Veterans Day Mass Focuses On Warriors Young And Old

In the United States, Veterans Day actually was born as Armistice Day, and was intended to remember the end of World War I. The Congressional act that established it in 1938 stated that Nov. 11 henceforth would be "a day to be dedicated to the cause of world peace and to be thereafter celebrated and known as 'Armistice Day.’ President Dwight D. Eisenhower signed legislation in 1954 that made the annual holiday Veterans Day and expanded it to be a holiday in memory of all U.S. military veterans.

At St. John the Evangelist Parish in Daylight, a special Nov. 11 Veterans Day Mass included all of those elements. “As I look around the sanctuary, I see you warriors young and old … and I commend you,” Pastor Father Chris Forler told attendees. Before Mass began, Army Veteran Don Gillies, who worked with Father Forler to organize the Mass, spoke about the Mass and what it means.

“Let us never forget what war does to our nation and our world,” Gillies said. “That’s why it’s so important to pray for peace. In God’s name let us pray together to the Prince of Peace; and let us continue to have faith in our faith.”

Father Forler noted that on the Church’s liturgical calendar, Nov. 11 is the Feast of St. Martin of Tours, who was a soldier. “The Church doesn’t consult the U.S. when it sets the liturgical calendar,” he said, adding that it seemed providential that the two memorials fall on the same date.

“What makes a good solider?” he asked. “I believe good soldiers embrace and practice obedience, unity, steadfastness, courage and conviction. Today’s readings on the Feast of St. Martin of Tours include all of those attributes.”

He discussed the saint’s life, noting that he can be viewed as one of the world’s first “conscientious objectors” because he went to the front lines of battle unarmed. “St. Martin was the son of pagan parents, and he because a catechumen at age 10. At the age of 15, his father forced him into service in his father’s own unit,” Father Forler explained.

“They made an expedition to the north of Italy, and St. Martin encountered a man wearing tattered rags for clothes – and he removed the bottom half of his cloak and gave it to the man to help him stay warm.”

Father Forler added that St. Martin had a drea that very night in which Jesus was the man to whom St. Martin gave the cloak, and he was telling the angels what a “new catechumen” had done for Him. St. Martin refused to go into combat, but he went to the front line unarmed to support the effort in other ways.

He later became a priest and founded one of the first monasteries in western Europe, and also served as a bishop.

“The virtues that stood St. Martin in good stead on the battlefield are the same that stood him in good stead as a priest and bishop,” Father Forler said. “He always saw himself as a soldier … in service to his Commander, Jesus. May we all be dedicated to the Great Commander and serve Him.”

As part of the Mass’ opening procession, Gillies and St. John the Evangelist Parishioner Greg Odom placed a pair of military boots and a tri-folded U.S. flag at the foot of the altar. Parishioner Cyrus Bosse, 15, who served the Mass with his brother Mike, played “Taps” on a trumpet before the opening hymn.

The parish held a reception for veterans, their families and friends following the Mass.