A Source Book for Ancient Church History - Mirrors

450 A Source Book for Ancient Church Historytheir virginity to God.(f) Sulpicius Severus, Life of St. Martin of Tours, ch. 10. (MSL,20:166.)Monasticism in Gaul.St. Martin, bishop of Tours, was born 316, became bishop ofTours in 371, and died 396. He was the most considerablefigure in the Church life of Gaul at that time. SulpiciusSeverus was his disciple and enthusiastic biographer. ForJohn Cassian and his works on monasticism, see PNF, ser. II,vol. XI.And now having entered upon the episcopal office, it is beyondmy power to set forth how well and how much he [Martin]performed. For he remained with the utmost constancy the sameas he had been before. In his heart there was the same humilityand in his garments the same simplicity; and so full of dignityand courtesy, he maintained the dignity of a bishop, yet so as notto lay aside the objects and virtues of a monk. Accordingly hemade use for some time of the cell connected with the church; butafterward, when he felt it impossible to tolerate the disturbanceof the numbers of those visiting it, he established a monasteryfor himself about two miles outside the city. This spot was sosecret and retired that he did not desire the solitude of a hermit.For, on one side, it was surrounded by a precipitous rock ofa lofty mountain; while the river Loire has shut in the rest ofthe plain by a bend extending back for a distance. The placecould be approached by only one passage, and that very narrow.Here, then, he possessed a cell constructed of wood; many alsoof the brethren had, in the same manner, fashioned retreats forthemselves, but most of them had formed these out of the rock ofthe overhanging mountain, hollowed out into caves. There werealtogether eighty disciples, who were being disciplined after the