St. Martin de Tours, Pray for Us

A Feast Day of a Soldier

The holiness of the Church shines in saints like Martin of Tours, and we can learn lessons from his life story. When things happen to us that seem too big to handle, we can ask St. Martin to pray for us. (See CCC 867, 2683.)

As a business, like for many of us, the pandemic has resulted in the need for many prayers. 

We prayed for health and safety for our team, their families, our customers and boutiques, and for God to help sustain our business. 

It is in these times, like a battle cry, you are brought to your knees, hoping for a great saintly intercession. 

St. Martin de Tours, pray for us!  

I really did not know much about St. Martin de Tours and was very interested when Daniel, our Inventory and Procurement Manager, shared a story of Saint Martin de Tours. 

Daniel told us that Martin de Tours was the patron saint that guards against poverty. Because of St. Martin de Tours' strong virtue of charity, I asked Daniel to begin praying and lighting a candle for St. Martin de Tours' intercession for our business. 

As soon as Daniel started invoking St. Martin de Tours to pray for us, our business began to pick up!  

Getting to know St. Martin de Tours

St. Martin de Tours' parents were pagans, but at the age of 10, Martin chose to respond to the call of the Gospel and become a Christian.

At fifteen, he was required to follow his father into the cavalry corps of the Roman military. 

By the time he was 18, Martin is believed to have served in Gaul, and also eventually Milan and Treves. Scholars think he served as part of the emperor's guard. However, by the age of 21 he put down his armor and became a soldier for Christ.

As a young soldier, Martin encountered a beggar in Amiens. The beggar was unclothed, and it was very cold. Martin removed his cloak, and with his sword, he cut it in half. He gave this half to the beggar and dressed himself in the remnant. That night, Martin had a vision in which Christ appeared to him and said, "Martin, thank you for clothing me."  

"Other monks heard of his holiness and followed him, and a Benedictine monastery was established." holyhermits.com.au

"...His example was soon followed, and a great number of monks gathered around him. Thus was formed in this Gallic Thebaid a real laura, from which later developed the celebrated Benedictine Abbey of Ligugé." newadvent.org

WHAT? St. Martin de Tours founded the first monastery in Gaul that, later, was the foundation and the beginning of Benedictine monasteries? Because the Benedictine cross and the Rule of St. Benedict are part of the inspiration and the work culture of My Saint My Hero, I needed to learn more about this friend in heaven of the Benedictine order! I loved discovering the link between St. Martin de Tours and the Benedictine order, and I was a bit blown away by the connection between St. Martin de Tours and St. Benedict. 

How did I not know this before today? I can only imagine the two saints sitting up in heaven saying, "It is about time that she figured this out."

St. Martin de Tours, pray for us.

—Amy D'Ambra/MSMH Founder and Co-Owner