“S. Martin was accustomed to leave the monastery and attend the church in order to celebrate Holy Communion. For this act he prepared himself by special prayer and meditation, either kneeling, or sitting upon a simple rustic stool, until the priests, having finished hearing the cases brought to them, came to remind him that the hour had arrived. Leaving the sacristy, he entered the church with the greatest reverence, and refused to have any bishop’s throne or special seat prepared for him, believing that there should be nothing even to suggest the idea of human greatness at such a time.”
—Howard Hayes Scullard, Martin of Tours: Apostle of Gaul (London: John Heywood, 1891), p 136
[Image: Detail from “St. Martin” by Michel Oster (1830), located in Église St Martin de Fessenheim-le-Bas, Alsace, France]