St. Martin of Tours

November 11th is the day when many countries, particularly in the British Commonwealth, officially remember their war dead. In Canada we call it Remembrance Day, but in some countries it is still known by its original name, Armistice Day. The Armistice treaty ending World War I was signed on November 11, 1918, but this was not a date chosen at random or determined by circumstance.

Europeans had for centuries celebrated the feast of St. Martin of Tours on this day, the anniversary of his burial in the year 397. He is considered to be the Patron Saint of soldiers, despite the fact that he renounced the military when he became a Christian. He was born a pagan but developed an interest in Christianity as a youth. His father forced him into the Roman army, but after receiving a vision of Christ he immediately had himself baptized and left the army (which involved a short period of imprisonment). Because he was a former soldier he could not be ordained even as a deacon, but that did not stop him from preaching and eventually being chosen by the people of Tours to be their bishop.

It is a shame that St. Martin has been forgotten in our remembrances of war, though it is not surprising because he brings up an uncomfortable truth: for early Christians, and for anyone who takes seriously Christ's exhortation to love our enemies, Christianity and military service are incompatible. It is certainly fitting, though, that his feast day be the day we commemorate the end of the horror we know as World War I.

St. Martin Renounces the Sword. Simone Martini, 1317, Lower Church of San Francesco Assisi. See the complete set of frescoes here.

Comments

[wil]

Lovely fresco.

The Martinmas/Armistice connection is an interesting one. Regarding the timing of the armistice, I keep coming across the phrase "the eleventh hour of the eleventh day of the eleventh month" (with no mention of St. Martin). Do you think the feast of St. Martin was considered when choosing 11.11.11?