Veterans Day and the Feast of St Martin, Bishop of Tours, 397

                                                                    Luke 14: 27 

Whoever 

does not 

carry the 

cross and

follow me cannot 

be my 

disciple. 

  

     Martin (316-397) became a soldier in his youth. Legend has it that one night when he was on duty he saw a beggar shivering from the  cold, he cut his cloak in half and gave it to the beggar. The next night in a dream he saw Christ in heaven clothed in his half-cloak. It became “increasingly difficult to reconcile his ideal of the Christian life with the duties of military service. Eventually, he [was] baptized and he left the army. Like may of his modern counterparts, this 4th century “conscientious objector” had difficulty proving that he was not a coward , and he finally was released, now about 20.” 

     “Martin was one of the founders of the Celtic Church, which spread the Gospel to the British Isles  and what is now France, Germany and the Low Countries. He is regarded as the patron saint of France. “

                                                    (The Lutheran New Book...)