St. Martin de Porres, the Saint of the Broom

Today we keep the Memorial of St. Martin de Porres, sometimes called “The Saint of the Broom,” so-called because he espoused all work, even the most menial, as sacred.  His life began with the double social stigma of being the illegitimate son of a Spanish nobleman and a freed African slave.  As a boy he was apprenticed a local surgeon; the knowledge he gained at this time stood him in good stead in later life. 

He became a servant of the Dominican friars of Holy Rosary Priory in Lima, Peru, where he was born.  When he was twenty-four years old, he was allowed to make his vows as a Dominican lay brother, persevering in his vocation until his death at the age of 60.  He spent his entire life as a Dominican working in the infirmary of the priory because of his medicinal knowledge as well as his solicitous care of the sick. 

He did not restrict himself to working among his fellow Dominicans however, plying his skill to care for the sick and the poor of Lima.  He begged alms throughout the city and used the money he was given to feed hundreds of poor people each day.  His notoriety began to swell throughout the city, so much so that when he died in 1693, he was immediately venerated as a saint by the citizens of Lima.  He was beatified in 1873 and canonized by St. John XXIII in 1962, the first “black” saint of the Americas.  Today he is venerated as the patron of the poor, of social justice, of people of mixed races, of racial harmony, and of Lima, Peru.

When he was canonized, Pope St. John XXIII held him up as an example of someone who trod the path of sanctity through the virtue of charity.  At the time he lived, people of mixed race where held in contempt, akin to slaves.  Yet he was able to extend charity to all who came to him in need, especially the poorest of the poor.  He considered everyone to be more worthy than himself, forgiving those who sinned against him, tending the wounds of the poor, taking care of orphans and widows, and at the same time living the “regular” life of the Dominican Priory. 

While most of us consider him extraordinary in the practice of the virtues, he thought of the tasks he undertook as the most ordinary.  He is, therefore, a prime example of someone who found sainthood through the ordinary, even something as ordinary as a broom with which he swept the floors of his priory. 

A prayer to St. Martin:  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 we may increase the fruits of grace and merit the rewards of eternal life. Amen.

Fr. Lawrence Jagdfeld, O.F.M., Administrator