Saint Martin, Bishop of Tours, 397
The story goes that before he became one of the early church's greatest monastics and ecclesial leaders, St. Martin walked the streets of his town as a humble seeker and searcher after God. His status within the church was that of a lowly catachumen- a student. One day, the story goes, he turned a corner and nearly stumbled over a dirty beggar man who wheezingly asked Martin for help. Martin took his cloak and ripped it in two; one half of the warm material was given to cover the poor beggar.
Several days later, the lowly catachumen had the vision which marked the beginning of his path to recognized sainthood: the Lord Himself appeared to lowly Martin. Christ in glory was wearing half of a torn cloak. "Martin," Christ spoke warmly, "a catachument has given his cloak to me."
posted by MM at 3:35 PM
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