Saint Martin de Porres was a Dominican lay brother. He was born to a Spanish father and a black mother in Lima, Peru, where he lived his whole life. He was friends with Saint Rose of Lima, who was herself a Third Order Dominican.
Saint Martin was a vegetarian, who refrained from eating meat as an act of austerity, poverty, and penance. Very much in the vein of Saint Francis of Assisi, Saint Martin cared for and befriended animals, especially strays. He was deeply devoted to the Eucharist and was constant in prayer.
Being mixed race himself, he showed great compassion for all people, regardless of their race or social status. At least until recently, this sounded pretty mundane to us but in his time and place this disposition stood out. Having received some medical training, his primary work was in the infirmary taking care of the sick. Saint Martin also distributed food and alms to the poor and needy in Lima.
Saint Martin is particularly remembered for ministering to waves of newly enslaved Africans who were brought to Lima, most of whom were destined for difficult and short lives in the mines. He was adamant that the innate dignity of all human beings be recognized and respected. Again, this was a bit revolutionary for the time and place. He was a vocal opponent of slavery and the mistreatment of the poor.
It is tempting to say that Saint Martin de Porres was ahead of his time. What is really the case is simply that he took the Gospel of Jesus Christ to heart and endeavored to live it. No matter that age or epoch, seeking to radically live the teachings of Christ is countercultural and often viewed as threatening and subversive.
In his life and ministry, Saint Martin certainly lived out quite directly what Jesus teaches in our Gospel this evening. By his medically attending to, feeding, housing, and being with the crippled, the blind, the lame, and the poor Saint Martin, as a lay religious (he was not a priest nor was he a deacon), he did as Christ taught.
But the Lord did only teach His followers to give to those who cannot repay, He paid a debt He didn’t owe, to quote an old hymn, for me, who owed a debt I could not pay. Considering our reading from Saint Paul’s Letter to the Romans, we are to do for others what God has done for us: extend love, care, and mercy that cannot be repaid.
Showing forth the diakonia of all the baptized, Saint Martin taught “Pray not for wealth or success, but for the opportunity to serve others.” He also offers this insight: “If you want to find true happiness, look for it in making others happy.” The shortest route to unhappiness and dissatisfaction is to become obsessed with your own happiness and satisfaction. Yet, this bad advice is given and taken all the time!
For those of us who grapple with depression, it is important to rediscover the truth of Saint Martin’s insight about the balm of serving others. Getting “outside” of ourselves is often a good remedy. Far from being other people, hell is isolation and self-absorption.
Heeding Pope Francis, I will end on a hopeful note. Saint Martin, noted something echoed by Pope Benedict in his first encyclical Deus caritas est, namely “When you give to others, you not only give them food and material things, but you also give them hope and a reason to believe in a better future.”
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