84 TIME-LIFE MIRACLES OF FAITH
OPPRESSED DEVOTION
INCREDIBLE
GIFTS
Born intoaworldofprejudice,aPeruvian man
rose above his obstaclesH
e could levitate. He could communicate
with animals and be in two places si-
multaneously. Yet, in Lima, Peru, Martin
de Porres was reviled by many simply
because of the color of his skin. Local
law even forbade him from becoming a full member of
the religious order to which he devoted his life. He was
able to join a Dominican monastery, wear the robes, and
live among the other residents—but only as a worker who
cleaned and did laundry.
In the late 16th century, few Peruvians would accept
a mixed-race illegitimate child, so the deck was stacked
against de Porres from the moment he was born, in 1579. His
father, a Spanish nobleman, refused to marry his mother, a
freed slave from Panama. De Porres and his younger sister,
Juana, grew up poor, socially demeaned, and unacknowl-
edged by their father.
But de Porres was a remarkable per-
son. Trained as a barber and a healer at a
time when the two professions were cus-
tomarily practiced together, de Porres
developed a reputation for saving peo-
ple’s lives. He was frugal, humble, and
devout—so much so that after he hadserved his order faithfully for eight years, he was made an
unofficial priest. de Porres had to be forced to accept the
position, believing himself too lowly for such anhonor.
Although never officially ordained, Martin de Porres led
the self-sacrificing existence of a devoted monk. When a
sick, near-naked homeless man covered in sores showed
up needing a bed, de Porres gave the man his own.
De Porres was said to be able to pass through locked
doors. He was spotted in faraway countries, including
Mexico and Japan, despite never having left his monastery
in Peru. And it was said that he could teleport: Once, when
he and a group of novices found themselvesmiles from
the monastery and late to prayer, he asked them to take his
hands. In an instant, the group was back home.
De Porres’s boundless compassion extended even to
the lowliest of creatures. He was told to set out poison to
rid the monastery of pests, but it pained de Porres to do
so. He went into the garden and called
to the rats quietly. When they appeared,
he warned them not to eat the poison
and said he would be happy to feed them
in the garden every day, as long as they
stopped bothering the monks. From then
on, the rats behaved themselves. ▪HUMBLE AND GIFTED
St. Martin de Porresby
Dunstan St. Omer (c. 1985).
Saint Martin was a humble
figure who believed in the
holiness of the menial and
lowly, of labor and rodents.MARY AND THE SAINTS