FD of St. Martin of Tours (397), a Roman soldier serving in France. Many paintings depict the time when Martin cut his cloak in two and shared it with a shivering beggar. That night he dreamed that Christ was dressed in the cloak he had given. He declared himself a Christian.
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What happened next is less often recalled: His declaration, "I am a soldier of Christ and it is not lawful for me to fight." This was now after the conversion of Emp Constantine, who had fought under the sign of the Cross. As if Martin did not get the memo about this new Xty 2.0.
There were many before him, including St. Maximilian, St. Marcellus, etc. What was striking about St. Martin is that he laid down his weapons after Christianity was the officially recognized religion of the Empire.
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