Sanctus Martinus. Prolegomena

In the year of the Lord 399. Saint Martin, Bishop of Tours. (From Galland, Ancient Library of the Fathers, vol. VII.) PROLEGOMENA. I. That the blessed Martin, bishop of the church of Tours, was preeminent not only in the sanctity of his life but also in the praise of his teaching is clearly enough attested by Sulpicius Severus, who knew him well. For he says: “But indeed,” he says, “in his words and conversation, how great was his gravity, how great his dignity! How sharp, how effective, and how ready and facile he was in resolving questions of the Scriptures! — I call Jesus and our common hope to witness, that I have never heard from anyone’s lips so much learning, so much talent, such good and such pure speech. Although in Martin’s virtues, how small a praise is this! except that it is wonderful that this grace was not lacking even in an unlettered man.” And elsewhere: “Now if you enter a little to the left, into the bay of Achaia, let Corinth know, let Athens know, that there was no wiser man than Plato in the Academy, nor a stronger man than Socrates in prison: happy indeed is Greece, which deserved to hear the Apostle preaching; but by no means were the Gauls abandoned by Christ, to whom he granted the gift of having Martin.” Thus Sulpicius.

II. Moreover, under the name of such a Father, a Confession of the Triune Unity and the One Trinity is circulated, written in a simple style and in places somewhat obscure, perhaps due to the ignorance of copyists; this was first published, together with other works of the ancients, by Jodocus Clichtoveus. Thereafter, the same little book is found to have been printed again, by the efforts of learned men—Peter Pithou, Caspar Barth, Christian Daum, and others. It is also extant in most libraries of the Fathers and in collections of councils, having been printed. Concerning it, Combefisius has this: "I had transcribed," he says, "a sermon on the Holy Trinity, bearing his (Martin's) name, from a manuscript of the eminent Cardinal Mazarin; but it was so corrupt in that copy that it did not seem fit to be reproduced: this appears to have happened because the antiquarian was unable to copy it successfully from older membranes or wax tablets. Yet it is that same sermon, by conjecture, which Severus attests with such insistence concerning the unlettered Martin's learning and eloquence." So Combefisius, referring to what we have just recited from Sulpicius. Likewise, from ancient membranes, the same Confession was published at Utrecht in the year of Theod. Pulmannus, whose variant readings Daumius relegated to the end of his edition, which appeared at Zwickau.

III. But the diligence of Thomas Beausamis seems especially commendable; who, having obtained three very ancient codices and diligently instituted a collation of them, prefixed the same little book of the holy bishop of Tours, illustrated with a brief commentary, to the Life of Blessed Martin written by Sulpicius Severus, and published it in Paris in the year 1571. Since, however, we have followed this edition as much more correct than the others, and it is moreover reckoned among the rarer ones; it will be helpful, therefore, to bring forth some things from the same Parisian editor, by which, while he displays his labor expended on this little work, he likewise establishes either its integrity or its value. Thus he says: "Three volumes," he says, "from different libraries were brought to me, which the hand itself attested to be quite ancient: for the characters, compared with others that were in use a thousand years ago, were judged by all to be very similar. Moreover, from these three begged volumes, a triple history of Sulpicius Severus was compiled.... But when I had recognized at the beginning of each book a compendium of our faith written by St. Martin, I was certainly astonished why, although Severus had so often come forth from the presses, not even a mention of it was made. But, as I think, besides the antiquity of the characters, the difficulty of the matter itself deterred them.

For it was not defined by its periods, commas, or other marks of punctuation: so much so that it appeared ambiguous to some, defective to others, and more obscure to all. For since it embraces the most difficult subject with the utmost brevity, who could have extracted anything certain from such perplexing and unmarked words?... Therefore, I considered it worthwhile to restrain the flowing words with their own points, as if with bonds, and thus render the Confession of St. Martin easily understandable. And lest anything be lacking, I added brief annotations, so that the obscurity of any word would no longer detain the reader. Then, proceeding to discuss the excellence of the little book, our Parisian editor shows that St. Martin overturns many heresies by this Confession of his: those of Ebion, Cerinthus, Marcion, Manes, Apollinaris, Arius, Macedonius, and Eunomius. After recounting these, he concludes thus: "You see, Christian reader, how concisely our Martin destroys many heresies? For he lived in those times when those who sought to overturn either the Trinity or the single divinity were springing up.... Consider indeed how many schisms, factions, and sects emerged in the time when he flourished: then you will easily recognize that this published statement on the faith of the Trinity and the one divinity is not out of place." So says he.

All of which, if one examines carefully, will indeed prove, in my opinion at least, that certain learned men have held such a Confession under unjust suspicion; for it is supported, first of all, by the trustworthiness and authority of the most ancient manuscripts: it is plainly worthy of being compared with the Exposition of the Faith of Gregory Thaumaturgus, if one excepts a few rather harsh expressions, which are perhaps to be attributed to the fault of copyists.