11 NOVEMBER: SAINT MARTIN OF TOURS
An act of charity that has been handed down for centuries
There is no doubt that Saint Martin of Tours is well known throughout the world, if for no other reason than his act of charity of sharing half his cloak with a beggar. According to tradition, on that same night Jesus appeared to him wrapped in the beggar’s garments, wearing half a cloak.
This “cape” that belonged to Saint Martin was preserved as a celebrated relic and became part of the collection of the Merovingian kings. Charlemagne sent the Saint’s cape to the Palatine chapel of Aachen, whose name was changed to Aix-la-Chapelle in French and Aachen in German. The chapel’s name has its roots in the place where the Merovingian kings kept Saint Martin’s cape.
In the fifth and sixth centuries, his veneration spread rapidly throughout Europe and many churches were dedicated to him, for being an instrument of the Christianization of the countryside, and for his contribution to Christian conversions in many areas of the Roman Empire. He is considered the first non-martyr to have been canonized and celebrated by the undivided Church.
At one time, the Feast of Saint Martin was like the New Year’s Eve of peasants. In ancient times, the period of penance and fasting in preparation for Christmas began on 12 November and took the name of Saint Martin’s Lent.
What we know about him comes from Sulpicius Severus, a rich lawyer from the fourth century who admired Saint Martin, was his disciple and wrote, not a proper biography, but an account that highlighted the Saint’s holiness.
Martin was born around 316 in Pannonia, Sabaria, modern-day Szombathely, Hungary. His father, who was an officer of the Roman Empire, enlisted him in the Imperial cavalry. Martin soon decided to become a Christian and to live a life dedicated to God.
He left the army in 356. and the Bishop of Poitiers, Saint Hilary, who strongly opposed the Arian heresy, wanted him close to him. But the young man left for Illyria to convert his pagan parents. He succeeded in having his mother Baptized. After a long journey in which he stopped in Milan and Rome, he returned to Poitiers. Saint Hilary, who in the meantime had been exiled by Emperor Constantine II for his opposition to Arianism, ordained him a priest and invited him to settle in a hermitage in Ligugé. Several of his disciples followed him. Martin spent 15 years there, deepening his knowledge of the Bible, carrying out his apostolate in the countryside and performing miracles. The hermitage is the first documented monastic community in France.
Saint Martin’s fame of holiness became so widespread that the citizens of Tours tricked him into coming to their city to elect him Bishop, against his will. When he accepted his appointment, he became a zealous Bishop, but he wished to remain a monk. He founded a monastery in Marmoutier, near Tours, where his life followed the rhythm of prayers, fasting and penance, fleeing from all honours and luxury. Instead, he was always ready to help the poor and those in need. He carried out his ministry not only in the dioceses, but in all of Gaul and became the apostle of those territories. In his account, Sulpicius Severus listed a series of miracles and healings attributed to Saint Martin, including the healing of paralytic girl in Treves, one of the capitals of the western part of the Roman Empire, where Martin had gone to meet with the Emperor, and the healing of a leper in Paris.
After a life of service to God and to the Church, he died on 8 November in Candes, a parish he had founded. He had gone there to foster peace among the local clergy. Thousands of people attended his funeral on 11 November. He is the defender of tailors, innkeepers, hotelkeepers, merchants, grape pickers and wine growers.