St Martin of Tours
316-397 ~ Martin was the son of a pagan army officer and he was born in Pannonia (now modern day Hungary). His parents moved to Pavia in Italy and when Martin was fifteen years old his father forced him to join the army. Six years later he had a dream in which he saw a beggar in the freezing cold and he cut his cloak in half with his sword and gave half to the beggar. That night he had a vision of Christ wearing half his cloak and because of this he became a Christian and therefore refused to fight. He left the army and became a follower of St Hilary of Poiters) He returned home briefly to convert his mother before setting out again. He travelled to Illyricum, (now part of Bosnia) where he openly opposed Arianism (heresy that denies the Trinity). Arrested for his views, he was beaten and thrown out of the country. He went back to France to help fight against the spread of the heresy which was becoming widespread, but he was driven out of the country and had to take refuge on an island.
Hilary gave Martin some land on which he built a monastery and formed a community. He was named Bishop of Tours, but he was reluctant to take the post as he wished to live a hermit’s life. He did accept and remained bishop for thirty years, but lived in a solitary place near to the monastery. His Diocese was mainly pagan so he undertook the hard work of destroying the pagan temples and idols and converting the people to Christianity. St Martin visited all his people, even the most remote areas and travelled everywhere on foot or donkey and built up a great following. Martin did not like the crowds; he escaped from them from time to time for to live in his cell on a steep hill. His followers emulated Martin and all lived devout and holy lives. This community of Martin’s followers became over the years, the Abbey of Marmontier. When Martin was eighty years old, he prayed for a longer life so he could do good work, but his prayer was not answered and he died soon after in 401. He is the patron saint of soldiers.