Worthy Grand Knight, District Deputy, officers and fellow Knights,

Saint Martin of Tours was born in Savaria, Pannonia, in either 316 or 336 AD. That region is part of the modern nation of Hungary. His father was a tribune, a high-ranking officer in the Imperial Horse Guard. Martin and his family accompanied his father when he was assigned to a post at Ticinum in northern Italy, where Martin would grow up.

Just before Martin was born, Christianity was legalized in the Roman Empire and the bloody persecution of Christians soon came to an end. Christianity was not yet the official religion of the state, but it could be practiced and proclaimed openly. The Gospel message soon flourished in ancient Rome, transforming the empire.

Martin's parents were pagans, but at the age of 10, Martin chose to respond to the call of the Gospel and become a Christian.

316 or 336 Martin was born in Savaria, Pannonia.

361 Martin established a monastery at Ligugé.

371 Martin was called to become Bishop of Tours.

397 Martin died at Candes-Saint-Martin.

From Roman Soldier to Christian Disciple

At the age of 15, Martin was required to follow his father into the cavalry corps of the Roman military. By the time he was 18, Martin is believed to have served in Gaul and, eventually, in Milan and Trier. Scholars believe he served as part of the emperor's guard.

As a young soldier, Martin encountered an unclothed beggar in Amiens during bitterly cold weather. Martin removed his cloak and cut it in half with his sword. He gave one half to the beggar and dressed himself in the remainder.

That night, Martin experienced a vision in which Christ appeared to him and said:

“Martin, a mere catechumen, has clothed me.”

A catechumen is someone receiving instruction in the Christian faith. In the early centuries of Christianity, this involved a lengthy process of formation, and Martin was deeply dedicated to it.

At about the age of 20, Martin made it clear to his superiors that, following his formed Christian conscience, he would no longer fight. Before a battle, he refused his pay and announced that he would not participate in the combat. He became the first recognized conscientious objector in recorded history.

His declaration occurred before a battle near the modern German city of Worms. His superiors accused him of cowardice and ordered that he be imprisoned. Martin offered to demonstrate his sincerity by entering the battle unarmed. This was accepted as an alternative to imprisonment, but before the battle could occur, the opposing army agreed to a truce. Martin was subsequently released from military service.

Study, Evangelization and Monastic Life

Once free from military service, Martin fully dedicated himself to Jesus Christ and the Church. He traveled to Tours, France, where he began studying under Hilary of Poitiers, who is now recognized as a Doctor of the Church. Martin's studies continued until Hilary was forced into temporary exile, likely because of his refusal to participate in a political dispute.

Martin then traveled to Italy. According to one account, he encountered a highwayman and led him to faith in Jesus Christ. Another account tells of Martin confronting the Devil.

During this journey, Martin had a vision that compelled him to return to his mother in Pannonia. Pannonia was an ancient country and Roman province in central Europe, south and west of the Danube River. Its former territory is now divided among Hungary, eastern Austria, northern Croatia, northwestern Serbia, Slovenia, western Slovakia and northern Bosnia and Herzegovina.

Martin returned home and led his mother to faith in Jesus Christ. He also attempted to persuade his father to embrace the Christian faith, but as far as we know, his father refused.

Martin then confronted the growing Arian heresy, which denied the divinity of Jesus Christ. The reaction from Arian leaders was so violent that Martin was compelled to flee. He took up residence on an island in the Adriatic Sea, where he lived as a hermit for a time.

Ligugé Abbey

Martin's teacher, Hilary, returned to Tours from exile in 361, so Martin traveled there to continue working and studying with him. Hilary gave Martin a small grant of land where Martin and his disciples could live.

Martin established a monastery that would later be inhabited by the Benedictines. Founded in 361, Ligugé Abbey was destroyed during the French Revolution and reestablished in 1853. The abbey remains active today.

From the abbey, Martin worked throughout the surrounding region to bring people to faith in Jesus Christ and Baptism into His Church. He became an extraordinary evangelist.

Bishop of Tours

In 371, the city of Tours needed a new bishop, and the people decided to call Martin to the office. Martin did not want the position, so the people devised a way to bring him before them. They told him that he was needed to minister to someone who was sick, and Martin came as quickly as he could without taking time to improve his appearance.

When Martin discovered that the request was a plan to make him bishop, he attempted to hide. He was quickly discovered, brought forward and ordained to the office.

Although he had not wanted the position, Martin became a holy and hardworking bishop.

As bishop, Martin established a system of parishes to administer his diocese. He made a point of visiting each parish at least once a year. In addition to these appointed rounds, Martin worked to overcome the remaining pagan practices in the region, particularly the Druid religion. He passionately and faithfully proclaimed the Gospel of Jesus Christ and brought many people to the Christian faith.

Marmoutier Abbey

Martin continued to long for prayer and the monastic life. In 372, he established an abbey at Marmoutier outside Tours in Indre-et-Loire, France. In later years, it followed the Benedictine order and became an influential monastery with many dependencies.

Saint Martin would retreat there and live as a monk with the many disciples he had attracted.

Martin's Defense of the Priscillianists

In the following years, another controversy arose within the Church. An ascetic sect known as the Priscillianists, named after its leader Priscillian, had developed in Spain and Gaul.

Priscillianism was a fourth-century ascetic and mystical Christian movement founded in Hispania, now modern-day Spain and Portugal, by Priscillian, the Bishop of Ávila. It was condemned as a heresy by the early Church and became associated with the first recorded case in which a professing Christian was executed by a secular government for heresy.

The First Council of Saragossa condemned the movement, but the Priscillianists did not change their practices. Ithacius, Bishop of Ossonoba, petitioned the Roman Emperor Magnus Maximus to put Priscillian to death.

Ossonoba was an ancient Phoenician, Carthaginian and Roman city located at the site of modern-day Faro in Portugal's southern Algarve region. It served as an important commercial seaport and as the political and religious center of the southern Roman province of Lusitania.

Martin opposed the death sentence and was joined in his opposition by Bishop Ambrose of Milan. Martin traveled to Trier, where the emperor held court, and persuaded him to refrain from putting Priscillian and his followers to death.

After Martin departed, however, Ithacius persuaded the emperor to reverse his decision. Priscillian and several of his followers were executed in 385.

Martin was so disturbed by Ithacius's actions that he refused to communicate with his fellow bishop until the emperor pressured him to resume communication.

Death and Legacy

Martin died in Candes-Saint-Martin in central France on November 8, 397.

The hagiographer Sulpicius Severus knew Martin personally and wrote about his life. Many miracles and acts of casting out demons were attributed to Martin during his lifetime.

According to one account, Martin was attempting to persuade a group of Druids to follow Jesus Christ and renounce their pagan beliefs. They dared him to stand in the path of a sacred tree that was being felled. Martin agreed. Although he stood directly in its path, the falling pine missed him.

This was widely regarded as a miracle and as confirmation of the message he proclaimed about Jesus Christ. Many people were converted to the Christian faith.

Patronage of Saint Martin

Saint Martin of Tours is the patron saint of the poor, soldiers, conscientious objectors, tailors and winemakers.

Being the patron saint of both soldiers and conscientious objectors may appear contradictory because the two can be in conflict with each other. But the winemakers made everything okay.

Image Credits and Notes

• Ambrogio Lorenzetti, Saint Martin of Tours Dividing His Cloak with a Beggar, circa 1340. Yale University Art Gallery. Public domain via Wikimedia Commons.
• Saint Martin Abbey at Ligugé, photographed by Mairie de Ligugé. Licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0 via Wikimedia Commons.
• Restored statue of Saint Martin in Tours, photographed by GrandCelinien. Released under CC0 via Wikimedia Commons.
• Bob Walz is credited as author and Lecturer for the Council.