On November 3, the Catholic Church celebrates San Martín de Porres (Lima, December 9, 1579-Lima, November 3, 1639), Dominican friar born in the viceroyalty of Peru, son of a Spanish father and a freed slave mother, native of Panama.
Martín de la humility – as he is also known – was the first mulatto saint in America. He is usually represented with a broom in his hand as a way of representing that virtue that characterized him, and that, in fact, he “knew” very well because, among other tasks, he was responsible for cleaning the convent house.
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It almost always appears behind a curious scene: a dog, a cat and a mouse share food, eating from the same plate, as a symbol of the saint’s ability to unite people over racial, economic or social differences. It should be noted that tradition credits him with having made the three aforementioned animals, which by nature repudiate each other, coexist.
The last of the last
Martin lived in the convent in a ‘donated’ condition because he was the son of a black mother and a Spanish father belonging to the nobility, and, therefore, considered ‘illegitimate’ according to the laws of that time. None of this was a sufficient reason for the saint to stop acting in an extraordinary way in the most “ordinary” conditions.
“Saint Martin, following the teachings of the Divine Master, loved his brothers with profound charity, born of an unbreakable faith and a detached heart… He loved his neighbors with the benevolence typical of the heroes of the Christian faith” (Pope Saint John XXIII).
Below we share a Novena dedicated to the Peruvian saint to ask for his intercession in this difficult time for the Church and the world.
Central Editorial
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