St Martin de Porres (1579-1639) |
"Father unknown" is the cold legal
phrase sometimes used on baptismal records. Like many others, Martin might have
grown to be a bitter man, but he did not. It was said that even as a child he
gave his heart and his goods to the poor and despised. St. Martin de Porres was
born in 1579 as an illegitimate son of a freed woman of Panama, probably black
but also possibly of Native American stock, and a Spanish grandee of Lima,
Peru. Martin inherited the features and dark complexion of his mother. That
irked his father, who finally acknowledged his son after eight years. After the
birth of a sister, the father abandoned the family.
Martin was reared in poverty, and when he was
12, his mother apprenticed him to be a barber-surgeon. He learned how to cut
hair and also how to draw blood (a standard medical treatment then), care for
wounds and prepare and administer medicines. After a few years in this medical
apostolate, Martin applied to the Dominicans to be a "lay helper,"
not feeling himself worthy to be a religious brother. After nine years, the
example of his prayer and penance, charity and humility led the community to
request him to make full religious profession. Many of his nights were spent in
prayer and penitential practices; his days were filled with nursing the sick
and caring for the poor. It was particularly impressive that he treated all
people regardless of their color, race or status. He was instrumental in
founding an orphanage, took care of slaves brought from Africa and managed the
daily alms of the priory with practicality as well as generosity.
His charity extended to beasts of the field and even to the vermin of the kitchen. He would excuse the raids of mice and rats on the grounds that they were underfed; he kept stray cats and dogs at his sister’s house. He became a formidable fundraiser, obtaining thousands of dollars for dowries for poor girls so that they could marry or enter a convent. Many of his fellow religious took him as their spiritual director, but he continued to call himself a "poor slave." He was a good friend of another Dominican saint of Peru, Rose of Lima, whose feast is on August 23. He died in 1639 and was canonized by Pope John XXIII in 1962.
His charity extended to beasts of the field and even to the vermin of the kitchen. He would excuse the raids of mice and rats on the grounds that they were underfed; he kept stray cats and dogs at his sister’s house. He became a formidable fundraiser, obtaining thousands of dollars for dowries for poor girls so that they could marry or enter a convent. Many of his fellow religious took him as their spiritual director, but he continued to call himself a "poor slave." He was a good friend of another Dominican saint of Peru, Rose of Lima, whose feast is on August 23. He died in 1639 and was canonized by Pope John XXIII in 1962.
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