St Martin of Tours was the 3rd bishop of Tours in France.
He was born in 316 AD in Savaria, (now Szombathely) Hungary.
He died on November 8 397 AD in Candes-Saint-Martin, France.
We celebrate his feast day on November 11 every year in the Catholic Church.
| St Martin of Tours, Bishop Biography | |
|---|---|
 |
|
| Date of Birth | 316 AD |
| Place of Birth | Savaria, (now Szombathely) Hungary |
| Profession | Bishop of Tours |
| Place of Work | Tours, France |
| Date of Death | November 8 397 AD |
| Place of Death | Candes-Saint-Martin, France |
| Feast Day | November 11 |
| Canonization | Pre-Congregation |
Saint Martin of Tours Life History
St Martin of Tours’ early life was revealed by his personal friend, Sulpicius Severus who gave accounts of his miracles.
Martin’s father was a senior officer in the Roman Army. As a veteran, he was given land to retire at Ticinum (now Pavia), Italy where the family grew up.
When he was 10 years old, he began going to Church although his parents were against it. This was the period when Emperor Constantine legalized Christianity in the Roman Empire in 313 AD.
At the age of 15, Martin, as the son of a veteran, was forced to join the Roman army and specialized in the elite cavalry bodyguard of the Emperor. This unit escorted the emperor as he traveled around the empire.
One very cold day, as a soldier, Martin was going towards the gates of the city of Amiens where he met a beggar who wore scantily.
Feeling pity for him, he tore his military cloak in half and gave it to the beggar to shelter him from the cold.
At night St Martin of Tours had a vision of Jesus clothed in the robe he had given to the beggar, telling the angels that, “Martin, only a catechumen, has clothed me with this robe.”
It is also said that when he woke up, he found that his robe had been restored to wholeness. This is the time when Martin was baptized.
Martin did not stay long in the military. After baptism at the age of 18 years, he felt the call to work for Christ.
He started to revolt against his superiors and at one time, he declined to take his salary and also to go to war. He said, “I am the soldier of Christ: it is not lawful for me to fight.”
This made the military commanders charge him with cowardice. Martin, in defense, volunteered to go to the war and fight on the frontline unarmed.
The superiors took up the challenge and agreed to go ahead with the plans but just before deployment, the invading enemies agreed on a truce, and the battle was averted. Consequently, Martin was discharged from the military.
After leaving the military, he went to the city of Tours in France and became a disciple of Hilary of Poitiers, the Bishop of Poitiers.
Due to his opposition to the Arianism of the Imperial Court, Hilary of Poitiers was exiled from Poitiers. At this time Martin returned to Italy.
On the way back to Italy, St Martin of Tours converted several people to Christianity, and upon reaching home he converted his mother and several other people but his father was a hard nut to crack.
St Martin of Tours opposed the Arians in Illyricum and as a consequence, he was flogged and forced to leave that area.
He went to Milan and met Auxentius, the Arian Archbishop of Milan, who also rejected his presence in Milan city and expelled him.
From Milan, Martin went to seek solace on an island in the Ligurian Sea called Gallinaria, (now Isola d’Albenga), where he lived alone as a hermit. Time and again, he would meet with Hilary of Poitiers.
St Martin of Tours ate wild fruits, leaves, and roots. At one time, he unknowingly ate a poisonous root. On his deathbed, he prayed and he miraculously recovered.
When Hilary of Poitiers returned to his diocese after the exile in 361 AD, St Martin of Tours followed him and established a hermitage in Poitiers and started to attract followers and converts.
St Martin of Tours was chosen as the bishop of Tours in 371 AD because of his good decorum, likable demeanour, and pious disposition.
He reluctantly went to Tours to be consecrated as a bishop after the people played a trick on him that he should go there to administer to a sick person.
Legend has it that, after being informed that he would be consecrated as a bishop, he hid in a barn full of geese but his presence there made the geese honk so loud that he was discovered. He is thus referred to as the patron saint of geese.
When he became bishop, he commenced the operation of destroying the pagan scriptures, alters, and temples.
Sulpicius Severus claims that at one time when St Martin of Tours demolished an ancient pagan temple, he went ahead to cut down their sacred pine. The pagans protested the move but Martin insisted on cutting it.
To be allowed to finally cut it down, the pagans gave him one condition, that he stands exactly where the tree would fall.
Martin agreed and when the tree was cut down, it fell a few inches away from where Martin stood and therefore miraculously escaped death.
St Martin of Tours started establishing parishes from scratch and once per year, he would visit them. He also continued to set up monasteries and communities around his see.
He was also so merciful that he would go out to the authorities and emperors begging for the release of prisoners.
Along with Saint Ambrose, St Martin of Tours rejected Bishop Ithacius’s principle of the death penalty that was imposed on the adherents of the Priscillian ascetic sect.
Priscillian, the head of the sect, and his followers had been condemned for propagating Priscillian heresy and were sentenced to death by Roman emperor Magnus Maximus.
Death
St Martin of Tours died on November 8 397 AD in Candes-Saint-Martin, in central France but was buried in Tours where his body was taken to at night.
St Martin of Tours Feast Day
We celebrate his feast day on November 11 every year in the Catholic Church.
St Martin of Tours is the Patron Saint of
- Beggars
- Baħrija, Malta
- Against poverty
- Against Alcoholism
- Foiano della Chiana, Italy
- Edingen equestrians
- Dieburg, Germany
- Conscientious Objectors
- Church Lads’ and Church Girls’ Brigade
- Cavalry
- Burgenland, Austria
- Buenos Aires, Argentina
- Beli Manastir, Croatia
- Archdiocese of Bratislava, Slovakia
- Olpe, Germany
- Montemagno, Italy
- Kortrijk (Courtrai or Courtray), Belgium
- Innkeepers
- Hotel-keepers
- Horses
- Geese
- France
- Diocese of Mainz, Germany
- Touraine, France
- Taal, Batangas, Philippines
- Riders
- Reformed alcoholics
- US Army Quartermaster Corps
- Pontifical Swiss Guards
- Pietrasanta, Italy
- Ourense, Spain
- Wissmannsdorf, Germany
- Winemakers
- Wine growers
- Virje, Croatia
- Vintners
- Villadoz, Spain
- Utrecht, Netherlands
- Tailors
- Soldiers
- Diocese of Rottenburg-Stuttgart, Germany
- Bocaue, Bulacan, Philippines
Other Saints Whose Feast Days are in November
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