In the footsteps of St Martin of Tours

- In the Footsteps of St Martin of Tours

The parishes are mindful of the life of St Martin of Tours, after whom St Martin’s House is named.

St Martin was a 4th Century Bishop in Tours. He was born in a non-Christian family but came to faith at a young age. He served in the Roman Army and is famous for giving half his cloak to a beggar. Later in life he was a disciple of Hilary of Poitier and an advocate for orthodox Trinitarian Christianity in the face of the threat of Arianism. He spent some time devoted to prayer as a hermit before establishing the first formal Christian community when he founded the Benedictine Ligugé Abbey. This became a centre for the evangelisation of the local area but was ultimately destroyed in the French revolution before being re-founded in 1853.

There are obvious parallels for St Martin’s House. This scheme will establish a community with a commitment to prayer and mission to the local area. This mission will seek to reach and serve the parish community in practical ways. Our pastoral assistants must show a commitment to the ongoing mission of our two parishes and the Diocese of Blackburn.

Thus the six charisms of St Martin’s House are those of St Martin and his inheritors:

A discipled life of prayer
within a re-founded community
committed to evangelistic mission
by reaching families
and those in poverty
With the truth of the Gospel of Jesus Christ.