A CLOAK FOR CHRIST

St. Martin of Tours (A.D. 316-397) was born as the son of a senior military officer of the Roman army. Attracted by the Christian doctrines, he went to the church as a candidate for baptism (catechumen) at the age of ten, even against the wishes of his pagan parents. At the age of fifteen he had to join the military.

On a bitterly cold winter day, he was passing through the city gates of Amiens. He saw a scantily dressed poor beggar, shivering in the snow storm. No one cared for him. Out of compassion, Martin cut his fine cloak into two pieces with his sword. He gave one piece to the poor man who thankfully wrapped himself with it as a shawl. Martin covered himself with the other half.

That night, Martin had a dream. Jesus appeared before him, dressed in the half-cloak which he had gifted to the beggar. Jesus showed the mantle and said to the surrounding saints and angels “Martin, as yet only a catechumen, has covered me with this cloak.”

Martin remembered the words of Jesus: “I tell you, whenever you did this for one of the least important of these brothers of mine, you did this for me” {Matthew 25: 40}. He got baptized soon. He renounced the army and announced that he would be a soldier of Christ. He spent the rest of his life as a zealous missionary, preaching the word of God and suffering humiliation and punishment to uphold his faith. He lived as a monk and formed the first monastery in France. Later he was ordained as the Bishop of Tours. He led the fight against heresy. He is a patron saint of soldiers and of France. The piece of the cloak kept by him became a holy relic, known as ‘St. Martin’s cloak’.

The early Christians cared for everyone, especially the sick and needy and shared their assets equitably to benefit everyone {Acts 4: 32-37}.

“Suppose there are brothers or sisters who need clothes and don’t have enough to eat. What good is there in your saying to them, “God bless you! Keep warm and eat well!”- if you don’t give them the necessities of life? So it is with faith: if it is alone and includes no actions, then it is dead” {James 2: 15-17}.

St. John advises, “My children, our love should not be just words and talk; it must be true love, which shows itself in action” {1 John 3:18}. "If someone says he loves God, but hates his brother, he is a liar. For he cannot love God, whom he has not seen, if he does not love his brother, whom he has seen"{1 John 4: 20, 21}.

“Whenever you possibly can, do good to those who need it. Never tell your neighbour to wait until tomorrow if you can help him now” {Proverbs 3: 27}.

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© By Dr. Babu Philip, Professor, Cochin University of Science & Technology, Fine Arts Avenue, Kochi-682016, Kerala, India.

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