November 11: A Day of Peace, Courage, and Charity

Fr. Scott Haynes

Veterans Day — Armistice Day — Saint Martin’s Day

As the eleventh hour of the eleventh day of the eleventh month arrives, the world pauses. The date carries a remarkable harmony of meanings: a soldier’s courage, a world’s longing for peace, and a saint’s act of mercy.

November 11 is Veterans Day in the United States, Armistice Day in many nations, and the Feast of Saint Martin of Tours in the Church’s calendar. Each remembers a different kind of battle, yet all three call us to gratitude, peace, and love.

Armistice Day: The Silence After the Guns

At 11:00 a.m. on November 11, 1918, the guns of the Great War fell silent. After more than four years of bloodshed, the Armistice brought an end to the fighting on the Western Front. What had been called “the war to end all wars” left millions dead and a scar on the human heart that would never fully heal.

The armistice was signed in a railway carriage in the forest of Compiègne, France. When the news spread, church bells rang, soldiers wept, and cities erupted with relief. Across Europe and America, the day became one of solemn remembrance—a moment to honor the fallen and to pray that humanity might never again descend into such violence.

In 1919, King George V declared the first Armistice Day, calling for two minutes of silence “for the thoughts of everyone to be concentrated on reverent remembrance of the glorious dead.”

That silence still speaks today. It is a sacred pause, not of despair, but of hope—that peace, however fragile, might grow again from the fields of war.

Veterans Day: Honoring Those Who Serve

In 1954, the United States renamed Armistice Day as Veterans Day, widening the commemoration to honor all who have served in the nation’s armed forces—those who fought in battle, those who stood guard in peace, and those who gave their lives in defense of others.

While Memorial Day remembers the fallen, Veterans Day honors the living, too—the men and women whose courage, duty, and sacrifice safeguard the peace that others enjoy.

The Christian sees in their service an image of Christ’s own words: “Greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends” (John 15:13). Soldiers, sailors, airmen, and marines who have risked their lives for others reflect that Gospel love in a uniquely human way.

Veterans Day, like Armistice Day before it, is not a glorification of war but a reverence for sacrifice—a thanksgiving for those who, amid danger and hardship, chose service over self.

Saint Martin of Tours: The Soldier Who Became a Saint

It is no coincidence that Saint Martin of Tours, patron of soldiers, is celebrated on November 11. His life embodies the transformation from warfare to peace that Armistice Day symbolizes.

Martin was a young Roman officer when he met a poor beggar trembling in the cold at the gate of Amiens. Moved with compassion, he drew his sword, cut his cloak in half, and covered the man with it. That night, he dreamed of Christ wearing the same piece of cloak and saying, “Martin, yet a catechumen, hath clothed Me with this garment.”

Soon after, Martin laid down his weapons and devoted his life to Christ. He became a monk, then Bishop of Tours, and spent the rest of his days healing divisions, preaching mercy, and serving the poor. His feast became known as Martinmas—a day of thanksgiving, charity, and light in the encroaching darkness of winter.

In medieval Europe, Martinmas was a time to share the harvest, to feast on the Martinmas goose, and to carry lanterns through the streets as symbols of Christian charity. His story taught generations that the truest victory is not won on battlefields, but in hearts transformed by love.

One Day, Three Meanings

Though born of different times, Veterans Day, Armistice Day, and Saint Martin’s Day belong together in spirit.

• Armistice Day reminds us that peace is precious and fragile.

• Veterans Day honors the courage of those who defend that peace.

• Saint Martin’s Day calls us to charity, the only force that makes peace lasting.

In the soldier who laid down his sword to serve God, the saint who clothed the poor, and the nations that vowed “never again,” we see a single thread running through history: the longing for peace through sacrifice and love.

A Call for Our Own Time

As the bells toll again this November 11, their echo asks each of us a question:Have we become peacemakers? Do we carry light in the dark?

Saint Martin’s divided cloak, the fallen soldier’s silent grave, and the veteran’s humble salute—all speak to the same truth. The world is held together not by power, but by compassion.

So let this day be more than a memory. Let it be a renewal—a day when we give thanks for peace, pray for those who keep it, and clothe the poor Christ who still stands shivering at our gates.

Scripture for the Day

“Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called the children of God.”— Matthew 5:9

These words bring together the saint and the soldier—the spiritual armor of righteousness, the battle for peace within and without.

Bibliography

• Butler, Alban. Lives of the Saints: November 11 – St. Martin of Tours. London: Virtue and Company, 1894.

• Gregory of Tours. Life of Saint Martin. Translated by F. R. Hoare. Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1969.

• Holweck, Frederick. A Biographical Dictionary of the Saints. St. Louis: B. Herder, 1924.

• Keegan, John. The First World War. New York: Vintage, 1999.

• The Catholic Encyclopedia. “St. Martin of Tours.” New York: Robert Appleton Company, 1911.

• “Proclamation of Armistice Day.” The London Gazette, November 1919.

• United States Department of Veterans Affairs. History of Veterans Day. Washington, D.C., 2018.