Blessed Martin de Porres

Blessed Martin was bo Le bienheureux Martin Peruvian Dominican friar, celebrated for his charity and miracles. rn in Lima , in Lima Capital of Peru and the saint's primary place of residence. South America, to an honorable family in 1569. His father was Juan de Porres, and his mother was Anna Velasquez. From his earliest years, the admirable purity of his morals was a presage of the brilliant holiness to which he was to rise. Modesty, humility, and charity for the poor were the virtues that characterized his childhood and already drew universal veneration to him. As a young man, his mercy for his neighbor and especially for the sick grew in him with continuous progress, and he dedicated himself to the study of surgery in order to be able to restore health to the unfortunate free of charge, and he succeeded very often. In order to extend more and more in his heart the reign of the love of God, full of contempt for the honors and amusements of the world, he said goodbye to his father's house and insistently asked to embrace the Third Order of Saint Dominic and to be admitted among the l Tiers Ordre de Saint-Dominique Mendicant religious order founded by Saint Dominic. ay brothers of a convent; this grace was granted to him. His novitiate finished, to the great edification of all, he pronounced his solemn vows: and who could say with what fervor, with what care he strove to practice and identify with the virtues that constitute the perfect religious? He cherished humility so much that he took delight in always performing the most vile and abject offices of the convent; he called himself the greatest of all sinners and he would kiss on his knees the feet of those who dared to heap insults upon him.

Despite his aversion to faults, even the slightest, he never ceased to chastise his flesh with continual fasts and to bloody it with hair shirts and iron chains, to the point that it could truly be said of him that he carried in his body the mortification of Jesus. Such was the love with which he was inflamed for the divine Redeemer that one day, while he was in prayer before a crucifix, he was seen to rise from the ground, fly toward the holy image, and eagerly press his lips to the wound in the side, as if blood were still flowing from it and as if he wished to drink from it. It is therefore not surprising that, intoxicated at this ever-springing source of divine love, he spoke only of heavenly things and had such a great desire to inflame his heart and the hearts of others with them. Jealous of the palm of martyrdom, he would have liked to go to China and Japan in order to fall into the cruel hands of the pagans and to merit, by the shedding of his blood, to become the host of Christ. This insatiable love of God, he also kindled in men of all conditions, especially the sick and the dying, to whom he strove with all his heart to provide every relief. While he was giving his homeland so many proofs of his admirable charity, he was seen at the same time inflamed with compassion for the unfortunate captives held in Africa, often visiting them in their irons to enc ourage Afrique Region of origin of Pope Gelasius. them, providing for their needs, and breaking the chains of their captivity. It happened one day that one of these captives, Spanish by birth, who had with Martin's help recovered his freedom in Algiers, having met him in Lima where he had subs Alger City associated with the liturgical source of the text. equently gone, filled with gratitude, greeted him as his liberator, and despite his protests, did not cease to proclaim the signal benefit he had received from him.

He suffered greatly to see foundlings and young orphans exposed to every misfortune; to remedy this distress, he had a famous college built in Lima where they Lima Capital of Peru and the saint's primary place of residence. could be trained in piety and an honest life. His kindness was so great that it did not even exclude animals, and he often gave them the care and assistance of his art. God was pleased to honor the excellent charity of his servant with heavenly favors. Enlightened by divine light, he predicted the future, knew the secrets of hearts, unveiled the ruses of demons, and repelled the assaults of their fury. Although he had never studied, he resolved the most serious questions of theology with such certainty that the most learned men were amazed by it and proclaimed that his knowledge could only come to him from heaven. So many virtues earned him from God the privilege of enjoying the company of heavenly Spirits, of performing a great number of brilliant miracles, and of knowing in advance the day of his death, which he indeed indicated on several occasions and with precision. Finally, when he fell ill, he insistently requested that all the religious of the convent be present at his final moments, and he asked their pardon for any offenses they might have received from him. Then he fixed his eyes on the crucifix he held in his hands, and when those present, who were reciting the Apostles' Creed, came to these words: 'The Word was made flesh,' he placed the crucifix on his chest, and, with a serene brow and joyful face, he rendered his innocent soul to God, on the third day of the Nones of November in the year 1639, the sixtieth of his age. Numerous miracles illustrated his life and death; after they had been examined and approved, Gregory XVI ranked him among the Blessed (March 19, 1836), and permitted the entire Ord er of Preach Grégoire XVI Pope who established the liturgical feast of the blessed. ers and the diocese of Lima to celebrate his feast with an office and Mass.

Almost all of Spanish America calls him the Saint of the rats; for it is said that his image, placed in places infested by mice and rats, promptly makes these animals disappear. In his convent in Peru, as the sacristan complained of seeing his fabrics gnawed by rats, and proposed to destroy such unpleasant guests with poison, Brother Martin dissuaded him from this cruelty. He therefore called all these little creatures, placing on the ground a paper he had in his hand; and when they had all climbed into his basket, he carried them to the garden, promising to take care of them every day if they ceased to devastate the monastery's provisions. This is why he is represented with a basket in his hand, and surrounded by rats, either because he is distributing food to them, or because he is preparing to transport them out of the sacristy to gather them in the garden where he will take charge of supplying them with the leftovers that are wasted around the house.

Blessed Martin de Porres is the Le bienheureux Martin de Porrès Peruvian Dominican friar, celebrated for his charity and miracles. patron of mulattoes; he is invoked against rats.

Excerpt from the Dominican Year, and from the Characteristics of the Saints.

Excerpt from the Dominican Year, and the Characteristics of the Saints.