NOVEMBER 3 ST. MARTIN DE PORRES, OP
St. Martin De Porres OP was born the son of a Spanish soldier and a freed Panamanian slave woman. As someone who was considered "half-caste" in the Lima society, he had so prospects except menial ones. His father had him trained as a barber/physician and turned him over to the Dominican priory in Lima where he was eventually clothed as a non-ordained brother and principally assigned as the doorkeeper to the priory. He literally lived in a broom closet at the foot of some stairs at the front of the priory. His statues often show him with a broom in his hands!
However, he also was a kind of one-man social service agency, feeding and caring for anyone who came to the door of the priory regardless of their status. This service has made him the patron saint of all those who work for an end to racial discrimination of any kind. He is also the patron saint of the Southern Dominican Province, of which I am a member.
St. Martin personified what Jesus speaks about in today's regularly scheduled gospel scripture. The poor, the crippled, the lame, the blind - all forms of social outcastes - found help from him at the door of the priory. We are challenged by Jesus today and always to follow St. Martin's example. AMEN