Martial (Manasseh)
Orphaned from freed Romans, he stays with a Roman from Caesarea on the Sea as long as he remains there. Upon his departure, he is thrown out on the street and rejected by the Israelites. As a beggar, he arrives in Jerusalem where, taking refuge from hunger in the stables, he is taken in by Joseph and Mary of Sephoris.[1]
Joseph has him circumcised, changes his name to Manasseh, and hides his Roman origin. The child weeps while telling his unfortunate story to Jesus and John and says, sorrowfully:
"[...] But Joseph says that I must forget also my house. I do not want to forget my mother!"[2]
Jesus calls Joseph to overcome his antipathy toward the pagans and his fears of the judgments of others.[3] Martial is later entrusted to Joseph of Arimathea.[4]
When acting as a messenger, he obeys by explaining that Joseph of Arimathea told him:
"If you can do it properly and by yourself, I will love you as if I were your father”, and I want to be loved as a son by Joseph. I am going away at once, and I will run."[5]
Character and appearance
Alert and obedient.
Apostolic journey
It is the young Martial who is sent to Bethany to warn Jesus of the condemnation pronounced against him by the Temple following the resurrection of Lazarus.[6]
It is also he whom Nicodemus, at the time of the Passion, sends to warn those of his household to be on guard, because the Temple is seeking all who might be witnesses of the Resurrection. Unfortunately, Martial is captured and killed by the Pharisees who place his body at Lazarus’s gate with a message of defiance:
"And now tell the Galilean to bring you back to life again, if He is the Christ and has risen from the dead"[7]
The resurrected Jesus symbolically gives Marjiam the name of the little martyr:
"the last of the innocents who lost their lives in Palestine to serve Me"[7]
His name
Martial comes from Mars, the god of war. Manasseh means "he who makes (one) forget" or as Jesus says, “the Lord has made me forget all my suffering.”[2] Historical reference: the eldest son of Joseph who, like his brother Ephraim, was half Hebrew, half Egyptian.