Saint Martin of Tours
LIFE – SPIRITUALITY – POSTERITY
LIFE OF SAINT MARTIN
Saint Martin soldier
Martin was born in 316 in Savaria, in the Roman province of Pannonia, in the east of present-day Hungary. His father, a tribune in the Roman army, commanded a legion of six thousand men. Martin’s parents practised the pagan religion. It is known, however, that at the age of 10, the child had his first contact with the Church.
The shared mantle
Around the age of 15, Martin himself joined into the army and served in the cavalry. Stationed in Amiens, while he was still a catechumen, he made the decisive gesture of his vocation. During the winter of 338-339, the young knight met a poor man in rags who asked him for alms. Martin had no money with him, so he drew his sword, cut his cloak down the middle and gave half to the poor man. This was Saint Martin’s first act of charity.
Christ appears to Saint Martin
The following night, Christ appeared to him, wearing the half of the cloak given to the poor man, and said to him: “Martin, while still a catechumen, clothed me with this garment”. It was then that he realised that what he had done to this little one, he had done to Christ. Still today, at the Mass of Saint Martin, we read this Gospel, in which Christ identifies himself with those who are hungry and thirsty, with those who are foreigners or naked, sick or in prison (Mt 25, 31-46).
Saint Martin renounces military service
Saint Martin was baptised on Easter night 339, aged 22. Two years later, on the eve of a battle against the Alamanni at Worms, he was asked to sacrifice to the imperial cult. He refused both to sacrifice and to fight. Being accused of cowardice, he decided to present himself unarmed before the enemy and miraculously the Alamanni requested peace. Saint Martin could then leave the army.
Saint Martin baptises his mother
Having left the army, Saint Martin became a disciple of Saint Hilaire of Poitiers. One day, in a dream, he received a mission to return to his parents to try to convert them. With Hilaire’s agreement, he made the journey and, having found his parents, he preached the Good News to them. To his great joy, his mother accepted, but his father persisted in his paganism.
Saint Martin monk
Under the guidance of Saint Hilaire, he wanted to prepare for the religious life. He soon settled in another place of solitude, at Ligugé, near Poitiers. He was 45 years old. At the time, this lifestyle was emerging in Western Christianity as a new ideal of holiness; until then, the only form of holiness known was martyrdom. Disciples joined him, and Ligugé became the first monastery in Gaule.
Saint Martin bishop
It was at Ligugé that the people of Tours came to ask Martin to become their bishop. When he refused, they seized him and took him by force to Tours. He finally agreed and was consecrated bishop on 4 July 371. However, he remained a monk and founded another monastery near Tours: Marmoutier, where he came to enjoy solitude and prayer between his missions.
The miracles of Martin
Sulpice Sévère’s account recounts many prodigious feats and miracles that Saint Martin performed in the name of Christ for the sake of evangelisation. His miracles were obtained through his fervent prayers and fasts. An example of this was when he saved and resuscitated a roman slave who had killed himself by hanging himself.
Saint Martin and the spiritual combat
In the course of his missions, Martin confronted the devil on numerous occasions, sometimes in a glorious guise, sometimes in a crude one. Saint Martin often exposed him in the vicinity of places of pagan worship, which were still very present in the countryside. Strengthened by his faith in Christ, he never shies away from confronting the evil one and sin.
Saint Martin, founder of parishes
Under Martin, churches sprang up everywhere. He was the initiator and founder of the rural parishes that would soon cover all the regions of Gaule, present-day France and Belgium. One of the first parishes was Candes Saint Martin, which is now served by priests from the Community of Saint-Martin.
The second charity
In his ministry as a bishop, Martin preserved the charity of his first encounter with Christ. One day, when a poor man entered the sacristy of his cathedral just as he was putting on the pontifical garments, Martin took off his tunic and offered it to him, to the scandal of his pious entourage. During the Mass that followed, a globe of fire appeared above the altar, signalling this “second charity” of Saint Martin.
The third charity
His episcopate lasted 26 years. In the last months of his life, although ill, he went to Candes, at the confluence of the Loire and Vienne rivers, to settle a dispute between clerics. He died there on 8 November 397. Sulpice Sévère, his biographer, recounts Martin’s last words to God as he was about to depart for heaven: “Lord, if I am still needed by your people, I will not refuse the task; thy will be done”.
The cult of Saint Martin
When he died, crowds flocked from all over and soon they began to fight over the remains of the much revered bishop. The people of Tours had the last word; during the night, they took the body through a window in the church and carried it to the Vienne, where a boat was waiting. On 11 November, the body was triumphantly brought back to Tours.
The posterity of Saint Martin
Very quickly, the tomb of Saint Martin – now located in the Basilica of Saint Martin in Tours – became one of the great pilgrimages of France, and his fame spread throughout the whole of Christendom. In France, five hundred villages and hamlets and three thousand seven hundred parishes bear his name.
Saint Martin in heaven
“Saint Martin, equal to the Apostles,
Protect those who celebrate you;
You were willing to live or die
Watch over us.”
Hymn for Lauds of Saint Martin, S. Odon, abbot of Cluny.
The pilgrim’s prayer for “Year of Saint Martin 2016”:
Saint Martin, witness to Jesus Christ,
teach us to make the experience of meeting the Father
in the depths of our hearts
in the silence and reception of the Word of God.
Help us to recognise the presence of Jesus in every person
so that we can serve him and love him in a free gift.
Give us the joy
of living in the freedom of the Holy Spirit,
by stepping out of ourselves
to reach out to the peripheries of our time.
Saint Martin, intercede for us: that we may be
authentic disciples of the merciful Christ,
who died and rose again to share his life with us.
And entrust to our heavenly Father
all the intentions we have.
–
Bernard-Nicolas AUBERTIN, o.cist,
Archbishop of Tours, 134th successor of Saint Martin
Martinian prayer:
Our Father
O Trinity, whom I adore and whose work I admire
In the heart of the Virgin Mary and in the souls of all the saints,
You have chosen me as your temple
May I know how to love in myself the presence of the Son
Offered by the Spirit of Love at the Eucharistic table
For the glory of the Father!
To the strength of the Father in the heart of Mary: Ave Maria
O Mary Immaculate, reflection of divine glory,
Teach me, daughter of the Father, always to say “fiat” with joy.
Mother of the Son, lead me to the daily imitation of your Son,
Make me docile, spouse of the Spirit, to all his inspirations,
especially by my assiduity at the table of the Word.
To the wisdom of the Son in the heart of Mary: Ave Maria.
And you, Blessed Martin, model of evangelisers,
Protector of our Community and our spiritual family,
Grant that I may be with Jesus so that I may preach him alone.
Keep my faith in the Lord of the harvest.
Strengthen my hope in the strength of continual prayer,
Especially for vocations.
Encourage my charity towards my brothers and sisters:
Those who share my life as well as those further away.
To the love of the Holy Spirit in the heart of Mary: Ave Maria.
And let us, now and in the evening of our lives,
Abandoned to divine Providence,
sing with all the saints the Magnificat
To the glorious praise of the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit!
Glory to the Father
Sub Signo Martini
A group of 20 priests involved in the New Evangelisation in France present the face of Martin from an original angle at a time when his jubilee is being celebrated just about everywhere in France. A model of an apostolate placed under the sign of Mercy, the authors underline the very timely aspect of this figure of evangelisation for both priests and the faithful. A serious and easy tool to help everyone find their place in the mission. Only available in French.
