Blessed Martin de Porres
Feast Day: November 5th
Blessed Martin de Porres, C.O.P.
Helper in Hopeless Cases
Profile
Martin was the illegitimate child of Juan de Porres, a Spanish knight (hidalgo) from Alcantara, and Anna Velasquez, a free Panamanian mullato. Martin inherited his mother's features and dark skin, which upset his father, but John acknowledged his paternity of Martin and his sister while neglecting them. He was left to the care of his mother, and at 12 he was apprenticed to a barber-surgeon, who taught him the healing arts.
Martin's prayer life was rich even in his youth. He had a deep devotion to the Passion of Our Lord, and continually prayed to know what he could do in gratitude for the immense blessings of redemption.
Deciding upon the religious life, at the age of 15, Martin received the habit of the Third Order of Saint Dominic and was admitted to the Dominican Rosary Convent at Lima as a servant. He gave himself the lowliest duties of the house. Finally, his superiors commanded him to accept the habit of a lay brother-- something Martin felt was too great an honor for him--and he was professed.
He served in several offices in the convent--barber, infirmarian, wardrobe keeper--as well as in the garden and as a counsellor. Soon Martin's reputation as a healer spread abroad. He nursed the sick of the city, including plague victims, regardless of race, and helped to found an orphanage and foundling hospital with other charities attached to them. He distributed the convent's alms of food (which he is said sometimes to have increased miraculously) to the poor. Martin especially ministered to the slaves that had been brought from Africa.
He cured as much through prayer as through his knowledge of the medical arts. Among the countless many whose cures were attributed to Martin were a priest dying from a badly infected leg and a young student whose fingers were so damaged in an accident that his hopes for ordination to the priesthood were nearly quenched.
Martin spent his nights in prayer and penance, and he experienced visions and ecstasies. In addition to these gifts, he was endowed with the gift of bi-location; he was seen in Mexico, Central America, and even Japan, by people who knew him well, whereas he had never physically been outside of Lima after entering the order. One time Martin was on a picnic with the novices and they lost track of time. Suddenly realizing that they would be late for their prayers, Martin had them join hands. Before they knew what happened, they found themselves standing in the monastery yard, unable to explain how they traveled several miles in a few seconds.
He passed through locked doors by some means known only to himself and God. In this way he appeared at the bedside of the sick without being asked and always soothed the sick even when he did not completely heal them.
Even sick animals came to Martin for healing. He demonstrated a great control of and care for animals--a care that apparently was inexplicable to the Spaniards--extending his love even to rats and mice, whose scavenging he excused on the grounds that they were hungry. He kept cats and dogs at his sister's house.
Great as his healing faculty was, Martin is probably best remembered for the legend of the rats. It is said that the prior, a reasonable man, objected to the rodents. He ordered Martin to set out poison for them. Martin obeyed, but was very sorry for the rats. He went out into the garden and called softly--and out came the rats. He reprimanded them for their bad habits, telling them about the poison. He further assured them that he would feed them every day in the garden, if they would refrain from annoying the prior. This they agreed upon. He dismissed the rodents and forever after, they never troubled the monastery.
His protege, Juan Vasquez Parra, reveals him to have been a practical and capable man, attending to details ranging from raising his sister's dowry in three days, to teaching Juan how to sow chamomile in the manured hoofprints of cattle. He was eminently practical in his charities, using carefully and methodically the money and goods he collected. He was consulted on delicate matters by persons of consequence in Lima.
Martin's close friends included Saint Rose of Lima and Blessed John Massias, who was a lay-brother at the Dominican priory of Saint Mary Magdalene in Lima. Although he referred to himself as a "mulatto dog," his community called him the "father of charity." They came to respect him so much that they accepted his spiritual direction, even though he was but a lay brother.
He died of quatrain fever at Rosary Convent on November 3. The Spanish viceroy, the count of Chinchón, came to kneel at his deathbed and ask his blessing. Martin was carried to his grave by prelates and noblemen.
The startling miracles, which caused Martin to be called a saint in his own lifetime, continue today at his intercession. He lived a life of almost constant prayer, and practiced remarkable austerities. He worked at hard and menial tasks without ever losing a moment of union with God. His charity, humility, and obedience were extraordinary--even for a saint. Such was the veneration for Martin that the canonical inquiry into his cause was begun in 1660 (Attwater, Cavallini, Delaney, Dorcy, Farmer, Walsh, White).
Born: December 9, 1579 at Lima, Peru
Died: November 3,1639 of fever
Beatified: In 1837 he was solemnly beatified by Gregory XVI
Patronage: He is the patron of interracial relations (because of his universal charity to all men), social justice, public education, and television in Peru, Spanish trade unionists (due to injustices workers have suffered), Peru's public health service, people of mixed race, and Italian barbers and hairdressers (White).
Prayers/Commemorations
First Vespers:Ant. Strengthen by holy intercession, O Martin, confessor of the Lord, those here present, have we who are burdened with the weight of our offenses may be relieved by the glory of thy blessedness, and may by thy guidance attain eternal rewards.
V. Pray for us, Blessed Martin.
R. That
we may be made worthy of the promises of Christ.
Lauds:
Ant. Well done, good and faithful servant, because Thou hast been faithful in a few things, I will set thee over many, sayeth the Lord.
V. The just man shall blossom like the lily.
R. And
shall flourish forever before the Lord.
Second Vespers:
Ant. I will liken him unto a wise man, who built his house upon a rock..
V. Pray for us. Blessed Martin.
R. That we may be made worthy of the promises of Christ.
Prayer:
Let us Pray: O God, who exaltest the humble, and midst make Blessed Martin Thy Confessor, pass to the heavenly kingdom, grant through his merits and intercession that we may so imitate his humility on earth as to deserve to be exalted with him in heaven. Through Christ our Lord. Amen.
To you Blessed Martin de Porres we prayerfully lift up our hearts filled with serene confidence and devotion. Mindful of your unbounded and helpful charity to all levels of society and also of your meekness and humility of heart, we offer our petitions to you. Pour out upon our families the precious gifts of your solicitous and generous intercession; show to the people of every race and every color the paths of unity and of justice; implore from our Father in heaven the coming of his kingdom, so that through mutual benevolence in God men may increase the fruits of grace and merit the rewards of eternal life. Amen.
The Litany of Blessed Martin de Porres
For Private Use Only.
Lord, have mercy,
Christ have mercy on us.
Lord, have mercy. Christ, here us.
Christ, graciously hear us,
God the Father of Heaven,
have mercy on us.
God the Son, Redeemer of the world,
have mercy on us.
God, the Holy Ghost,
have mercy on us.
Holy Trinity, One God,
have mercy on us.
Holy Mary, Queen of the Most Holy
Rosary,
Pray for us.
Blessed Martin, ever in the presence of God,
Pray for us.
Blessed Martin, faithful servant of Christ, etc.
Blessed Martin, lover of the Holy Eucharist,
Blessed Martin, devoted to our Blessed Mother,
Blessed Martin, spiritual patron of Americans,
Blessed Martin, raised from the depths to a heavenly mansion,
Blessed Martin, honored son of Saint Dominic,
Blessed Martin, lover of the Most Holy Rosary,
Blessed Martin, apostle of mercy,
Blessed Martin, winged minister of charity,
Blessed Martin, miraculously conveyed to far-distant lands,
Blessed Martin, freed from the barriers of time and space,
Blessed Martin, seeking the conversion of sinners,
Blessed Martin, protector of the tempted and repentant,
Blessed Martin, helper of souls in doubt and darkness,
Blessed Martin, compassionate to the sorrowful and afflicted,
Blessed Martin, consoler of the discouraged and unfortunate,
Blessed Martin, peacemaker in all discords,
Blessed Martin, touched by all suffering,
Blessed Martin, comforter of the sick and dying,
Blessed Martin, angel to hospitals and prisons,
Blessed Martin, worker of miraculous cures,
Blessed Martin, guardian of the homeless child,
Blessed Martin, humbly hiding God-given powers,
Blessed Martin, devoted to holy poverty,
Blessed Martin, model of obedience,
Blessed Martin, lover of heroic penance,
Blessed Martin, strong in self-denial,
Blessed Martin, performing menial tasks with holy ardor,
Blessed Martin, gifted with prophecy,
Blessed Martin, symbol of interracial brotherhood,
Lamb of God, Who takest away the sins
of the world,
Spare us, O Lord.
Lamb of God, Who takest away the sins of the world,
Graciously hear us, O Lord.
Lamb of God, Who takest away the sins of the world,
Have mercy on us.
V. Pray for us, Blessed Martin,
R. That we may be made worthy of the promises
of Christ.
Let Us Pray.
O God, the exalter of the humble, Who didst make Blessed Martin, Thy confessor,
to enter the heavenly Kingdom, grant through his merits and intercession that
we may so follow the example of his humility on earth as to deserve to be
exalted with him in Heaven, through Christ Our Lord.
R. Amen.