MARTIN DE PORRES

Diocese of Biloxi, Vietnam, Mississippi, black people, hair stylists, innkeepers, lottery, lottery winners, mixed-race people, Peru, poor people, public education, public health, public schools, race relations, social justice, state schools, television, Mexico, barbers

BIOGRAPHY

• Born in Lima, Peru in 1579
• Apprenticed to a barber-surgeon
• Became a servant with the Dominicans due to his mixed background
• He tended the sick at the monastery and healed many people
• After proving his devotion to God, he was allowed to be a Lay Brother

BIOGRAPHY

• Takes care of sickly people in the monastery
• People began to seek him for spiritual advice
• Becomes ill and dies on November 3, 1639

HAGIOGRAPHY

HAGIOGRAPHY

"Compassion, my dear Brothers, is preferable to cleanliness. Reflect that with a little soap I can easily clean my bed covers, but even with a torrent of tears I would never wash from my soul the stain that my harshness toward the unfortunate would create."

"I am only a poor mulatto. Sell me. I am the property of the order. Sell me."

To you Saint 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.

Untitled Slide

Untitled Slide

QUESTIONS

• What was Matin De Porres' job in the monastery?
• Where is he from?
• What was his job before joining the Order?
• Who was his father?
• Who was his mother?

ANSWERS

• He was to take care of the infirmary
• Lima, Peru
• A doctor-barber
• A Spanish nobleman
• A freed black slave