Whereas in Western Europe the 1th of November is
remembered as the end of WW1, in the part of the Netherlands I live, on the
11th children go from door to door between 5 and 7 with lampoons , sing a song about Saint Martin and receive
some candy. I have done it too as a child. At that time we used a real candle
in the lampoon, which by strong wind was either blown out or put the lampoon on
fire. Nowadays these lamps are electric, saver maybe, but less fun.
The neighbourhood I live hardly has young families, so
there are hardly children at my door at the 11th with the result
that I am stuck with loads of candy bars. By nature I hardly eat such stuff,
but fortunately my daughter of 15 is glad to take it and share it amongst her
friends.
The story of how Saint Martin (316 – 8 November 397) cut
his cloak in two with his sword and gave half of it to a beggar is of course
well-known. Sulpicius Severus (c. 363 – c. 425) was a close associate of St
Martin and his first biographer. Thanks to his efforts, the cult of St Martin
was soon established after the latter’s death, but this quick spreading would
be unthinkable were it not that already during his lifetime St Martin was considered
a holy man and an intermediary and intercessor between this world and
heaven. The story with the beggar as a
turning point for St Marin to convert from the life of a soldier to the life of
a clergyman must have been embellished and seen in hindsight as a sudden
breakthrough of what must have been in the mind of St Martin for a long time.
It is more than likely that the story of the cloak is largely made up, but I
would not rule out the possibility that a real meeting with a beggar hastened
the transformation from soldier to monk. Other themes in this vita are also conventional and
hagiographic rather than historical. Nevertheless,
historical or not, St Martin became
through this deed the patron of the poor and on the date of his burial children
here have a good time in collecting all kinds of sweet and candy bars!
Sulpicius Severus:
Vita Sancti Martini, c. 3:
3 (1) Quodam itaque tempore, cum iam nihil praeter arma
et simplicem militiae vestem haberet, media hieme, quae solito asperior
inhorruerat, adeo ut plerosque vis algoris exstingueret, obvium habet in porta
Ambianensium civitatis pauperem nudum: qui cum praetereuntes ut sui
misererentur oraret omnesque miserum praeterirent, intellegit vir Deo plenus
sibi illum, aliis misericordiam non praestantibus, reservari. (2) quid tamen
ageret? nihil praeter chlamydem, qua indutus erat, habebat: iam enim reliqua in
opus simile consumpserat. arrepto itaque ferro, quo accinctus erat, mediam
dividit partemque eius pauperi tribuit, reliqua rursus induitur. interea de
circumstantibus ridere nonnulli, quia deformis esse truncatus habitu videretur:
multi tamen, quibus erat mens sanior, altius gemere, quod nihil simile
fecissent, cum utique plus habentes vestire pauperem sine sui nuditate potuissent.
(3) nocte igitur insecuta, cum se sopori dedisset, vidit Christum chlamydis
suae, qua pauperem texerat, parte vestitum. intueri diligentissime Dominum
vestemque, quam dederat, iubetur agnoscere. mox ad angelorum circumstantium
multitudinem audit Iesum clara voce dicentem: Martinus adhuc catechumenus hic
me veste contexit. (4) vere memor Dominus dictorum suorum, qui ante
praedixerat: quamdiu fecistis uni ex minimis istis, mihi fecistis, se in
paupere professus est fuisse vestitum: et ad confirmandum tam boni operis
testimonium in eodem se habitu, quem pauper acceperat, est dignatus ostendere.
(5) quo viso vir beatissimus non in gloriam est elatus humanam, sed bonitatem
Dei in suo opere cognoscens, cum esset annorum duodeviginti, ad baptismum convolavit.
nec tamen statim militiae renuntiavit, tribuni sui precibus evictus, cui
contubernium familiare praestabat: etenim transacto tribunatus sui tempore
renuntiaturum se saeculo pollicebatur. qua Martinus exspectatione suspensus per
biennium fere posteaquam est baptismum consecutus, solo licet nomine,
militavit.
haberet: St
Martin
vis algoris:
the strength of the cold
Ambianenses:
Amiens
habet obvium
pauperem: he has a poor man being in his way = he met a poor man
vir Deo plenus:
the man full of God
chlamys chlamydis
(f.): military cloak
induo indui
indutum: to put on
reliqua in opus
simile consumpserat: he had used what has left for a similar cause (A word
like indumenta `clothes’ must be
taken with reliqua.)
arripio arrepi
arreptum: to draw
ridere: historic
infinitive `some laughed’ also gemere truncatus habitu: deprived
of (his full) clothing
altius gemere:
lamented deeply
utique:
certainly
sine sui nuditate:
`without their nakedness’ i.e. without needing to strip themselves
iubetur intueri...
et agnoscere: He was ordered to look intensely…and to recognize
catechumenus:
a Christian who has yet not been baptized
quamdiu fecistis
uni ex minimis istis, mihi fecistis: cf Matth 25:45 . ` Inasmuch as ye did
it not to one of the least of these, ye did it not to me.’(KJV)
se in paupere
professus est fuisse vestitum: that
he had clothed in that poor man.
in eodem se habitu,…
est dignatus ostendere = dignatus est
se ostendere in eodem habitu,…
quo viso vir
beatissimus non in gloriam est elatus humanam: by which vision the most holy
man did not elevate himself to human glory
convolo: to
hasten
evictus: won
over by
cui contubernium
familiare praestabat: to whom he showed himself faithful companion
transacto
tribunatus sui tempore: his time of being tribune being over
(ex) saeculo: from worldly affairs
polliceor pollicitus
sum: to promise
Translation by Philip Schaff (1819–1893)
Accordingly, at a certain period, when he had nothing
except his arms
and his simple
military dress, in the middle of winter, a winter which
had shown itself
more severe than ordinary, so that the extreme cold
was proving
fatal to many, he happened to meet at the gate of the city
of Amiens [8] a
poor man destitute of clothing. He was entreating those
that passed by
to have compassion upon him, but all passed the wretched
man without
notice, when Martin, that man full of God, recognized that
a being to whom
others showed no pity, was, in that respect, left to
him. Yet, what should he do? He had nothing
except the cloak in which
he was clad, for
he had already parted with the rest of his garments
for similar
purposes. Taking, therefore, his sword with which he was
girt, he divided
his cloak into two equal parts, and gave one part to
the poor man,
while he again clothed himself with the remainder. Upon
this, some of
the by-standers laughed, because he was now an unsightly
object, and
stood out as but partly dressed. Many, however, who were of
sounder understanding, groaned deeply because
they themselves had done
nothing similar.
They especially felt this, because, being possessed of
more than
Martin, they could have clothed the poor man without reducing
themselves to
nakedness. In the following night, when Martin had
resigned himself
to sleep, he had a vision of Christ arrayed in that
part of his
cloak with which he had clothed the poor man. He
contemplated the
Lord with the greatest attention, and was told to own
as his the robe
which he had given. Ere long, he heard Jesus saying
with a clear
voice to the multitude of angels standing round--"Martin,
who is still but
a catechumen, clothed [9] me with this robe." The
Lord, truly
mindful of his own words (who had said when on
earth--"Inasmuch [10] as ye have done these things to one of the
least
of these, ye
have done them unto me), declared that he himself had been
clothed in that
poor man; and to confirm the testimony he bore to so
good a deed, he
condescended to show him himself in that very dress
which the poor
man had received. After this vision the sainted man was
not puffed up
with human glory, but, acknowledging the goodness of God
in what had been
done, and being now of the age of twenty years, he
hastened to
receive baptism. He did not, however, all at once, retire
from military
service, yielding to the entreaties of his tribune, whom
he admitted to
be his familiar tent-companion. [11] For the tribune
promised that,
after the period of his office had expired, he too would
retire from the
world. Martin, kept back by the expectation of this
event,
continued, although but in name, to act the part of a soldier,
for nearly two
years after he had received baptism.
Manuscript depicting the cutting of the cloak and the
vision (source unknown to me)
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