St. Martin of Tours
316-397
📅 Feast Day: Nov 11
📖 Life Timeline
Unknown
Born in November 316 AD, Sabaria (Hungary)
397 AD
Died — November 11, 397 AD, Candes, France
Pre-
Canonized — Pre-Tridentine
✝ Biography
MARTIN of TOURS (St) Bp.
R.M. Nov. 11 (and July 4) c.316-397. Born in Upper Pannonia (now Hungary), the son of a Roman officer. He was educated at Pavia and at the age of fifteen enrolled in the imperial cavalry. The episode of his sharing his cloak with a poor beggar and the subsequent heavenly vision which led to his baptism has be- come famous. He’ left the army and placed himself in the hands of St Hilary,
OF SAINTS 403 bishop of Poitiers, living for ten years as a recluse and founding a community of monk-hermits at Ligugé. In 371 he was promoted to the see of Tours, but he ac- cepted the office with great reluctance, and, establishing another great monastic centre at Marmoutier, he continued to live there privately as a monk, while publicly he devoted himself with burning zeal to the discharge of his episcopal duties. He opposed Arianism and Priscillianism, but befriended the Priscillianists when they were persecuted and condemned the practice of invoking the civil power to punish heretics. He was the greatest of the pioneers of Western monachism before St Benedict, who had a particular venera- tion for St Martin. His shrine at Tours was a great resort of pilgrims.
Cf. Duch. Fast. Episc. — Att. — Holw.
MARTIN I (St) Pope. M.
R.M. Nov. 12 (and Sept. 16) d. 655. Born in Tuscany, he was raised to the papacy in 649. At once he con- vened a council and condem
🛡 Patronage
Patron of: France, soldiers, beggars, tailors, winemakers, monks, and the homeless.
💬 Words of the Saint
Christ is present in the poor.
📜 Key Facts
Born
November 316 AD, Sabaria (Hungary)
Died
November 11, 397 AD, Candes, France
Feast Day
Nov 11
Canonized
Pre-Tridentine
🕊 Legacy
Martin is the most beloved saint of France after Joan of Arc. His story of the cloak is the most famous act of Christian charity. The date of his death (Nov 11) influenced both All Saints' Day and secular celebrations like Veterans Day.
📜 Personal Writings
Read excerpts from the saint's own words — their personal letters, spiritual writings, and teachings.
📖 Life of St. Anthony
On the Monastic Life
Anthony chose the desert, not because he hated the world, but because he loved God more. He fled from men, not because he despised them, but because he desired to pray for them. He embraced poverty, not because he rejected wealth, but because he desired freedom.
— St. Martin of Tours
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