by Fr Gabriel-Allan Boyd
It’s a funny sounding name. It seems almost like there was once a bishop who gave people guided tours through some roadside attraction. Instead, however, he was a bishop assigned to a province in Gaul (now France), called Tours. His feast is celebrated today, November 12.
Martin was born in the early 300s, in the area of what’s now called Hungary. Both of Martin’s parents were pagan, and Martin’s father held the military rank of a Roman Tribune. This meant that he served as a commanding officer in the Imperial Cavalry. A Tribune’s rank was so well-respected, that it was often only a step away from procuring a place as a Roman Senator. This meant that Martin, being the son of a Tribune, would have had the best education that money could buy and the finest qualities of courageous military leadership would have been warmly modeled to him.
Martin was born at a sweeping, consequential time when the Emperor Constantine had finally made it legal to openly proclaim and practice Christianity in the Roman Empire. The Good News of Jesus Christ had now begun to spread like wildfire…although upper class society (like the people from Martin’s family) still tended to look upon it with contempt.
So, even though his parents wouldn’t have approved, little ten-year-old Martin began sneaking off to attend a Christian Church, to see what this rapidly multiplying movement was all about. Meanwhile, he was also receiving instruction in the faith. Yet, it would be a while before he would become baptized. By age fifteen, since he was the son of a military veteran, Martin was required to join and begin training in the military’s cavalry. By the time he turned eighteen, he had risen to such eminence as to become part of the elite cavalry bodyguard assigned to escort the emperor whenever he traveled throughout his empire. Eventually, Martin was sent on assignment to an area of what is now Northern Italy, where he grew up.
One winter day, the young soldier, Martin, saw a beggar shivering at the city gate, with barely any clothing to protect him from the bitter cold. Since Martin had no money to give, he famously cut his cloak in half and gave half of it to the beggar. That night, Martin had a dream where he saw Christ wearing the half-cloak. Since the time he snuck-off to attend Church as a ten year old boy, he’d thought about becoming a Christian. But this dream encounter with Christ resolved the matter in his mind…and he sought out baptism immediately.
After fulfilling his 25 year military term, at forty five years old, Martin found himself in the distasteful position of protecting the anti-Christian Emperor, Julian the Apostate, just before a battle was about to take place. Thus, he decided to change from being a faithful soldier of the Roman Emperor, to serving as a faithful soldier of Christ. He refused to take the retirement money due him from Julian, insisting that he could no longer submit to his authority and would not be heading off into battle on his behalf. Martin was consequently charged with cowardice and taken into custody. He responded by asking to be sent, unarmed, to the front lines of the battle…which the emperor was only too happy to do. However, before this could take place, the enemy negotiated for a truce and Martin ended up being released from his military service.
Devoting himself fully to serving Christ, Martin traveled to the area of Gaul, called Tours. There, he became a disciple of Hillary, Bishop of Poitiers. In the west, Bishop Hillary was the leading proponent of belief in God as Trinity—co-equal Father, Son, & Holy Spirit. Hillary was leading the resistance to the heresy known as Arianism. The Arians taught that God’s Son never existed from before all time, but rather, only came into existence at a certain point in time…and therefore that He was not co-equal with the Father, but rather subordinate to Him. Constantius’ imperial court in the west had become charmed by Arius’ teachings, and so, since Bishop Hillary was constantly criticizing their theology, they ultimately forced him into exile. By this point, Martin was refuting the Arian heresy so effectively, that it resulted in him being additionally scourged and exiled.
After the death of the Emperor Constantius, both Bishop Hillary and Martin returned to Tours from their exile. There, Bishop Hillary helped Martin establish a monastery. From this monastery, Martin worked fervently as an exceptional evangelist, bringing many people from the surrounding areas to faith in Jesus Christ…and baptizing them into the Church.
Eventually, the area of Tours came to need a new bishop, so the people recognized Martin as the most obvious choice. Of course, he wanted nothing to do with becoming a hierarch, so the people tricked him. They called him to come to the Church quickly to anoint and pray over someone who was sick. But when he arrived, he instead found the Church at the ready to elevate him to bishop. He tried to duck away into a barn full of geese, but in a comic scene from the past, he accidently startled them into honking and alarming others to his whereabouts. He was forthwith brought back to the Church and ordained as bishop. Thereafter, he devoted his life to fulfilling a most beautifully courageous role, as he’d learned to do when he was a soldier...protecting his people in spiritual battle.
Thus, Bishop Martin set about establishing an organized system of parishes throughout his diocese. He made a point to visit each parish at least once per year. As well, Martin devoted himself to combating paganism and closing pagan temples…especially among the Druids which were still quite dominant at the time. In one instance, the pagan priests agreed to cut down their idol, a large fir tree, but only if Martin would stand directly in the path of its fall. He valiantly did so, and when it fell, it cleanly missed him.
Martin, once a soldier, fighting bravely and faithfully in the service of an earthly sovereign, had now become enlisted to fight bravely in the service of Christ. Throughout his life, he passionately and faithfully proclaimed the Gospel of Jesus Christ and won many to the Christian faith.