CAPG's Blog 

El Greco. Saint Martin

"Saint Martin trembled on entering a Church and never sat, stood or spoke while there, because he remembered that he was before God, his Judge. Oh, that all who go to Church, would take to heart that they appear before their Judge! How differently would they conduct themselves! May you, at least, think earnestly of it. Say to yourself: "I go to my God; I shall appear before Him, who, in a little while, will be my Judge, and who will sentence me for all eternity. At this moment He is still my Savior, ready to pardon my sins and give me grace, that I may go to heaven. But soon He will judge me according to His justice." Considering all this carefully, you will surely avoid everything that is displeasing to God, and you will guard against the least disrespect. "This place is terrible. It is nothing less than the house of God and the gate of heaven," said the Patriarch Jacob of the place where he had seen, in his sleep, the Lord of Heaven. He was  afraid, because he had dared to sleep there, though he knew not that the place was holy. How much more reason have you to fear when you are irreverential in Church, as you know that it is, in a grander sense, the house of God the gate of heaven.

The Evil Spirit, who appeared to St. Martin in his last hour, was easily driven away with the words: " Wherefore art thou standing there, thou blood-thirsty beast? Thou has nothing to expect from me." Consider well; if Satan dares to tempt so holy a man; if he can fill him with fear and confusion; what will he not do to those whose have led an indolent, lukewarm, or even sinful life? "The devil has descended upon you," says Holy Writ; "he is full of great wrath because he knows that he has but little time." St. Martin feared not, but drove him away, because his conscience was free from anything with which Satan could reproach him. Oh! happy is he, who cannot be reproached in his last hour with anything that he has not confessed already and expiated. St. Martin was accustomed to fight during his life with Satan; therefore he easily conquered him in death. Think deeply on it; those who accustom themselves during their lives to fight with Satan's temptation, will be able, by the grace of God, to do the same on their death-bed. But how will those fare, who, during the greater part of their lives, have consented to the temptations  of Satan? Oh! there is good reason to fear that, in their last hour, they will do the same, and thus go to eternal perdition. Impress this point well upon your mind, and accustom yourself in time to fight bravely against Satan and his temptations, as otherwise your are lost for all eternity. "Vainly do they promise themselves security in their dying hour, who, during their life, resist not temptation." says St. Leo. "If Satan finds any one who is not  watchful, and well experience in fighting, he will easily conquer him," says St. Cyprian." On the Life of Each Saint for every day in the year. Rev. F. X. Wininger D.D., S.J. 1876

"THIS famous bishop was born in Hungary, and was taken to Italy in his infancy. At ten years of age, he became a Catechumen, that is, he placed himself under instruction for the Christian faith, against the will of his parents, who were idolators. At fifteen he was compelled by his father to enter the army, and served under Constantius and Julian. While he was a soldier, he performed that remarkable charity of cutting off half of his cloak, with his sword, to cover a poor man whom he met at the gate of Amiens, almost naked, shaking with cold, in a very hard winter, and begging alms of those that passed by. The following night he saw Jesus Christ dressed in that half of his cloak, which he had given to the poor man, and was bid to look at it well, and see whether he knew it. He then heard our Saviour say to the angels that surrounded him: "Martin, yet a Catechumen, has clothed me with this garment." This encouraged him to finish what he had begun; and therefore, leaving the military life, he was baptized, and went to St. Hilary, bishop of Poitiers, by whom he was instructed in all virtue, and ordained acolyth. After some time, being made bishop of Tours, he preserved in that dignity an humble mind; and notwithstanding the great distractions of his charge, lived in solitude, and was most severe to himself in all the rigours of a monastic life. Thus eminent in all sanctity, which God likewise testified in many miracles wrought by him, at the age of fourscore and one he died happily, in the year 397. Pray for all pastors of the Church, that the great humility and piety of this prelate may be their example; that while they are watchful in the concerns of their flock, they may be likewise solicitous in the care of their own souls. And for yourself, if you desire the necessary assistance of Heaven, seek it by your charity to the poor. This

Prayer

"O holy Martin, have compassion on our depth of misery! A winter more severe than that which caused you to divide your cloak now rages over the world. Many perish in the icy night brought on by the extinction of faith and the cooling of charity. Come to the aid of those unfortunates, whose torpor prevents them from asking assistance. Wait not for them to pray, but forestall them for the love of Christ in whose name the poor man of Amiens implored you, whereas they scarcely know how to utter it. And yet their nakedness is worse than the beggar's, stripped as they are of the garment of grace, which their fathers received from thee and handed down to posterity.

How lamentable, above all, has become the destitution of France, which you once enriched with the blessings of Heaven, and where your benefits have been requited with such injuries! Deign to consider, however, that our days have seen the beginning of reparation, close by your holy tomb restored to our filial veneration. Look upon the piety of those grand Christians whose hearts were able, like the generosity of the multitude, to rise to the height of the greatest projects. See the pilgrims, however reduced their numbers, now taking once more the road to Tours, traversed so often by people and kings in better days of its history Has that history of the brightest days of the Church, of the reign of Christ the King, come to an end, O Martin? Let the enemy imagine he has already sealed our tomb. But the story of your miracles tells us that you can raise up even the dead. Was not the catechumen of Liguge snatched from the land of the living when you called him back to life, and Baptism? Supposing that, like him, we were already among those whom the Lord remembers no more, the man or the country that has Martin for protector and father need never yield to despair. if you deign to bear us in mind, the Angels will come and say again to the supreme Judge: "This is the man, this it the nation for whom Martin prays," and they will be commanded to draw us out of the dark regions where dwell the people without glory, and to restore us to Marin, and to our nobles destinies.

Your zeal, however, for the advancement of God's kingdom knew no limits. Inspire, then, strengthen and multiply the apostles all over the world who. like you, are driving out the remnant of infidelity. Restore Christian Europe which still honors your name, to the unity so unhappily dissolved by schism and heresy. in spite of the many efforts to the contrary, maintain your noble fatherland in its post of honor, and in its traditions of brave fidelity. may your devout clients in all lands experience that your right arm still suffices to protect those who implore you. In Heaven today, as the Church sings, the Angels are full of joy, the Saints proclaim your glory, the Virgins surround you saying: "Remain with us for ever." is not this the continuation of what your life was here on Earth when you and the virgins vied with each other in showing mutual veneration, when Mary their Queen accompanied by Thecla and Agnes loved to spend long hours with you in your cell, Marmoutier, which thus became, says your historian, like the dwellings of the Angels? Imitating their brothers and sisters in Heaven, virgins and monks, clergy and pontiffs turn to you, never fearing that their numbers will cause any one of them to receive less, knowing that your life is a light sufficient to enlighten all and that one glance from martin will secure to them the blessings of the Lord."  In Lumine Fidei: Liturgical year for traditional Catholics, Don Gueranger.