Saint Martin of Porres
He was born in Lima, Peru, in 1579, the son of a Spanish nobleman and a freed black slave. He was a mestizo and as such, despised by the society of his time. His mother had a deep faith and educated him as a Christian. He also learned pharmacy and had an extensive knowledge of surgical practices. In 1603 he entered the Dominican order as a lay brother. He served the community as nurse and eventually started treating all kinds of people who came to him, first in the monastery and then in a makeshift hospital he opened at his sister’s house.
He also founded an orphanage, a soup kitchen, and other charitable works through the city of Lima. The viceroy of Peru himself helped Martin and visited him often in his convent cell. After a life of penance and tireless work, Martin died of typhoid fever in 1639. Immediately, people started to venerate him as a saint.<\P>
Pope John XXIII said of him: “He loved his neighbors because he considered them true children of God and his brothers and sisters; he loved them better than himself because through his humility he believed them to be better and more perfect than him.”<\P>
Your turn:
- Have you ever felt any kind of discrimination?
- Why do you think prejudices did not stop Saint Martin from fighting for the ill?
- Do you think that Saint Martin was risking too much by treating the sick?
- What would you do?
- What skills do you have that you could use to serve others and God?
