Congregation of the Blessed Sacrament

November 11, 2026

Memorial of Saint Martin of Tours, Bishop

This week offers a sequence of major feast days, beginning on Monday with the Dedication of the Basilica of Saint John Lateran, followed by the feast of Saint Leo the Great, Pope and Doctor of the Church; today’s feast; and the feast of Saint Frances Xavier Cabrini, Virgin. Cabrini will forever be linked to Chicago and thus to our first American Pope, Leo XIV, a native of Chicago.

Martin of Tours was a fourth-century Roman soldier who became a saint because of his steadfast service to the Church after his conversion. He was such a modest and humble man that people had to trick him into becoming a bishop by asking him to visit a sick parishioner and then forcing him to accept consecration as bishop. An El Greco painting depicts Martin’s most famous good deed: he encountered a beggar in rags and cut his own cloak in half to give the beggar some clothing.

Today’s readings feel particularly consoling, as if they were made to challenge someone like me, an old man who turned 81 last month. For some years, as I struggle with the almost daily deterioration of my energy and health, I have dreaded getting up in the morning. But then I’m confronted with the 23^rd Psalm, and I thank God for giving me another day of life, because each day of this earthly, difficult life brings me closer to eternal life with the Lord who is my shepherd. From my perspective in old age, the leper who takes the time to return to Our Lord to worship him in thanksgiving for his cure inspires me to thank the Lord daily by celebrating the Eucharist (thanksgiving), unfortunately via TV on most weekdays.

Let Us Pray:

O God, you are glorified in the Bishop Saint Martin both by his life and death. Make new, we pray, the wonders of your grace in our hearts, that neither death nor life may separate us from your love. Through Christ our Lord. Amen.