Martin at the Court of Valentinian

Postumianus said: “You have won, Gaul, you have won! Not against me, of course, for I am on the contrary a defender of Martin, and have always known and believed all these things about that man; but you have won against all the hermits and anchorites. For none of them, like your friend, or rather our friend Martin, had mastery over deaths of every kind. And Sulpitius here rightly compared him to the apostles and prophets, since the power of his faith, and the works accomplished by his power, bear witness that he was like them in every point. But go on, I beg you. Though we can hear nothing more striking than what we have heard, still go on, Gaul, and set out what remains for you to say about Martin. For the mind is eager to know even the least and most ordinary of his doings, since there is no doubt that the least of his actions surpass the greatest deeds of others.”

The Gaul replied: “I will do so. But I did not see for myself what I am about to tell, for it took place before I became Martin’s companion. Still, the fact is well known, having been spread through the world by the accounts of faithful brothers who were present at the time. Well, just about the time when he first became a bishop, he needed to go to the imperial court. Valentinian the elder was then at the head of affairs. When he learned that Martin was asking for things he was not inclined to grant, he ordered him to be kept from entering the doors of the palace. Besides his own unkind and haughty temper, his wife Arriana had urged him to this course, and had turned him wholly against the holy man, so that he would not show him the regard that was his due. [a]

“So Martin, having tried once and again to obtain an audience with the haughty prince, turned to his well-known weapons. He clothes himself in sackcloth, sprinkles ashes over himself, abstains from food and drink, and gives himself night and day to unbroken prayer. On the seventh day an angel appeared to him and told him to go to the palace with confidence, for the royal doors, though shut against him, would open of their own accord, and the haughty spirit of the emperor would be softened. So Martin, encouraged by the words of the angel who had appeared to him, and trusting in his help, went to the palace. The doors stood open, and no one opposed his entrance; so he went in and came at last into the presence of the king without anyone trying to stop him.

“The king, however, seeing him approach in the distance, and gnashing his teeth that he had been let in, would by no means deign to rise as Martin came forward, until fire covered the royal seat and the flames caught hold of part of the king’s own body. In this way the haughty monarch is driven from his throne and, much against his will, rises to receive Martin. He even embraced again and again the man he had resolved to despise; and, coming to a better mind, he admitted that he saw divine power at work. Without even waiting to hear Martin’s requests, he granted all he desired before he asked. Afterward the king often invited the holy man both to conversations and to banquets; and in the end, when Martin was about to leave, he offered him many gifts. But the blessed man, jealously guarding his own poverty, refused them all, as he did on every similar occasion.