Martin I

Saint Martin I was born between 590 and 600 near Todi in Umbria, in a place later called Pian di San Martino. Of noble background, he was known for keen intelligence and generous charity toward the poor. After serving the Church as an abbot and aiding suffering Christians in Dalmatia and Istria, he was sent to Constantinople as the pope’s legate, where he gained firsthand experience of the empire’s turbulent politics and deepening theological disputes. Elected Bishop of Rome in 649, Martin showed courageous pastoral clarity. Without waiting for imperial approval, he convened the Lateran Council of 649, which firmly condemned Monothelitism—the claim that Christ lacked a human will—and rejected imperial attempts to silence the Church’s teaching. For this witness to the full truth of the Incarnation, Emperor Constans II had him arrested, dragged from Rome to Constantinople, publicly humiliated, and finally exiled to Cherson. There Martin died in hardship on September 16, 655, honored as a confessor and the last pope recognized as a martyr. His feast day is April 13.