Commontide
Proper 26
Liturgical Color: White/Gold
The 22nd Sunday after Trinity
Grant us, Lord, not to be anxious about earthly things, but to love things heavenly; and even now, as we live among things that are passing away, to hold fast to those that shall endure; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.
Most liturgical texts are from the Book of Common Prayer (2019) of the Anglican Church in North America.
The New Coverdale Psalter, © 2019 by the Anglican Church in North America. Used by permission.
Bishop, Monk, and Missionary
Ecumenical Commemoration
Martin of Tours was a Roman soldier who became a monk and then, against his will, a bishop, and one of the most beloved saints of the Western church. He is remembered above all for a winter night at the gate of Amiens, when he cut his military cloak in two to clothe a freezing beggar and saw Christ that night wearing the half he had given away. He founded the first monasteries in Gaul, evangelized its pagan countryside as bishop of Tours, and protested the execution of heretics when few others would. He died in 397; his feast is November 11.
Martin was born around 316 in Savaria, Pannonia (modern Szombathely, Hungary), the son of a Roman military tribune. Required by law to enter the army, he became a soldier while still a teenager. According to Sulpicius Severus, Martin lived a quasi-monastic life within the military — keeping only one servant, whom he treated as an equal.
The pivotal event occurred at Amiens in winter, around 334-337. Martin encountered a nearly naked beggar at the city gate. Having nothing else to give, he cut his military cloak in half with his sword and gave half to the man. That night, Christ appeared to him in a dream wearing the half-cloak. Martin was baptized and eventually secured his discharge from the army.
After his discharge, Martin lived as a hermit and founded a small monastic community at Ligugé near Poitiers around 361 — the first monastery in Gaul. In 371, the people of Tours acclaimed him as their bishop. Martin resisted — Sulpicius says he had to be tricked into coming — but accepted.
As bishop, Martin did not abandon the monastic life. He established the monastery of Marmoutier outside Tours, where he lived with eighty monks while carrying out episcopal duties. He traveled throughout his diocese and beyond, evangelizing the pagan countryside — destroying temples, felling sacred trees, building churches in their place.
Martin's most controversial stand involved the Priscillianist heresy. When Emperor Maximus executed the heretic Priscillian in 385 — the first execution of a Christian by Christians for doctrinal heresy — Martin protested vigorously. He refused communion with bishops who had supported the execution and agreed to resume communion only to save the lives of other condemned heretics. His stance against state violence in matters of faith was prophetic.
Martin died at Candes on November 8, 397, and was buried at Tours on November 11. His tomb became one of the greatest pilgrimage sites in Europe.
Traditionally, Sulpicius Severus records numerous miracles: Martin raised three people from the dead, healed lepers, cast out demons, and survived a collapsing building. Sulpicius was Martin's near-contemporary and knew him, but his admiration clearly shapes his narrative. The most famous tradition concerns the cloak: Martin's half-cloak (cappa) became a relic, and the place where it was kept became the capella, tended by a cappellanus (chaplain) — the etymological origin of the word 'chapel.'