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The saints

St. Martin de Porres

The son of a Spanish nobleman and a freed slave, who swept floors and healed half of Lima.

Feast: 3 November · 1579 to 1639 · Reformation and missions · Lima, Peru

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Painting of St. Martin de Porres in a white Dominican habit with a rosary.

AnonymousUnknown author. Wikimedia Commons, Public domain.

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Lima, Peru

Martin was born in Lima to a Spanish father and a formerly enslaved mother from Panama.1

His father refused to acknowledge him for years because of his dark skin.1

He trained as a barber-surgeon, then begged to join the Dominicans as the lowest of servants.

Patron of race relations and social justice1; barbers and hairdressers1; African Americans1

01St. Martin de Porres

The broom

The friars eventually made him a brother, and he did the dirtiest jobs gladly.1

He ran the infirmary and cared for the sick of every race, rich and poor alike.1

02St. Martin de Porres

All creatures

He founded an orphanage and was known for his gentleness with animals, even mice.1

Live it this week

Do the job nobody wants

Martin made the broom holy. This week, take on the chore at home, work or church that everyone avoids, without being asked, and do it carefully.

Notes

How we know · 1 source for this page
  1. Franciscan Media, Saint of the Day: “Saint Martin de Porres”. franciscanmedia.org. franciscanmedia.org

The Catholic Encyclopedia (1913) is in the public domain; we quote the New Advent edition. Texts of the Holy See are quoted briefly from vatican.va. Scripture: World English Bible, Catholic edition (public domain); Verse numbers are modern, with Douay-Rheims numbers in brackets where they differ. Photographs: Wikimedia Commons, credited under each image; full list on the photo credits page.

Lines in the narrator’s voice, without a note, are our reflection, not a historical claim. Stone & Incense restates Church teaching in plain words; our wording is not an official Church text. Report an errorCorrections.