CENTURIONS GUILD
Change of Command
1
St. Martin -A ModelVeteran
Commentary by Zach Cornelius
November 11
th
is Veterans Day in the UnitedStates.
In many countries this day is stillcelebrated as Armistice Day or RemembranceDay.
Prior to the slaughter and thedestruction of
Western Europe known asWorld War I (and before France existed as anation), November 11
th
was celebratedthroughout modern France, and much of Europe, as the day St. Martin was buried atthe city of Tours.Named after Mars, the god of war, youngMartin was forced to enlist in the Romanarmy at the age of fifteen, an obligation heinherited through his father’s vocation.
Military service was not particularly desirablefor the boy, as he had grown very fond of theChurch by age ten, when he became acatechumen, over the protests of his parents.To his favor he was placed in a cavalry unitthat served as the personal body guard of Caesar. The
scholae imperatoris,
imperialguard, was a position of honor and distinction.
He would ride a powerful war horse and wearthe recognizable white
chalmys
or cape linedwith lambskin as the uniform of the eliteguard.
He and his comrades would be knownas the “men clothed in white.” It was this capethat distinguished him as a body guard of Caesar himself.On a cold night during a harsh winter, ridingthrough the town of Amiens, in modern dayFrance, Martin happened upon a homelessman shivering in the cold.
The elite guardhad sympathy for this poor man, but what washe to do?
He had nothing but his splendiduniform.
He decided to draw his sword andcut his magnificent
chalmys
in half and give aportion to the shivering man.
This was not an easy decision for Martin.
Hehad naught to pass the poor helpless man, fordoing so was to disobey Christ, nor destroyhis imperial cape
,
which would surely incensehis Roman comrades.
It was at this point thathe realized that at times his allegiance toChrist trumped that of his unit, Caesar, andthe whole of the Roman Empire.
Shortlythereafter, he was baptized into the Church.It wasn’t long after this event that Martin’simperial cavalry unit was called up to fightthe Gauls in the city of Worms, against tribesthat had invaded the Empire.
It was customthat the night before a battle, Roman soldierswould report one by one to their commander(Caesar Julian, in Martin’s case) to receive amonetary gift to inspire their dedication andloyalty to the Empire.
Martin believed it tobe dishonest to accept the gift, since as aChristian, he could not draw blood on thebattlefield.According to Sulpicius Severus, Martin’sbiographer, he said to Caesar:
“I have beenyour soldier up to now.
Let me now be God’s.
Let someone who is going to fight have yourbonus.
I am Christ’s soldier; I am not allowedto fight.” The Emperor did not take kindly tothis request, and Martin was promptlyimprisoned for cowardice. Behind bars, inresponse to the charge, Martin offered to besent to the front lines. His jailers leapt at theopportunity, thinking it a fitting consequencefor this seditious young centurion.Overnight, the Gauls would successfullynegotiate a treaty, and no fighting would takeplace. Dejected, his former comradesdischarged him from military service. Shortlythereafter the life of Saint Martin the hermit,monk, priest, and bishop began. He wouldtrade in his patriotism for piety.As Americans we somberly remember themillions of our countrymen and women whohave died in our country’s wars.
As people of the Christian faith we can remember St.Martin, who saw the shedding of blood andserving Christ as contrary to one another.
Hechoose courageously to lay down his swordand take up his cross, even in the face of certain death.
~ Zach, who shares the name of another Biblicalcenturion, is a cofounder of Centurion’s Guild.You can reach him atzach@centurionsguild.org
A quarterly community newsletter published by Centurion’s Guild
Leave a Comment