Catholic leaders called on St. Martin of Tours to ask for his intercession on behalf of veterans.

“St. Martin of Tours, intercede for all veterans! #Godblessveterans,” the National Catholic Register said in a tweet. 

Bishop Robert Barron of the Diocese of Winona-Rochester tweeted a broader message, saying, "St. Martin of Tours, pray for us!” 

St. Martin of Tours was a soldier, monk and bishop revered by many as a beloved early Christian European saint. His feast day appropriately falls on Veterans Day in the U.S. 

He was born in the fourth century in the modern region of Hungary, Catholic.org says. He later moved to Italy with his family, where his father was in the military. While Martin was young, Emperor Constantine legalized Christianity in the Roman Empire, prompting Martin’s conversion despite the fact that his family was pagan. 

Martin pursued a military life, joining the Roman cavalry serving in Gaul, Milan and Treves. Catholic.org says Martin once met a beggar. Martin removed his cloak and cut it in half to share it with the beggar. Later that night Martin was said to have had a vision from Christ that told him, “Martin, a mere catechumen has clothed me.” 

After Martin’s vision, he became a “conscientious objector” and left the military, Catholic.org adds. He traveled to Tours to study under Hilary of Poitiers, a doctor of the Church. He successfully converted his mother to Christianity, but it is not known if he was ever able to convert his father. Martin fought against the popular Arian heresy which denied Christ’s divinity. Martin established a monastery that was eventually inhabited by the Benedictines and became the bishop of Tours. Martin reportedly performed miracles and casted demons out while converting thousands in Italy and France. He is the patron saint of the poor, soldiers, conscientious objectors, tailors and winemakers. 

Martin foresaw his death, Catholic News Agency reports, and made the following prayer: “Lord, if I am still necessary to thy people, I refuse no labour. Thy holy will be done. Allow me, my brethren, to look rather towards heaven than upon the earth, that my soul may be directed to take its flight to the Lord to whom it is going.” 

He died in 397. 

Pope Benedict XVI in 2007 said that all Christians should strive to “be like St Martin, generous witnesses of the Gospel of love and tireless builders of jointly responsible sharing.”