Exploring Catholic Social Teaching

High School Chapter: Different Types of Justice
183
Lives of Faith
St. Martin de Porres
Fifteen-year-old Martin de Porres arrived at the
entrance to the Dominican Priory of the Holy
Rosary in Lima, Peru. His greatest desire was to
follow Christ through a life of service to the poor
and sick in this religious community. But there was
one major impediment to his dream of becoming a
Dominican: he was of mixed race.
Martin had grown up in extreme poverty. His
father, a Spanish gentleman, had abandoned
young Martin and his mother, a freed Panamanian
slave of African or Native American descent. After
a short time in primary school, Martin learned
under a barber who taught him to cut hair and
provide basic medical care. It was this medical
training that Martin hoped to put to good use in
the service of the poor.
At the time, being of mixed race meant that
Martin could not become a professed member of
the Dominicans. But nothing would deter Martin
from serving God. Regardless of the ridicule and
derision that he experienced, he chose to volunteer
as a servant in the priory. He used his medical
training to help those who were sick and injured.
He also cleaned, did laundry, and worked
in the kitchen. He joyfully completed all of these
humble tasks while suffering great injustice at the
hands of many in the community. He was a man
of deep prayer, which gave him the strength to
endure all that God asked of
him in his mission.
The greater the struggle,
the more abundant the
graces that God pours out on
those souls who cooperate
in His plan. After eight
years, Martin was granted
the privilege of becoming
a professed member of the
Third Order of St. Dominic.
After 10 years, he was placed
in charge of the infirmary,
where he served all peoples
regardless of race or economic background.
Rather than fall into bitterness, Martin instead
always sought to serve Christ in love.
It was St. Martin’s total surrender to God in
love, and his great love for all people, that gave him
the strength to endure the injustice he experienced
during his life in the sixteenth century. He not only
fulfilled his dream of becoming a Dominican, but
he also was said to have been given extraordinary
supernatural gifts from God including: bilocation,
aerial flights, instant cures, miraculous knowledge,
spiritual knowledge, and a close relationship with
animals. St. Martin understood that only the love
of God conquers hate.
[N]othing
would deter
Martin from
serving God.
Photo credit: Pitxiquin (January 4, 2017)
© Sophia Institute for Teachers