Dominican Friar, St.

Martin de Porres
Saints lives often become stories vignettes describing charming and delightful episodes
attesting to their sainthood. This holds true for St. Martin de Porres. St. Martins dealings with
the rats of Holy Rosary Convent (also known as St. Dominic Convent) in Lima, Peru, are
famous. As are his stories of bi-location, he was seen all across Central America, Mexico, and
even Japan! Perhaps St. Martin is best known as a healer. He was a barber, an herbalist/
pharmacist, a minor surgeon, the convents inrmarian, the porter, and performed hundreds of
menial tasks. People, especially the poor, sought him out for his skills and his prayers, and St.
Martin was more than willing to help.
St. Martin indeed was all of those things, and so much more. He was a lay brother (cooperator
brother), a non-ordained man, of mixed race born in 1579 in Lima, Peru. Most importantly, St.
Martin was a Dominican friar.
Dominican spirituality takes many forms. I heard in a recent homily a reminder about we
Dominicans we are the Order of Preachers, we stand on the shoulders of an 800 year
tradition, we walk in the footsteps of St. Thomas Aquinas, St. Albert the Great, St. Vincent
Ferrer, St. Rose of Lima, St. Juan Macias, St. Martin de Porres, were the Order of Bl. Fra
Angelico and of Bl. Pier Giorgio Frassati.
St. Martin, when he joined the Order that he so admired, became a model of the Orders motto,
Laudare, Benedicere, Preadicare, to Praise, to Bless, to Preach.
In his lifetime, St. Martin was known as a holy man. It is said of St. Dominic, the founder of the
Order, that he either talked to God or about God. The same could be about St. Martin. The
stories about St. Martins prayer life are abundant, he prayed day and night, he would levitate,
and many others. Among his many duties was that of bell ringer. The bells rang at 4:30am and
St. Martin was there waking up the parish to come and worship the Lord.
While St. Martin is well known today as a doctor and healer, he didnt always get the results we
may think of some of his patients didnt recover from their illnesses. But people still came,
especially the poor. They came in hope of healing, but once they arrived and met St. Martin,
they knew they were blessed. St. Martin would help all those he could, giving of his time and
even of his own food. To the poorest he would even give up his own bed. One of St. Martins
prescriptions was prayer, Mass, and time with the Lord. St. Martin cared for the body and the
soul.
St. Martin didnt deliver any homilies from the pulpit, yet he rarely missed an opportunity to tell
others of the Good News of Christ. As the porter and the distributor of food to the poor, St.
Martin talked to countless people on a daily basis. His love for God and His people could be
seen in his words and his works. It is said that St. Martin never complained about the many
many menial tasks he had to perform. Perhaps this was so because the tasks gave him the
opportunities to tell others about Christ! Ever since I was a novice Ive been told that a good
Dominican never turns down an opportunity to preach!
The Dominicans were founded in 1216 for preaching and the salvation of souls, and throughout
the centuries friars like St. Martin have been exemplars, showing us how to do this. St. Martin
teaches us how to praise, to bless, and to preach. St. Martin teaches us to be Dominicans!