St. Martin de Porres DOMINICAN MYSTIC Feast: November 3 Information: Feast Day: November 3 Born: December 9, 1579, Lima, Peru Died: November 3, 1639, Lima, Peru Canonized: May 6, 1962 by Pope John XXIII Major Shrine: Church and Convent of Santo Domingo, Lima, Peru Patron of: black people, hair stylists, innkeepers, mixed-race people, Peru, poor people, public education, public health, public schools, race relations, social justice, state schools, television, Peruvian Naval Aviators He was born in Lima, Peru, the illegitimate son of a Spanish knight, John de Porres, and a freed Panamanian slave named Anna. In 1594, Martin became a Dominican lay brother in Lima and served in various menial offices. Outside of the monastery he became known for his care of the poor and the sick. Martin founded an orphanage and ministered to African slaves brought to Lima. He was aided by St. Rose of Lima, who respected his penances and labors. Martin experienced many mystical gifts, including bilocation and aerial flights. When he was dying in Rosary Convent on November 3, the viceroy, the count of Chichon, knelt by his bed, seeking Martins blessing. Martin, who is the patron of interracial justice, was canonized by Blessed Pope John XXIII (r. 1958-1963) in 1962. Juan Martin de Porres was born in the city of Lima, in the Viceroyalty of Peru, on December 9, 1579. He was the illegitimate son of a Spanish nobleman, Don Juan de Porres, and Ana Velázquez, a freed slave from Panama, of African or possibly part Native American descent.[1][2] He had a sister named Juana, born two years later in 1581. After the birth of his sister, the father abandoned the family.[3] Ana Velázquez supported her children by taking in laundry.[4] He grew up in poverty and, when his mother could not support him, Martin was confided to a primary school for two years, and then placed with a barber/surgeon to learn the medical arts.[2] He spent hours of the night in prayer, a practice which increased as he grew older. By law in Peru, descendants of Africans and Indians were barred from becoming full members of religious orders. The only route open to Martin was to ask the Dominicans of Holy Rosary Priory in Lima to accept him as a donado, a volunteer who performed menial tasks in the monastery in return for the privilege of wearing the habit and living with the religious community.[5] At the age of 15 he asked for admission to the Dominican Convent of the Rosary in Lima and was received first as a servant boy, and as his duties grew he was promoted to almoner. Martin continued to practice his old trades of barbering and healing and performed many, many miraculous cures. He also took on kitchen work, laundry, and cleaning.[4] After eight years at Holy Rosary, the prior Juan de Lorenzana, decided to turn a blind eye to the law and permit Martin to take his vows as a member of the Third Order of Saint Dominic. Holy Rosary was home to 300 men, not all of whom were as open-minded as De Lorenzana; one of the novices called Martin a “mulatto dog,” while one of the priests mocked him for being illegitimate and descended from slaves.[5] When de Porres was 24, he was allowed to profess religious vows as a Dominican lay brother in 1603. He is said to have several times refused this elevation in status, which may have come about due to his fathers intervention, and he never became a priest.[1] It is said that when his convent was in debt, he implored them: I am only a poor mulatto, sell me. Martin was deeply attached to the Blessed Sacrament, and he was praying in front of it one night when the step of the altar he was kneeling on caught fire. Throughout all the confusion and chaos that followed, he remained ..........catholic.org/saints/saint.php?saint_id=306
Posted on: Mon, 03 Nov 2014 07:04:31 +0000
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