The Saints: St. Martin de Porres

1579 - 1639/ Feast - Nov. 3

Born to a Spanish father and black mother in Lima, Peru, Martin learned medical practices from a local barber-surgeon. Believing that religious life was closed to him because he was biracial, at age 15 he began doing domestic work in a Dominican monastery.

The monks who saw his charity firsthand finally persuaded him to become a brother in 1603. Thereafter, Martin served both his community and the sick and poor of Lima with unflagging humility and generosity. He is the patron of social justice and race relations.