Saint Martin of Tours
Feast day: November 11
Saint Martin of Tours, the soldier who cut his cloak in two for a poor man and later became a bishop (11/11)
Who is he?
Saint Martin of Tours was a Roman soldier who became a monk (a religious who lives in a monastery) and then bishop of the city of Tours, France, in the fourth century. His story was written down by Sulpicius Severus, a man who knew him.
Life story
Martin was born around 316 or 336 in Savaria, now in Hungary. His father was a Roman officer. At 10, the boy went to church on his own and asked to become a catechumen (someone who is learning the faith to prepare for Baptism). At 15, as the law required, he had to join the cavalry.
According to Sulpicius Severus, one very cold winter, he was riding through the gate of the city of Amiens when he met a beggar who had almost nothing to cover himself and was shivering. Everyone else walked past without helping. Martin had nothing but his weapons and the clothes he was wearing. He drew his sword, cut his soldier’s cloak in two, gave half to the poor man and wrapped himself in the other half.
That night, he dreamed that Jesus was wearing that half of the cloak and telling the angels that it was Martin, a man still learning the faith, who had clothed him in it. Jesus’ words had come true: “as you did it to one of the least of these my brethren, you did it to me” (Mt 25:40). After that dream, he hurried to ask for Baptism.
Not long after, he asked to leave the army, saying: “I am a soldier of Christ.” He studied under Saint Hilary of Poitiers and founded a monastery at Ligugé. In 371, the people of Tours wanted to choose him as their bishop. He humbly did not want to accept; according to tradition, he hid in a goose pen, but the cackling geese gave him away. Once he was bishop, he still lived simply like a monk, traveling through the villages to preach and helping the poor. He died on 8 November 397.
Why is he a saint?
Saint Martin saw Jesus in the poor. He was humble, prayed a lot, and spent his whole life serving God and everyone, from the time he was a young soldier until he became a bishop.
A lesson for you
- Share with people in need: an old jacket that is still good, some of your snacks, a meal.
- Don’t wait until you have a lot before you give: Martin had only one cloak, and he still shared half.
- When you meet poor people, look at them with respect, because Jesus is in them.
Identifying marks
- A red cloak cut in two with a sword: when he was a soldier, he cut his cloak in half to share it with a freezing beggar.
- A beggar in rags beside him: in a dream that night, Jesus showed him that he himself had received the half cloak.
- Roman soldier’s armor: he was a cavalry soldier of the Roman Empire when he was young.
- A white horse (faint in the background): in pictures and statues, he is usually on horseback as he shares his cloak.
- A goose, a bishop’s miter and staff (*): according to tradition, he hid in a goose pen to avoid being chosen as bishop, but the cackling geese gave him away.
(*) Only in some pictures and statues.
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