Saint Martin's Bags - Goodies for the Children

Il-Borża ta' San Martin, or St. Martin's Bags, are a festive tradition in Malta on the feast of St. Martin of Tours. Children are given these bags full of treats associated with the feast. The cloth bags have drawstrings at the top and are filled with fruits of the harvest.

Common contents of the bags include:
~almonds
~walnuts
~hazelnuts
~chestnuts
~oranges
~tangerines
~figs
~apples
~pomegranates

It might also contain St. Martin's bread (Weckmanner in Germany). We just used what we had on hand - peanuts, cashews, and dried fruit. The bags are easy to make. This one is a light muslin, decorated with a goose - symbol associated with St. Martin.

A poem about the bag of treats to recite:
Ġewż, Lewż, Qastan, Tin
Kemm inħobbu lil San Martin.

Walnuts, Almonds, Chestnuts, Figs
I very much love Saint Martin.

At our St. Martin feast day celebration with our local support group today, a friend of mine made "beggar bags" for all the kids. They were crumpled, brown paper bags signifying simplicity and poverty. The picture on the bag shows St. Martin with the beggar. They contained nuts, fruit and a cookie.