Daily Thought For November 3, 2021

 St. Martin De Porres

St. Martin de Porres was born in Lima on December 9, 1579, the son of a Spanish father and a black mother. As a youth, he learned the basics of medical practice by helping one of the local pharmacist-physicians. He felt called to the religious life, but because he was a mulatto he thought that that way of life was not for him. Instead, he took a job—he was then fifteen years of age—doing domestic work in a Dominican monastery. During his nine years there, the monks witnessed his humility, goodness, and charity, and eventually they asked him if he would not want to become a Dominican brother. This he did in 1603. In addition to his regular tasks in the community (as barber, surgeon, and infirmarian), Br. Martin cared for the sick and the poor of the city, and when he returned home he spent his nights more in prayer than in sleep. To the people of the city and to his religious brethren, he was the living symbol of generosity and humility. He died in Lima on November 3, 1639, and was canonized by Pope John XXIII in 1962. Today’s prayer mentions St. Martin’s humility.

Tylenda, J. N. (2003). Saints and Feasts of the Liturgical Year (p. 236). Washington, D.C.: Georgetown University Press.