Feast day: November 11
St. Martin of Tours
Roman soldier who cut his cloak in half for a freezing beggar — then dreamed of Christ wearing it; he became a monk, a missionary, and France's most beloved bishop.
Martin was born about 316 in Pannonia, in what is now Hungary, the son of a pagan officer of the Roman army, and was himself enrolled as a soldier while still a youth. Already drawn to the faith as a catechumen, he performed the act for which he is forever remembered: at the gate of Amiens on a bitter winter day he met a half-naked beggar shivering in the cold, and, having nothing else to give, drew his sword and cut his military cloak in two, giving half to the poor man.
That night, the tradition says, he dreamed he saw Christ wearing the half-cloak he had given away, and heard him say to the angels, 'Martin, still only a catechumen, has clothed me with this garment.' Soon baptized, Martin came to feel he could no longer bear arms, telling his commander before a battle, 'I am a soldier of Christ; it is not lawful for me to fight' — one of the earliest recorded acts of Christian conscientious objection.
Released from the army, he became a disciple of St. Hilary of Poitiers and founded what may be the first monastery in Gaul. So great was his holiness that the people of Tours seized him and, against his will, made him their bishop. He governed for years in monastic simplicity, traveling his diocese to uproot paganism, destroy idols, and care for the poor, yet always with mercy toward sinners.
Martin was one of the first holy men honored as a saint who was not a martyr, and his cult spread across all of Europe; he became a great patron of France and of soldiers. The half-cloak he kept, his 'cappa,' was treasured by the Frankish kings, and the little building that housed it — the 'cappella' — gave our language the word 'chapel.' He died in 397.
He's both the patron of soldiers and one of the first conscientious objectors: 'I am a soldier of Christ; it is not lawful for me to fight.' His feast on Nov 11 is now Armistice Day.
“I am a soldier of Christ. It is not lawful for me to fight.”
— St. Martin of Tours
Image: Simone Martini (Public domain), via Wikimedia Commons.
Source: newadvent.org/cathen/09732b.htm
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