St. Martin of Tours

Sulpitius Severus on St. Martin of Tours

Martin was raised from a humble beginning in Italy. At the age of ten, against the wishes of his parents, became a catechumen. When he was fifteen, however, his father, a solider, (who Sulpitius Severus considered a heathen), forced him to join the Roman military ranks. He was stationed in France. He used his time pay as a soldier to help others: aiding those in trouble, supporting the needy, clothing the naked, helping the "wretched."

While he was still active in the military, Christ appeared to St. Martin. During one especially cold winter, St. Martin met a poor man who was freezing in the cold outside the gates of the city of Amiens. Martin cut his cloak in half and gave it to the man. The following night, Christ appeared to him in a vision wearing the half-cloak and told him that he himself had been clothed in that poor man. When Martin woke, the cloak had been restored. Martin received baptism, at age eighteen, but continued to work as a soldier for two more years before becoming a solider for God. He refused to fight for Caeser any longer, and was jailed for a short time. Martin traveled to Tours, where he became a disciple of Hilarius, a bishop. When Hilarius was forced into exile from Poitiers, Martin returned to Italy.

During his life, Martin made many miracles happen and saved many by setting an example. In one incident, on his way back to Italy, he fell prey to the hands of robbers in the Alps who almost killed him. Martin preached the word of God to one of the robbers, saved himself, and saved the soul of the man. At another incident, Martin almost fell victim to the devil, but through his faith in God, thwarted his efforts. Martin was called upon to undertake the episcopate of the church at Tours and leave the monastery that he had entered. He became the Bishop of Tours, but established a small monastery of about eighty brothers near the city that he used as a hermitage retreat.

Some of the other miracles and good deeds of Martin included bringing dead men back to life, curing the sick, demolishing false heathen temples and altars (at where he would immediately build churches or monasteries), and casting out devils and performing exorcisms. In some cases, St. Martin would sway the minds of the heathens towards Christianity that they would overthrow their own temples. During many of his Christian works, St. Martin's life was threatened. Each time Martin called upon Christ to protect him. In one incident, at the very moment a heathen attacked Martin with the intent to kill him, the weapon flew out of his hands and disappeared.

Martin also showed his miracle work in other ways. After demolishing a heathen temple, he set about cutting down a pine-tree which had been dedicated to a demon. The heathens, who had been quiet about their temple being overthrown because they were under the influence of the Lord, started protesting. The heathens said to Martin that if he trusts in God, then he will escape injury when they cut it down with the intent that it fall on him. The heathens cut down their own tree so that it would fall on Martin, but as it fell, he put his hand up in its way, caused it to spin round like a top, and fall to the other side so that it almost crushed the heathens. The heathens were amazed by such a miracle, and on that day salvation came to that region.

Martin cured many ailments. On one occasion, there was this girl who was paralyzed so she could barely move. When her father learned that Martin had come to the their city, he ran to Martin to request that he save her. Martin, being unsure and surprised by the request, shrank back, denying he could do anything to save her body and saying he was not a worthy instrument through whom the Lord could display his power. Martin finally agreed to go, and upon seeing her, cast himself down on the ground and prayed. He asked that they give him oil, and he blessed it and poured it into her mouth. Immediately her voice returned. Then gradually, though contact with him, the girl's limbs returned one by one and she could walk again.