Martin Compared with the Monks of the Desert

I replied: “Indeed, Postumianus, all this time, while I was listening closely to you speaking of the excellent deeds of the saints, my mind in my secret thoughts was turned to my friend Martin. I was observing, on the best of grounds, that all the things which those different men had done separately were easily and fully done by that one man alone. For though you certainly told of lofty deeds, I heard nothing from your lips (may I say it without offense to these holy men) in which Martin was inferior to any one of them. [a]

“And while I hold that the excellence of none of these men is ever to be compared with the merits of that man, still this point should be noted: it is unfair to compare him on the same terms with the recluses of the desert, or even with the anchorites. For they, free from every hindrance, with only heaven and the angels as witnesses, were plainly trained to do admirable deeds. He, on the other hand, lived in the midst of crowds and dealings with people, among quarrelsome clerics and among furious bishops, harassed by scandals on every side almost every day. Yet he stood absolutely firm against all these things with unconquerable virtue, and did such wonders as not even those did who, we have heard, are now or once were in the wilderness.

“But even had they done things equal to his, what judge would be so unjust as not to decide, on good grounds, that he was the more powerful? Suppose he was a soldier who fought on unfavorable ground and still came out the conqueror; and compare them, in the same way, to soldiers who fought the enemy on equal terms, or even on favorable terms. What then? Though the victory of all is one and the same, the glory of all certainly cannot be equal. And though you have told of marvelous things, you have still not said that a dead man was called back to life by any one of them. In this one point, beyond doubt, it must be admitted that no one is to be compared with Martin.