Carry Martin’s Name Abroad

Then, since I saw by the setting sun that evening was near, I said: “The day is gone, Postumianus; we must get up, and besides, these eager listeners are owed some refreshment. As for Martin, you must not expect any end to talking about him: he reaches too far to be fully contained in any conversation. In the meantime, you will carry to the East what you have now heard about that famous man. As you go back to your old haunts and pass by various coasts, places, harbors, islands and seas, make sure you spread the name and glory of Martin among the peoples. [a]

“Above all, remember not to leave out Campania. Although your road will take you far off the beaten track, no cost of delay should matter so much to you as to keep you from visiting Paulinus there, a man renowned and praised throughout the whole world. I beg you, first unroll before him the scroll of the talk we either finished yesterday or have had today. You will tell him everything; you will repeat everything to him, so that in due time, through him, Rome may learn the holy merits of this man, just as he spread that first little book of ours not only through Italy but through the whole of Illyricum. He is not jealous of Martin’s glories; he is a most devoted admirer of his holy virtues in Christ, and he will not refuse to compare our leading man with his own friend Felix.

“Next, if you happen to cross over to Africa, you will tell Carthage what you have heard. Although, as you yourself have said, it already knows the man, it will now learn still more about him, so that it may not admire only its own martyr Cyprian, even though he was consecrated by his holy blood. Then, if you are carried a little to the left and enter the Gulf of Achaia, let Corinth know, and let Athens know, that Plato in the Academy was not wiser, and Socrates in prison was not braver, than Martin. You will tell them that Greece was indeed happy, since it was found worthy to hear an apostle preaching, but that Christ has by no means forsaken Gaul, since he has given it such a man as Martin. And when you come as far as Egypt, although it is rightly proud of the number and the virtues of its own saints, let it not disdain to hear how Europe, with Martin alone, will not give way to it or to all Asia.