ஆண்டவருடைய விண்ணேற்றம் மே 12 ஞாயிறு

 † Saint of the Day †

(November 3)

✠ St. Martin de Porres ✠

Lay Brother of the Dominican Order:

Born: December 9, 1579

Lima, Viceroyalty of Peru

Died: November 3, 1639 (Aged 59)

Lima, Viceroyalty of Peru (modern-day Peru)

Venerated in:

Roman Catholic Church

Lutheran Church

Anglican Communion

Beatified: 1837 AD

Pope Gregory XVI

Canonized: May 6, 1962

Pope John XXIII

Major shrine:

Church of Santo Domingo, Lima, Peru

Feast: November 3

Patronage:

Diocese of Biloxi, Vietnam, Mississippi, Black People, Hair Stylists, Innkeepers, Lottery, Lottery Winners, Mixed-Race People, Peru, Poor People, Public Education, Public Health, Public Schools, Race Relations, Social Justice, State Schools, Television, Mexico, Peruvian Naval Aviators

Martin de Porres Velázquez was a Peruvian Lay Brother of the Dominican Order who was beatified in 1837 by Pope Gregory XVI and canonized in 1962 by Pope John XXIII. He is the patron saint of mixed-race people, barbers, innkeepers, public health workers, and all those seeking racial harmony.

He was noted for his work on behalf of the poor, establishing an orphanage and a children's hospital. He maintained an austere lifestyle, which included fasting and abstaining from meat. Among the many miracles attributed to him were those of levitation, bilocation, miraculous knowledge, instantaneous cures, and an ability to communicate with animals.

St. Martin de Porres was born in Lima, Peru, on December 9, 1579, to Don Juan de Porres, a Spanish nobleman, and adventurer, and Ana Velasquez, a freed daughter of slaves from Panama. His father abandoned the family when Martin and his sister, Juana, were very young. Ana Velasquez supported her children by taking in laundry. Martin’s childhood poverty did not embitter him but made him sensitive to the plight of the poor, and especially the orphans to whom he would devote much of his time and resources. Even as a child, Martin would give the family’s scarce resources to the beggars whom he saw as less fortunate than himself.

When Martin turned eight, his father had a change of heart and decided to claim his two children (publicly identified as mulatto, a term used for mixed-race children) in spite of the gossip to which it subjected him. He made sure that both were afforded a good education and had enough money for the family not to suffer privation. At the age of twelve, Martin began an apprenticeship with a barber/surgeon named Marcel de Rivero. He proved extremely skilful at this trade and soon customers, who at first was sceptical of the young coloured boy, came to prefer and ask for him.

After leaving home, Martin took a room in the house of Ventura de Luna. Always a devoted Catholic who spent much time in church, Martin begged his landlady for some candle stubs. She was curious about his activities and one night spied on him through a keyhole and witnessed Martin in a vigil of ecstatic prayer — a practise he would continue throughout his life.

Martin joined the Dominican Order of Preachers as a lay-brother. Martin continued to practise his old trades of barbering and healing and performed many, many miraculous cures. He also took on kitchen work, laundry, and cleaning. His relationship with his brothers was tinged by their curiosity and occasional pranks. For example, just before the meal was to be served, they would hide the potholders and Martin would have to lift the scalding pots with his bare hands. Yet never once did his fingers get burned!

Martin often challenged his brothers on their racial attitudes. In one story, Martin came upon a group of Indians sweeping the floor under the watchful eye of one of the Dominican brothers. When told that they were cleaning to repay a meal they had received, Martin pointed out that the brother had fed some white people the previous day without forcing them to clean. After Martin’s firm but a gentle challenge, the brother took up the broom himself.

Martin frequently insisted on performing such hard and menial tasks as caring for the Order’s horses in the evenings, even when informed that servants were available for these chores. He would argue that the servants were tired from their day’s work while he, Martin, had done very little. He also extended his healing gifts — going to the servants’ quarters and treating their ailments.

Martin’s spiritual practices were legendary. He would often fast for extended periods of time on bread and water. He loved all-night vigils, frequently praying by lying down as if crucified, sometimes kneeling but, miraculously, a foot or more off the floor. Equally legendary was his love of animals. He would feed and heal all animals that came into his vicinity and they understood and obeyed him. St. Martin is often portrayed with mice because, according to one story, the monastery was tired of their rodent problems and decided to set traps. Martin was so distressed that he spoke to the mice and cut a deal with them that if they would leave the monastery, he would feed them at the back door of the kitchen. From that day forward, no mouse was seen in the monastery.

However, it is St. Martin’s charity that made him the patron saint of social justice. Martin fed, sheltered, and doctored hundreds of families. He also provided the requisite dowry of 4,000 pesos to enable at least 27 poor young women to marry. Last, but not least, he established the Orphanage and School of the Holy Cross, which took in boys and girls of all classes and taught them trades or homemaking skills. Over much criticism, he insisted that the school staff be well-paid so that they would give their best service. St. Martin died on November 3rd, 1639. He died surrounded by his brothers and reciting the Credo, his life ending with the words “et homo factus est”. His funeral was attended by thousands of Peruvians from all walks of life who vied to get a piece of St. Martin’s habit as a relic. These pieces of the saint’s habit have been associated with innumerable miraculous cures.

St Martin de Porres is buried in the Convento Santo Domingo in Lima, Peru!