Martin in a Place of His Own

At this point Postumianus exclaimed: “Why do you talk to me like this? As if I did not hold the same opinion as you, and had not always been of the same mind! For my part, as long as I live and keep my senses, I will always celebrate the monks of Egypt. I will praise the anchorites; I will admire the hermits; but I will put Martin in a place of his own. I do not dare to compare any one of the monks with him, much less any of the bishops. [a]

“Egypt admits this. Syria and Ethiopia have learned it. India has heard it. Parthia and Persia have known it. Not even Armenia is ignorant of it. The distant Bosporus is aware of it. In a word, those who visit the Fortunate Islands or the Arctic Ocean know of it. All the more wretched, then, is this country of ours, which has not been found worthy to know so great a man, though he lived close at hand. However, I will not include the people at large in this censure. Only the clerics, only the priests do not know him. And not without reason, in their ill will, were they unwilling to know him; for if they had become acquainted with his virtues, they would have had to recognize their own vices.

“I shudder to repeat what I have lately heard: that some miserable man (I do not know him) has said that you told many lies in that book of yours. This is not the voice of a man but of the devil. And it is not Martin who is injured in this way; it is the Gospels themselves that are robbed of belief. For since the Lord himself testified that works of the kind Martin did would be done by all the faithful, whoever does not believe that Martin did such deeds simply does not believe that Christ spoke such words. But the miserable, the degenerate, the drowsy are put to shame that he did the things they themselves cannot do, and they would rather deny his virtues than confess their own sluggishness. But as we hurry on to other matters, let us drop all memory of such people. And you, as I have long wanted, go on rather to tell the deeds of Martin that are still untold.”

I said: “Well, I think your request would more properly be made to our friend the Gaul. He knows more of Martin’s doings than I do, for a disciple could not be ignorant of his master’s deeds. And he certainly owes a return of kindness, not only to Martin but to both of us, since I have already published my book, and you have now told us of the doings of our brothers in the East. So let our friend the Gaul begin the detailed account that he owes us. For, as I have said, he owes us a return in the way of speaking; and I believe he will do this much for his friend Martin, that he will not be unwilling to give a narrative of his deeds.” [c]