Image: Portrait of Pope Martin I, from Artaud de Montor, The Lives and Times of the Popes, 1842. Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons. (source)
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Tu es Petrus, et super hanc petram ædificabo Ecclesiam meam.
Matthew 16:18
Thou art Peter, and upon this rock I will build My Church.
About Today
On November 12 the 1962 calendar keeps the feast of St. Martin I, Pope and Martyr. The Mass is Si diligis me, from the Common of Supreme Pontiffs.
His Life
Martin was born at Todi in Umbria and served the Church in Rome before he was chosen Pope in 649. At that time many in the East taught that Christ had only one will, a divine one, and the Emperor Constans II had forbidden anyone even to discuss the question.
Soon after his election Martin gathered the bishops of the West at the Lateran. The synod taught clearly that Christ, true God and true man, has both a divine and a human will, and it condemned the error along with the imperial decree that tried to silence the truth.
The emperor’s anger followed. In 653 soldiers seized the Pope in Rome, though he was ill, and carried him to Constantinople. There he was kept in prison, mocked in public, stripped of his vestments and condemned. His life was spared only to send him into exile at Cherson in the Crimea.
In that distant place he suffered hunger and cold and felt forgotten by many at home, yet his letters show no bitterness, only trust in God and prayer for the Church. He died there in 655, and he is honoured as a martyr because his sufferings were borne for the Faith.
A Lesson for Today
Martin could have kept his comfort by staying silent. He chose instead to speak the truth about Christ and to pay the price. When it costs us something to be faithful, we may ask him to share his courage with us.
Collect
Latin
Gregem tuum, Pastor ætérne, placátus inténde: et per beátum Martínum Mártyrem tuum atque Summum Pontíficem, perpétua protectióne custódi; quem totíus Ecclésiæ præstitísti esse pastórem. Per Dóminum nostrum Iesum Christum, Fílium tuum, qui tecum vivit et regnat in unitáte Spíritus Sancti, Deus, per ómnia sǽcula sæculórum. Amen.
English
O eternal Shepherd, look graciously upon Thy flock, and keep it under Thy continual protection, through blessed Martin, Thy Martyr and Sovereign Pontiff, whom Thou didst set as shepherd over the whole Church. Through our Lord Jesus Christ, Thy Son, who liveth and reigneth with Thee in the unity of the Holy Ghost, God, world without end. Amen.
Sancte Martine, ora pro nobis.
St. Martin, pray for us.