearing the half-cloak. Martin heard Jesus say to the angels, ‘Here is Martin, the Roman soldier who is not baptised; he has clothed me.’ ” St. Martin was a friend to children and a patron of the poor. He was eventually appointed the third Bishop of Tours (France). This holiday originated in France and later spread to other countries throughout Europe.
We bought our lantern-making supplies at the stationary store in our village and got to work. We were excited with the final product!
That night we bundled up in layers and walked to the church with the boys swinging their lanterns.
We sat with Amy and her family to watch a short program put on by the kindergarten children. They sang songs, performed a short skit of St. Martin giving the cloak to the beggar and also recited lines from a prayer or a poem about St. Martin (I think).
Here’s a short video clip of the children speaking in German
Afterwards, we followed the procession out of the church and through the streets to the square where a large bonfire was lit.
We made our way to the fire to warm up a bit before enjoying sweet pretzels, hot cider and Glühwein. Amy told us to bring our own mugs. I love the efforts, both big and small, put forth by the Germans to be environmentally conscious!
A band played while people mingled around the fire, sipping their drinks. The square was full!
The next day, we drove a couple of hours to the country of Luxembourg and spent the evening in the village of Vianden. When we walked into a restaurant for dinner, we noticed several folks whose faces were smeared with black charcoal. They were rowdy and we couldn’t help but wonder if there was something going on. We asked our waitress and she made a comment about a St. Martin’s festival. After our experience from the night before, we felt a bit “in the know.” Oh, were we WRONG!
After dinner, people were congregating outside. We saw firetrucks and firemen out as well. I began asking strangers if anyone spoke English. Thankfully, there was a kind woman who spoke up and fielded our questions. She confirmed a St. Martin’s procession was about to happen in a few minutes. However, she warned us to keep the children back from the edge of the street because this was not like the St. Martin lantern processions in Germany. She said, “This one is special.” Hmm…What does that mean?” we wondered. Within minutes, we found out.
As we stood back on the corner of the street, a sudden explosion went off on the hillside. It was SO LOUD! A MASSIVE billow of fire and smoke immediately filled the air! Within minutes, a second explosion took place on the hill opposite the first. Another, MASSIVE billow of fire and smoke rose into the darkness. HUGE bonfires roared on both hillsides lighting up the skies. It was really hard to capture with our cameras but we still tried.
It was crazy, amazing and unsettling all at the same time. If you were inside my brain, you would’ve been privy to the exit strategy I was formulating if things got out of hand. Our oldest got upset while our youngest was loving every moment of it. I took E back to the hotel (the large, white building over Mein Mann’s left shoulder in the picture above). Being that the hotel was smack dab in the middle of the village, we couldn’t get away from it all. But, I think the indoors offered a place to feel safe and gave him some time to regain his courage. We eventually stepped outside again but stayed near the hotel entrance.
We could hear loud chanting as a procession of people started walking down both hillsides and through the streets. People of all ages were dragging balls of fire wrapped in cages of metal wires. The cages had a long wire extending out with a handle on the end. Men, women, children and grandparents marched in the procession, shouting out a chant that cycled over and over again. Some of their faces were covered with scarves to mitigate the smoke and heat. Hearty participants swung their cages in the air and then crashed them down on the street giving off a loud “BOOM” sound. There was such a community presence within the age ranges.
We saw people marching with a long stick between them and a fireball hanging in the middle. They would swing the cage around and smash it against the pavement. I couldn’t help but think of how that woman described this as “special.” I would have added some other descriptives to help prepare someone…shocking, crazy, startling, nothing-like-anything-you-have-ever-experieced-in-your-life…just to name a few. Oh, what is lost in translation!!
I was relieved when I saw Mein Mann and our youngest again! We reunited and watched the rest of the procession together as a family. At this point, E was fascinated with it all. All my boys were!
Here is another short video clip. This one showing the procession in Vianden…
We definitely got both sides of the spectrum in our first experience of celebrating St. Martin. Though my personality leans more towards what we experienced with our village lantern procession, I have three boys that couldn’t stop talking about the fireballs in Vianden. Truthfully, I couldn’t either. I think the memory is forever SEARED in our brains!
Happy St. Martin’s Day!
