Saint Martin School Prayer

Teach us  knowledge, goodness, and discipline

that in our daily existence

we may become instruments of your love.

Be our light, Lord, to show us the way

as we go through our high school years at St. Martin.

Help our parents and teachers, and fellow students

to grow in your friendship and love.

Amen

Saint Martin of Tours to Intercede For Us Before God  - In Time of Need

Blessed Saint Martín of Tours,

full of the Spirit of the Lord

always having inexhaustible charity for the needy.

You, who full of love and generosity

when you saw the beggar that was freezing from cold,

without knowing that in truth he was Christ,

did not doubt to give him half of your cape,

and did not give it completely to him

since the other half belonged to the Roman army;

you, who did not seek recognition

but only to favor your neighbor,

found glory before the Lord.

And when the Savior appeared to you

dressed with the half-cape

so as to express appreciation for your gesture

and He told you "today you covered me with your mantle",

you decided to no longer serve the army

and to dedicate your life to God

and to the salvation of souls,

being from then on a propagator of the faith

and a holy man totally dedicated

to whomever was in need.

Glorious Saint Martin, you who worked miracles and prodigies,

who with joy, amiability and

the most exquisite goodness

won over the hearts of all

and did not cease to ever work for their wellbeing:

give me your hand and help me to come out

of all lack and scarcity

which today afflicts me and weighs me down.

Glorious Saint Martin, my blessed patron,

I humbly ask you with great faith

that you attain from God,

the fount of all Mercies

that my ways on this earth,

my work and my toils

be cleansed and opened with clarity.

In the name of Omnipotent God,

Saint Martin of Tours,

remove all that harms me

and give me work and prosperity.

O blessed relief, give me your saintly protection,

assist me, I beg you, in these difficult times:

(with much faith ask now for what you need)

You, noble Saint Martin, who have miraculous power

take my supplications with haste to the Heavens,

ask for my home all that is good;

may sorrows, ruins and miseries leave,

and may the Lord deign I merit

blessed fortune in my work (school-work),

and with it, abundance and prosperity,

so I may give freely to all in need.

Saint Martin, blessed Bishop of Tours,

may your virtues and charity

accompany me always.

I will not cease to pray to you

and to thank Almighty God

for all the favors granted;

and I promise to be charitable

and giving with all my brothers and sisters in need.

Saint Martin please intercede for me;

free and protect all my loved ones and I

from all that is evil.

Amen.

Life of St. Martin of Tours

​	​   As we celebrate the feast day of Martin, November 11, we focus here on this saint whose fabled life notably started with the pity he showed a poor beggar by cutting his cloak in two, making him in one stroke the patron of both soldiers and tailors!

A Military Man

Born into a pagan military family around 316, Martin’s father was a tribune, subject to constant reassignment.  Martin was born in modern day Hungary but grew up in Pavia, Italy, where his father was stationed.  In those formative years he was attracted to Christianity.  At age ten he went to church and begged to become a catechumen.  At age twelve he wanted to become a hermit.  But at fifteen, he was drafted into the Roman army due to a law issued by the emperor demanding that sons of retired veterans should take their fathers’ places.  Soon he was stationed in Reims and later in Amiens, where the signature event in his life occurred.  As he was passing through the city gates one bitterly cold winter, he spied a forlorn and tattered beggar pleading for alms.  Having nothing to give him but a share in his own clothing, Martin drew his sword and cut his cloak in two.  In a painting by an unknown German master the beggar is depicted as a crippled invalid missing a foot.  This is common to German illustrations of the legend, and it contrasts strikingly with Martin, who is depicted standing in bright red leggings rather than in his usual pose, armored and riding a horse.  Here the enabled one extends charity to the disabled and a Gospel mandate is fulfilled:  “I was naked and you clothed me…inasmuch as you did it to the least of my brethren you did it to me” (cf. Mt 25:36, 40).  That night in a dream, Martin saw Christ wearing that portion of cloak that he had given the beggar, and heard him saying to the angels that surrounded him, “Martin the catechumen has clothed me with this garment.”  Thereupon Martin had himself baptized.  More than ever he wanted to renounce the world and live entirely for Christ, but he lived up to his military contract for two more years, envisioning himself more and more as a soldier for Christ rather than for the emperor.

A Monk

After his release from the army, Martin presented himself to Hilary, the bishop of Poitiers, who made him an acolyte.  In a dream he was told to visit his parents and convert them.  His mother embraced the faith, but his father would not.  On this journey, he preached against the Arian heresy, and suffered a public scourging for it when he fell into the hands of the enemy.  Managing to return to Poitiers, the bishop gave him a plot of land on which to build a hut.  It was two miles outside the city in a place now called Ligugé.  This became the core of Martin’s spirituality:  prayer, solitude, and sacrifice.  Adopting a hair shirt and animal skins for his habit (a far cry from the fancy uniform depicted in the painting) Martin lived the life of a hermit in his wooden hut.  In time, he attracted more and more men who wanted to follow his example.  From this primitive beginning, Martin established the first monastic community in Gaul.  The discipline he received in the military provided the fertile ground in which his monastic system could flower.  But the Lord had further plans for Martin, and called him from his spiritual oasis when the bishop of Tours died in 371.

A Beloved Bishop

Martin had no desire to become a bishop (the first sign that he would make a good one).  But supporters tricked him into coming to Tours, where he was persuaded to stay and assume the episcopacy.  He did not occupy the bishop’s residence and he refused to sit on the bishop’s throne.  He sat on a three-legged stool instead.  He also abhorred the tumult of the city, and established another monastery as his home, this time in a series of caves carved out of the cliffs of nearby Marmoutier.  As many as eighty men joined him, and from among this ascetic group many cities chose their bishops.

As bishop of Tours, Martin preached around the countryside, performing many wonders, from communication with animals to raisings from the dead.  Nearly a thousand years before Saint Francis, Martin was known to kiss a poor leper and cure him.  The saint’s biographer, Sulpicius Severus, compared Martin to the Apostles, and attributed to him amazing miracles that included healings, exorcisms, visions of angels, and temptations by devils.  In 397, as he saw death approaching, he donned sackcloth and ashes.  When he finally expired, those around him heard choirs of angels singing.  The people of both Poitiers and Tours fought over his body.  Saint Ambrose of Milan claimed to have telepathically attended his funeral.  Later, the kings of France would carry Martin’s cloak into battle as a talisman for victory.  But the triumph worth winning, as Martin’s life attested, was in the victory over self and the allurements of the world.  And this insight came from a man who was a bishop, who remained a monk, who remained a soldier for Christ to the end. 

From: https://www.stmoftours.org/Life-of-St

St. Martin of Tours – Pray for us!

Prayers & Resources

Catholic Education Week 2020

FIRST WEEK OF SCHOOL, SECONDARY – SEPTEMBER 2020

Preparing the Earth – Préparer la terre

Gracious God,

Every new semester offers us a time to prepare the earth of our loves for new growth. We come back to school remembering the sudden changes to learning that last year brought. Let’s dig into this year, with new effort and continuing hope. Let us remove the stones and patches of packed soil. Adding fertilizer will give the earth the nutrients it needs to promote new life. You are the Master Gardener of our lives, the Creator, we open ourselves to all that we can become in this academic year ahead.

Amen.

Sowing Seeds of Gratitude – Semer la gratitude

God of all creation,

Thank you for the abundance of gifts that surround us. Help us to live with a spirit of gratitude, caring for and sharing the gifts that you have given. Give us courage to sow seeds of gratitude through our work to protect and sustain all that we have. Help us to sow seeds of gratitude through hearts of justice, working so that all may receive.

We make this prayer in the name of Jesus, whose love knows no bounds.

Amen.

Cultivating Relationships – Cultiver nos relations

Creator God, our Lord, Saviour and Master Teacher,

Please enable us to reflect upon the impact and the importance of the Golden Rule – “In everything, do to others as you would have them do to you.” Help us to accept each other; to celebrate our diversity; to give us the courage to speak out and speak up against injustice, inequity and hatred in all forms; to serve one another for the greater good; to open our hearts and minds to cultivate new relationships and to repair those that are broken. In all, guide us to lead like you and to follow your teachings and nurture us to remain hopeful.

For this, we ask your blessings.

Amen.

Harvesting New Fruit – Récolter de nouveaux fruits

God of the Harvest,

The earth is full of your goodness, and this time every year gifts us with the fruit of your love and our labour. Your bounty is so rich and constant that we have come to bank on it, and even take undue advantage of it. Our exploitation of the earth is on display all around us: in pollution, overconsumption, the destruction of green space and the extinction of thousands of species of plant and animal life. This past year was a solemn reminder to us of our vulnerability as creatures, our dependence on one another, and the need for change in how we live together. Lead us into an ecological conversion; a change of heart, that will help us hold your creation and our common home in proper reverence, and bring forth new fruit of sustainability and just economic structures so that all life can prosper.

We make this prayer in the name of your Spirit that renews the face of the earth.

Amen.

Marvelling in Wonder – S’émerveiller

God of ocean depths and mountain heights,

We are filled with awe as we contemplate the beauty and diversity of the world you have entrusted to us. Each of your creatures, large and small, reflects you in a marvelous way, inviting us to praise your goodness and love. As we look toward the future, may we never cease to wonder at the world you have made, and especially the richness of our human family. May our hearts be rooted in gratitude and our minds be anchored in hope, through Jesus Christ our Lord.

Amen.

Liturgical Calendar

https://www.cccb.ca/liturgy-sacraments/resources-in-english/liturgical-calendar/

Christian Meditation

https://www.youtube.com/user/meditatiowccm