When was St. Martin of Tours canonized?

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Request for Question Clarification by gan-ga on 09 Nov 2002 14:27 PST

Hello oboyskifamily-ga,

According to:
Saints - Names beginning with M:
http://www.carr.lib.md.us/~meripper/saints/saints-m.htm

St. Martin of Tours' date of canonisation appears to be unknown:

[Quoting from above URL]:

St. Martin of Tours - Feast: November 11th (Obligatory Memorial)

Born: 316 -- Died: 397 -- Canonized: Unknown
Roman Calendar: Yes -- Roman Canon: No -- Other:

St. Martin was born 316 A.D. in Pannonia to pagan parents. He gave up
a military career and was baptized. St Martin became a disciple of St.
Hilary. He founded the first monastery in the West at Ligugé. St.
Martin was the bishop of Tours. He is one of the greatest Saints in
the history of France. He was the first non-martyred saint with an
annual feast in the Western Church. St. Martin is the Patron Saint of
Beggars, Soldiers, Tailors, and Wine-growers.

[End of quote]

Also, from Malcolm Bull's Trivia Trail,
http://www.halifax-today.co.uk/specialfeatures/triviatrail/mms221.html#34

[Quoting from above URL]:

St Martin
[316-400] Aka St Martin of Tours. Born in Pannonia, south-eastern
Europe, a soldier by profession, Martin was converted to Christianity,
left the army, and lived for ten years as a recluse. He was Bishop of
Tours, France, from about 371. After becoming Bishop, he worked for
the extinction of idolatry and the extension of monasticism in France.
He founded the first monastery in Gaul. He is usually represented as
tearing his cloak to share it with a beggar. He was canonised in ????,
and his feast day is Martinmas, the 11th November. Patron saint of
soldiers.

[End of quote]

A great deal of information concerning the Saint, but unfortunately no
date of canonisation, is available at the following additional
resources:

MARTIN of TOURS c. 315-397:
http://www.cin.org/martours.html

CATHOLIC ENCYCLOPEDIA: St. Martin of Tours:
http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/09732b.htm

SULPITIUS SEVERUS ON THE LIFE OF ST. MARTIN.
Translation and Notes by Alexander Roberts:
http://www.users.csbsju.edu/~eknuth/npnf2-11/sulpitiu/lifemart.html

Patron Saints Index: Saint Martin of Tours:
http://www.catholic-forum.com/saints/saintm07.htm

St. Martin of Tours
http://www.ewtn.com/library/MARY/MARTIN.htm

I am tempted to conclude that the date of St Martin's canonisation has
become lost in the mists of time, but I do not fell able to post this
as a definitive answer. Perhaps another researcher will be able to
unearth further information and claim such.


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Hope this helps,

gan.

Hello.

Fr. Alban Butler's book "The Lives of the Saints" (originally
published in the late 1700s) is considered one of the best sources for
information about Catholic saints. Butler's book has been revised
several times, and the 1995 edition's entry about St Martin of Tours
is reproduced on a Hungarian Catholic web site [
http://www.katolikus.hu/hun-saints/martin.html ]

According to Butler's book, "St Martin was named in the canon of the
Mass in the Bobbio Missal."
(Butler's Lives of the Saints, Christian Classics, 1995
http://www.katolikus.hu/hun-saints/martin.html

Considering the exhaustive information compiled by Butler, it's pretty
safe to assume that the Bobbio Missal is the first known reference to
St Martin of Tours being canonized or "in the canon."

The Bobbio Missal, which is believed to have been written in the
seventh or eighth century, details the liturgical practices of France
(also known as Gaul) in the early middle ages. For more information,
see this description of the missal from booksellers Boydell & Brewer:
http://www.boydell.co.uk/433.HTM

The Catholic Encyclopedia on NewAdvent.org describes the Bobbio Missal
as "seventh century."
http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/05730b.htm

During much of the early history of the Catholic Church, canonizations
were done by bishops at the local level. For more information, see the
essay, "Historical Sketch of Canonization" on the web page
Friarsminor.org:
http://friarsminor.org/xvii4-9.html

Thus, because canonization was not centralized in Rome, there are many
gaps in the historical record of canonizations done in the early
middle ages.

In any case, though, Butler identifies St Martin of Tours as being "in
the canon" in the Bobbio Missal. As such, you can at least say that he
was canonized by the time that book was written (i.e., 7th or 8th
century).

For more information about Fr Butler, author of "The Lives of the
Saints," visit  the Catholic Encyclopedia on NewAdvent.org:
http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/03090a.htm

search strategy: martin, tours, "in the canon"

I hope this helps.