St Martin of Porres
St Martin of Porres is the patron saint of our school.
St. Martín de Porres, in full Juan Martín de Porres Velázquez, (born 1579, Lima, Viceroyalty of Peru (now in Peru)—died November 3, 1639, Lima; canonized 1962; feast day November 3), Peruvian friar noted for his kindness, his nursing of the sick, his obedience, and his charity. He is the patron saint of social justice, racial harmony, and mixed-race people.
Born of mixed race parents, a Spanish grandee and a free black woman, Martín de Porres was raised in poverty and bore the stigma of his mixed race. He was placed to study with a barber-surgeon, where he learned bloodletting and the administration of medicines. Compassionate and eager to serve, he began to volunteer with the Dominicans at age 15 and helped care for the sick in the monastery infirmary. He became a Dominican oblate, or lay monastic, in 1601. Although it was not customary then to receive a mulatto into a religious order in Peru, Martín was considered an exception and became a Dominican lay brother in 1610. He was known for his devotion to the Eucharist and constant prayer, and he refrained from eating meat as an act of austerity. In addition to his work in the infirmary, Martín distributed food and alms to the poor and needy in Lima and was friends with St. Rose of Lima, another lay Dominican. For the youth of Lima, he established a school, considered by some to be his monument.
His funeral was an occasion of public honour, and many miracles were said to have occurred after his death. He was beatified in 1837 by Pope Gregory XVI and canonised by Pope John XXIII.
Taken from - https://www.britannica.com/biography/Saint-Martin-de-Porres
St Martin's Feast Day Celebration 2024
‘Everything, even sweeping, scraping vegetables, weeding a garden and waiting on the sick could be a prayer, if it were offered to God.’ St Martin of Porres
Today we marked the feast day of our school saint, St Martin of Porres, with a Mass celebrated by Fr Egan. We spent the morning studying the life of our special saint and listened as Fr Egan spoke about his life reminding us that he worked hard at taking care of the sick , taking care of his fellow Dominicans and always opening the door to those that came for help.
We can link St Martin's life to the Wednesday Word of 'Greatness' last week. St Martin was 'great' at doing ordinary things for people extraordinarily well. Last week we learned that 'through spending lots of his time serving others Jesus shows us the way to true greatness.' St Martin was the epitome of -
“Doing little things with a strong desire to please God makes them great.” St Francis de Sales
The Chaplaincy Team after the Mass
