Celebrating St. Martin’s Day: Focusing on kindness in November
Once November rolls around, with Halloween candy still uneaten in bags on the top pantry shelf and the holiday season still a ways off, many families look for meaningful ways to stay connected through cozy traditions.
This is when we can look to our overseas friends in Europe for inspiration. There is an often-overlooked but rich cultural holiday to consider that’s full of traditions — St. Martin’s Day. Celebrated on November 11th in several European countries, St. Martin’s Day is a perfect opportunity to blend storytelling, creativity, and kindness, while providing a perfect opportunity to create fun, new traditions at home.
St. Martin’s Day honors St. Martin of Tours, a 4th-century Roman soldier — turned bishop — who is best known for a specific act of kindness: cutting his cloak in half to share with a beggar during a snowstorm. It’s a simple, touching story that resonates deeply with children and offers a natural springboard for themes of empathy, generosity and humility.
In Germany, the Netherlands, France, as well as parts of Belgium, Austria, and Switzerland, children parade together after dark, with lanterns held high singing songs about St. Martin. There are bonfires, sweet bread shaped like the saint and traditional meals of roasted goose.
But at its heart, the holiday is about seeing others in need and choosing kindness. For young children, this is a particularly important time to start developing empathy for those beyond their immediate family. Celebrating St. Martin’s Day gives families a structured way to discuss compassion, charity, and how even small actions can have a big impact.
In one of our audio stories about Germany — A Royal St. Martin’s Day — our character, 11 year old Maja struggles with how she can help a homeless man during their visit to the famous castle Neuschwanstein in a small town in Bavaria. She learns how far even just a little kindness can go.
To accompany this story, we created the Around the World Stories Kindness Calendar. It’s full of ways you and your kids can show kindness in your community. Get your free calendar to share with your kids below.
But it all starts with a story — the story of St. Martin: The Kind Knight.
St. Martin: The Kind Knight
A long, long time ago in Europe, there lived a brave and kind soldier named Martin. In this time, life was hard for many people. The lucky were able to farm and grow food to survive. The unlucky had very little — not even a home or clothes to keep them warm in the winter.
Martin was very fortunate because, as a soldier for the Roman army — the most powerful army in the world at that time — he made enough money to live in a nice home and ate good food and wore nice clothes. In the small villages, through which Martin would often pass, people would admire him for his big strong horse, his shiny sword and helmet and his fancy red cloak that kept him warm even in the coldest of winds.
But although Martin enjoyed being admired and was proud of his position as a soldier, there was something that troubled him. Everywhere he looked, he saw people that had less than he did, and this was difficult for Martin — because Martin had a big heart and a kind spirit.
One cold winter night, Martin was riding his horse along the road, very glad he had his fancy red cloak to keep him warm. But all of a sudden he saw something that made him stop. There, sitting by the side of the road, was a poor man. He was shivering from head to toe and had no coat to keep him warm.
Martin looked at the man and felt so sorry for him.
“What do I do,” thought Martin. He had no blanket or coat to give the man. At the same time, his big heart and kind spirit would not allow him to just pass by and forget what he’d seen. Then Martin had an idea.
He took off his red cloak and drew his sword. Then he carefully cut his cloak in half and gave the half to the poor man. Martin placed the cloak around the man’s shoulders and could instantly feel the man’s shivers fading. The man was so surprised by what had happened that he didn’t know what to say. But he didn’t have to say anything. As Martin rode off into the night, covered only with half a cloak, his big heart was full of joy.
The man looked up, surprised and thankful. Martin smiled, nodded, and rode off into the night with only half a cloak—but a heart full of joy. It was in that moment that Martin knew what he should do — spend the rest of his life helping others
As a soldier Martin continued to help anyone he could. Then when he was older, he left the army and became a kind bishop who helped the poor, shared food, and taught people to love and care for one another.
That was more than 1600 years ago, but still today people honor St. Martin for one day every year. On November 11, as the days grown shorter and the cold winds begin to bite, children carry lanterns through the dark streets and they sing — showing the importance of bringing light, warmth and hope to those in need around the world.
