Ascetics, Authority, and the Church in the Age of Jerome and Cassian: Second Edition

III. MARTIN'S AUDIENCE

III MARTIN'S AUDIENCE The Ltfe of Martin reveals, therefore, a consistent pattern of behaviour, springing always from the same singleness of pur­ pose, the same charismatic personality. So it is not in these terms (of aim or character) that one can define any fragmen­ tation in Martin's life. Yet there is an element of variety that cannot be ignored. The least misleading way of describing it would be to suggest that there was in his career a continual movement towards, or away from, some focus of concern, some natural resting place. He and the group that had formed itself around him seem at times to draw inwards upon them­ selves, and then, on other occasions, to turn their attention outwards, in response to wider opportunities, and the needs of other people.l The inward movement is represented by the formation, instruction, and preservation of an intimate group of fol­ lowers and dis<;iples, attracted by the holy man's charismatic power, and recognizing his authority. It is in this context that references to personality and human relationships have their place. Mention has already been made of Martin's impact at Poitiers, where the catechumen he cured accepted his leadership, 'wishing to be formed in new ways by the holy man's instruction'.2 Where one man took the initiative, others followed; and Sulpicius could refer soon after to the presence 1 Sulpicius describes, for example, how Martin went out to settle some eccle­ siastical dispute, and then returned to his monastery, Ep. iii- 6-9. This is not a banal alternation: note phrases such as, 'aut circa monasteria aut circa ecclesiam', V. Mart. ii. 4; 'aut ecclesiis frequentissimis aut monasteriis', and 'aut ecclesias aut monasteria', xiii- 9_ Compare the phrase in V. Aug. vii- 1:, 'in private and in public, in his home and in the church'; and K.-H. Liitcke makes a relevant distinc­ tion between 'auctoritas for the perfect' and 'auctoritas for the less perfect', 'Auctoritas' bei Augustin (Stuttgart, 1968), 78-109. See also the reference of Fontaine to a rythme evangelique, 'a necessary alternation between the active life and the contemplative life', Vie, i. 149_ 2 V_ Mart_ vii. 1. 162 MARTIN OF TOURS of a band of fratres.3 The same acceptance of Martin's auth­ ority by a clearly defined group of disciples, permanently gathered about him, appears at Tours: 'There were almost eighty disciples', Sulpicius wrote, 'who formed themselves after the example of their blessed master , .4 It was a pattern that others reproduced, arousing no jealousy in Martin him­ self. Of Clarus, one of Martin's most loyal and cherished dis­ ciples, Sulpicius wrote, 'Many of the brethren stayed in his company'.s This more intimate activity was in no way re­ stricted to the years before ordination or episcopal consecra­ tion. Martin the bishop founded Marmoutier in part as an escape from crowds; and, even in the midst of his pastoral duties, he was able to withdraw to an inner sanctum of ascetic peace: 'He had a cell close by the church'.6 There, no doubt, he prayed, while his priests were 'either chatting to visitors, or attending to business'.7 The suggestion that such an intimate, inward-looking, and domestic emphasis could be reconciled with the circumstance and anxiety of a bishop is made not only in the Lzfe of Martin but also in the later biographies of Ambrose and Augustine. Augustine, whose monastery was 'in the grounds of the church', found in the company of his monks precisely the refuge and comfort that episcopal duty demanded.s One striking example reveals the style of life that Possidius wished to portray. An extempore digression in one of Augustine's sermons had unexpectedly touched the heart of the Manichee Firmus. When Augustine hears of this, he is seated in his monastery, surrounded by his monks; and it is in their pres­ ence that he acknowledges, in traditional ascetic terms, the inspiration of God involved in the event: 'Both we and our words are in his hands'.9 Paulinus of Milan, for his part, recounts the visit of certain Persians, 'men of great influence 3 V. Mart. vii. 2. 4Ibid. x. 5. 5 Ibid. xxiii. 2. • Ibid. x. 3. 7 Dial. ii. 1; see De1ehaye, 'Saint Martin et Sulpice Severe', 107. 8 V. Aug. v. 1; xix. 6; xxv. 9Ibid. xv. 3-5; compare V. Pack. 1,97, where Pachomius's words by chance arouse compunction in a bystander for whom they were not intended: he takes the opportunity to make the same point-that it is God who guides one's speech. MARTIN'S AUDIENCE 163 and wisdom', as proof of the splendour and effect that Ambrose created in his capacity as bishop.lo These Persians had been attracted some distance by Ambrose's personal reputation; and they brought with them 'a large number of problems, with which to test the wisdom of the man'. They were inspired, in other words, by precisely the motives of curiosity that had moved some of those visiting the fathers of the desert. Ambrose showed less anger than Pambo or Arseniusll-a sign of his greater willingness to make himself available to a wider public-; and he held the visitors in con­ versation for a whole day, and much of the night. Palladius tells how Antony did the same, faced with a similar type of guest.12 Egyptians who visited him at Pispir were entertained in a manner familiar from the pages of the Apophthegmata: they were given a little food, and, after joining Antony in a short prayer, departed. Visitors from Palestine, however, whose asceticism was more intellectual or subdued, would sit with Antony the whole night through, talking of matters pertaining to salvation. Ambrose is presented, therefore, like Antony, not only as a man of wisdom and reputation, but also as one who possessed the insight and skill much prized among ascetics of the East: the ability to tailor one's method and message exactly to the requirements of one's ques­ tioner.13 The complementary outward-going movement is represen­ ted by an awareness in the holy man that a wider public has need of his gifts. It is within this framework that the miracles of Martin acquire their fullest meaning: they show him 'amidst the crowd, moving among the people'14 -not so much a teacher, now, as an intercessor. This was a movement made by the ascetic group as a whole. When engaged in ac­ tivity that appears to be predominantly pastoral, Martin does not act alone. Exposing the fraudulent martyr shrine, for example, (almost his first 'official' act as bishop,) he was at one and the same time exercising his power of spiritual per­ ception and taking a stand on issues of church discipline and 10 V. Amb. 25. 12HL xxi. 14 Dial. i. 24. 11 See above, p. 59. 13 See above, pp. 19 ff. 164 MARTIN OF TOURS episcopal authority. Yet the act itself, although inspired in part by the advice of his clergy, was not performed in their presence, nor with their immediate help: at the moment of truth, Martin's only companions were his fellow monks.ls They were present, too, when he escaped death at the hands of pagans beneath the falling tree.16 A 'milling crowd of brothers' habitually accompanied him on all his journeys and episcopal visitations; and he took the opportunity, while travelling, to instruct them in the traditional manner.17 It is this outward movement that gives full meaning, also, to the statement by Sulpicius that Martin's monastic founda­ tions produced an increasing number of recruits for the priesthood and episcopate.IS After describing in these terms the apparent variety of endeavour in Martin's life, it is easier to identify the motives of his biographer. Sulpicius was taking up a position on the question of spiritual authority. Martin's life is presented as a continuous debate about the use to which he should put his spiritual gifts. Sulpicius demonstrates how Martin's per­ sonal charism, with its ascetic quality and its eastern roots, achieved its effect in different situations, involving different responsibilities or opportunities. Then, with the deliberation of the propagandist, he points to the precise framework within which he felt that such a charism might most profit­ ably be employed. The heaviest emphasis, therefore, is on Martin's pastoral success; and thus ascetic power is transferred to the context of the episcopate. On only one occasion does Sulpicius admit that Martin felt a need to retire now and again from his round of episcopal duties;19 and he gives little further evi­ dence that the opportunity was regularly taken. Martin asso­ ciated closely with monks; but the Lzfe shows both himself 15The event would have taken place before Marmoutier could have flooded the clerical market with monastic candidates; and an important distinction is made in the text between 'those who were his seniors, both priests and clerics', and 'the few brethren whom he took with him', V. Mart. xi'. I"Ibid. xiii. 7, 9. 17Sulpicius, Epp. i. 13; iii. 7; Dial. ii. 4,11; compare G Antony 14, Arsenius 25, Poemen 72. 18 V. Mart. x. 9; compare V. Aug. xi. 1-5. 19 V. Mart. x. 3. MARTIN'S AUDIENCE 165 and his ascetic companions always on the move. At the end of his life, the monastic framework seems to have closed in on Martin a little; but other clergy attended him at his death, and his willingness, even then, to continue his pastoral labours is strongly emphasized.2o The skilful construction of the portrait in the Life of Martin must overshadow in importance the question of how historically accurate an impression of Martin is given thereby. The motivation of the writer himself had, in the long run, a greater effect. Sulpicius showed clearly his awareness that he had at his disposal, in the opportunities provided by a new tradition of religious literature, a powerful weapon capable of bringing about considerable change in future patterns of church organization and apostolic enterprise. His own work represents a further stage in the process whereby sanctity was harnessed to the purposes of the church; a process that could be modified later, to match a number of different situations. Inspired by eastern example, he had proposed a new defini­ tion of spiritual. power; decided how it was to operate, in this or that circumstance; and set up an influential pattern of admiration, discipleship, and obedience for the next generation of western churchmen. 20 Sulpicius, J..p. iii. 10-16; especially the phrase, 'Lord, if! am still needed by your people, I do not refuse the task'. ...