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Saint Martin

[Note: this was originally written for an Anglican audience. There was no intention to offend or exclude people of other faiths, merely to inform people within a particular church context. An updated version of this article can be found at the Saints and Seasons webpage.]

Stained glass windows most often show Martin of Tours, as he has become known, as a Roman soldier with half a cloak - he has cut the cloak in two and given the other half to a beggar. And since after cutting his cloak, Martin had a vision of Jesus Christ, who told him that his gift had been to Him, the Lord also is seen in some windows. But that is far from all there is to Martin, and the simplest way of telling it is from the beginning.

His name (Martinus) tells us that he was dedicated to Mars, the Roman god of war, and he came from a pagan military family: his father was an officer in the Roman army, serving at the time of Martin's birth at Sabaria in the province of Pannonia. Martin grew up at Ticinum, in Cisalpine Gaul, and was drawn to Christianity at the age of 10, enrolling as a catechumen. He appears to have been drafted into the army at the age of 15 as veterans' sons usually were, and served in the cavalry of the Imperial Guard. The turning point in his life came one icy winter night as he rode into the city of Samarobriva in Belgica and saw a naked beggar shivering. Impulsively, Martin took off his snow-white cavalry cloak and cut it in half with his sword, wrapping the beggar in one half. The next night he dreamed of the event, but in his dream found himself in Heaven, and that the beggar was Jesus, dressed only in Martin's jagged half cloak and telling the angels: "Martin, still a catechumen, covered me with this cloak." Not long after this experience Martin was baptised.

His attitude towards soldiering changed. The popular cavalryman began to feel that military service was incompatible with Christianity and wanted to buy himse