St. Martin was born in the year 316, in the city of Sabaria in what is now Hungary (at that time it was a Roman province). His father, a non-Christian, was a high officer in the Roman army. As a child Martin was left much in the care of the family servants, several of whom were Christians. From them the boy learned a little about their religion and liked to go with them to Mass. But what really impressed him was the difference between the pagan boys and the Christian boys with whom he played: Others were loud and foul-mouthed, quarrelsome, jealous, and dishonest. The Christians, on the other hand, were quiet and clean and friendly; they did not lie, or cheat, or steal. When young Martin asked about this he was told that the Christian religion forbade lying, stealing, quarreling, cheating, unclean speech, and the like. Martin liked this so well that later his fellow soldiers testified that he was never heard to curse or to speak unkindly of anyone.

A Just Roman Soldier

When his father learned that the fifteen-year-old boy was interested in Christianity he was angry. At once he had the young Martin enlisted in a cavalry troop. Now, the Roman army was no school for saints: at this time the Christian religion had been made legal in Rome, but the army was still largely pagan, with a good many brutal men from the Roman provinces.

Martin's father should have been safe, then, in thinking that in the army his son would lose his love for Christianity. But the boy had a will of his own, a strong love of virtue, courage, and a mind that he used so well that he was soon promoted. When the troops were ordered to Gaul the seventeen-year-old officer went with them.