St. Martin of Tours
d. 397
Patron of soldiers, the poor, France
Saint Martin of Tours (about 316–397) was the son of a Roman army officer, born in what is now Hungary, and he was enrolled as a soldier while still a teenager. The most famous story about him happened at the gates of Amiens on a freezing winter day. Martin, not yet baptized, saw a beggar shivering with almost no clothing. He took his sword, cut his soldier's cloak in half, and gave half to the man. That night he dreamed of Christ wearing the half-cloak, saying, "Martin, still a catechumen, has clothed me with this garment."