Porres, Saint Martín de

▪ Christian saint

born 1579, Lima

died Nov. 3, 1639, Lima; canonized 1962; feast day November 3

      Peruvian national patron of social justice.

      Born of a liaison between a Spanish grandee and a free black woman, Martín de Porres became a Dominican oblate, or lay monastic, in 1601. Although it was not customary then to receive a mulatto into a religious order in Peru, Martín was considered an exception and became a Dominican lay brother in 1610. As a friar, he was noted for his kindness, his nursing of the sick, his obedience, and his charity. For the youth of Lima he established a school, considered by some to be his monument. He was beatified in 1837 by Pope Gregory XVI and canonized by Pope John XXIII.

Additional Reading

Giuliana Cavallini, St. Martin de Porres, Apostle of Charity (1963, reissued 1979; originally published in Italian, 1957); A. García-Rivera, St. Martín de Porres (1998).

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