Editing Martin of Tours (section)

===St. Martin as a French Republican patron===
St. Martin has long been associated with France's royal heritage. Monsignor René François Renou (Archbishop of Tours, 1896–1913) worked to associate St. Martin as a specifically "republican" patron. Renou had served as a chaplain to the 88<sup>e</sup> Régiment des mobils d'Indre-et-Loire  during the Franco-Prussian war and was known as the "army bishop". Renou was a strong supporter of St. Martin and believed that the national destiny of France and all its victories were attributed to him. He linked the military to the cloak of St. Martin, which was the "first flag of France" to the French tricolor, "the symbol of the union of the old and new."  This flag symbolism connected the devotion to St. Martin with the Third Republic. But, the tensions of the [[Dreyfus Affair]] renewed anti-clericalism in France and drove a wedge between the Church and the Republic. By 1905, the influence of [[Rene Waldeck-Rousseau]] and [[Emile Combes]], combined with deteriorating relations with the [[Holy See|Vatican]], led to the separation of church and state.{{sfn|Brennan|1997|pp=497–499}}

St. Martin's popularity was renewed during the First World War. Anticlericalism declined, and priests served in the French forces as chaplains. More than 5,000 of them died in the war. In 1916, Assumptionists organized a national pilgrimage to Tours that attracted people from all of France. The devotion to St. Martin was amplified in the dioceses of France, where special prayers were offered to the patron saint. When the armistice was signed on Saint Martin's Day, 11 November 1918, the French people saw it was a sign of his intercession in the affairs of France.{{sfn|Brennan|1997|pp=499–501}}