St. Martin of Tours, the great missionary of Gaul, was born in 316 of pagan parents. His father was a Roman soldier of considerable rank, so early on in Martin’s life the family moved to Pavia, Italy. Being the son of a veteran officer, he was naturally obliged to join the ranks of the Roman army at the age of fifteen. This was quite against Martin’s liking though, but for some years he lived the life of a devout Catholic, and repelled the temptations that so commonly follow a soldier. He was not at this time a Catholic, but only studying to become one. Something was to happen, though, that would cause him to join the Church quite soon.

It was while he was stationed at the city of Amiens in present day France, that the incident for which he is probably most famous occurred. It was during a frightfully cold winter day, after a quite severe frost, that Martin, on his way through the city gate noticed a beggar. This poor man was shivering in the cold, for he had hardly anything of any warmth on to protect him from the bitter temperature. Martin looked about, but it seemed that no one else was paying any attention to the shivering man. Martin knew that he had to give the poor beggar something, but alas! Martin had no money with him. Since he had nothing else to give him, Martin (who was himself rather cold) took his cloak and cut it in half with his sword. He then gave half of it to the shivering beggar. Many of the other people standing about laughed at Martin, but others went away ashamed that they had been too selfish to help the poor man themselves.

That night, Martin had a strange dream. In it, he saw Our Lord with the half of the cloak that he had given to the beggar. Martin was very astonished to see this. Had he not given the cloak to the beggar? Why did Christ now have it? His wonder grew when he heard Our Lord say, “Martin, yet a catechumen, has covered me with his garment.” (A catechumen is the name for someone who is studying to become a Catholic.) It was very soon after this extraordinary event that Martin was baptized.

Martin did not immediately leave the army, but stayed until he was about twenty. Soon afterwards he was inspired in a dream to go home to his family. There, he would tell them of the Faith. He left immediately, crossing the Alps and heading into Italy. After an amazing escape from robbers, he went to his family and told them of the Catholic Faith. His mother and siblings converted to the Faith but, sadly, his father did not. After this, he went about opposing the Arian heretics publicly, and with such fervor that he was scourged and forced to leave. After being driven out from place to place, he eventually retired to an island in the gulf of Genoa. Later, he returned to Poitiers in 360.

After his return to Poitiers, he informed the bishop there, St. Hilary (whom Martin had met before he had left to convert his family) that he wished to become a hermit. St. Hilary consented to this request and gave Martin a piece of land, now called Ligugé. He was soon joined by a number of other hermits, forming a community that is traditionally considered the first monastic community founded in Gaul. St. Martin stayed at Ligugé for ten years, directing his monks and preaching about the countryside, causing many miracles to occur.

Around the year 371 the people of Tours requested that Martin be their bishop. He was rather reluctant to accept the office of bishop, for he knew (as many other saints have also known) that such an office comes with great responsibility. The people of Tours, however, simply would not take NO for an answer. They knew that St. Martin was a very holy man, and wanted a man so close to God to guide them also. So, they devised a plan to get him to be their bishop. They called him to the city to visit a sick person, and after he came to Tours they escorted him to the Church and demanded that he be made bishop. Some neighboring bishops, who had been called there to take part in the election of the new bishop, suggested that Martin’s poor appearance showed him unfit for the office. These objections were overcome, and Martin was made bishop of Tours.

Even though he was now bishop, Martin continued to live as he had lived before. He at first tried to live in a cell near the Church, but he was soon unable to endure the constant interruptions. So, he moved to a desert area, closed off on one side by a steep cliff, and by an offshoot of the river Loire on the other. Not much time passed, though, before he had eighty monks there with him, and among them many people of importance. So it was that the famous abbey of Marmoutier was founded.

So Martin continued to go about the area, spreading the Catholic Faith. He went about destroying temples, idols, and other objects that pagans of the area considered sacred. Many miracles took place while he traveled about, bringing many converts. Once, after he had destroyed a temple, he was going to chop down a pine tree near the temple (which was undoubtably held sacred by the pagans there). The pagan priest who resided there, along with some others, said that they would cut down the tree for Martin. But, they would do it on condition that Martin, who (as they said) trusted so greatly in the God whom he preached, would stand where they decided that he should. Martin agreed, and even let himself be tied to the side of the tree that leaned. The pagans began chopping, and soon the tree began to fall. It seemed that the tree was going to fall down right on top of Martin; but he made the sign of the cross and the tree fell miraculously to the side, leaving him unharmed. On another occasion, Martin was tearing down a pagan temple when he was attacked. His pagan attacker was armed with a sword, but Martin remained where he was, unafraid. At this, the pagan mysteriously lost his balance and fell backwards onto the ground. This unexpected turn of events so frightened the poor man that he immediately begged Martin’s forgiveness.

There were many other miracles performed by St. Martin, some in fact quite extraordinary. It was largely do to St. Martin’s piety, miracles, and zealous instruction that a great decrease in paganism occurred in the district of Tours, and in fact in all of that area of Gaul. Every year, he would travel to his outlying “parishes,” whether it was on foot, on a donkey, or by boat. He went to not only the places within his diocese of Tours, but he expanded his ministry to Chartres, Paris, Autun, Sens, and Vienne.

Martin spent many years spreading the light of the Faith throughout Gaul. He was, however, told by God when he was going to die. As that day drew near, he told his disciples that it would soon be time for him to leave this world. His disciples loved him dearly, for he was a wise leader, a holy man, and practically a father to them; so they begged him to remain on earth. So Martin prayed “Lord, if thy people still need me I will not draw back from the work. Thy will be done.” But God had decided that Martin had finished his work on earth; the rest of his work was to now be done from Heaven. So St. Martin’s last sickness came to him, while he was in a remote area of his diocese. He died on November 8, 397. His body was brought back to Tours and buried there on November 12. The next bishop of Tours after St. Martin, St. Britius built a small chapel over St. Martin’s tomb. This chapel was later replaced by a magnificent basilica, which was a rather major pilgrimage site during the middle ages. Of course, there were many other Churches dedicated to St. Martin throughout France, and in fact through all of Europe. He was indeed a beacon of truth that illuminated the land of Gaul, which was shrouded by the darkness of paganism. He was a great missionary to the people of France. He is always remembered by them, for he helped tremendously in planting the Catholic Faith through France, while uprooting the ignorance of paganism. He was true to following Christ’s command, “Go ye into the whole world, and preach the gospel to every creature.”