The storiesII / IX
Saint Martin and the beggar: the cloak at Amiens
At the gate of Amiens, in a hard winter, a soldier cut his only cloak in two and gave half to a naked man. That night he dreamed of Christ wearing it.
Amiens
A naked man at the city gate, begging. Everyone walks past.
Martin has already given the rest away. All that is left is the army cloak on his back.
So he draws his sword and cuts it in two.
Some people laugh at the soldier in half a cloak. Others, who own far more, go quiet.
That night he dreams. Christ is wearing the half he gave away.
“Martin, still only a catechumen, clothed me with this.”
Margin noteHe was baptised at eighteen. The dream did not make him proud. I checked.
From the book
Chapter III · The cloak cut in two at the gates of Amiens and the vision of Christ
Once, at a time when he had nothing left with him but his weapons and a simple military cloak, in the middle of a winter far harsher than usual — with a cold so fierce that…
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