St. Martin's Day Birthday" for those named after this saint. Small presents or money are common gifts for this special occasion. Tradition says that if it snows on the feast of St. Martin, November 11, then St. Martin came on a white horse and there will be snow on Christmas day. However, if it doesn't snow on this day, then St. Martin came on a dark horse and it will not snow on Christmas. A Czech proverb connected with the Feast of St. Martin - "Martin přijíždí na bílém koni" (trans. "Martin is coming on a white horse") - signifies that the first
St. Martin's Day name in Irish "Díseart Mhartain" or 'Retreat of Martin'. In Sicily, November is the winemaking season. On St. Martin's Day Sicilians eat anise biscuits washed down with Moscato, Malvasia or Passito. More precisely, the hard biscuits are dipped into the Moscato. "l'Estate di San Martino" (Saint Martin's Summer) is the traditional Sicilian reference to a period of unseasonably warm weather in early to mid November. Saint Martin's Day is celebrated in a special way in a village near Messina and at a monastery dedicated to him overlooking Palermo beyond Monreale. Mārtiņi (Martin's) is traditionally celebrated by Latvians on November 10,