In the name of the Father, and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.
Saint Martin was so kind and charitable to everyone that especially the poor considered
him as a father.
Some people even wanted him to formally consider them his children.
Saints are the happiest people in the world because they are closer to God, who is the
joy of the world.
Saint Martin was no exception, even though some may be scared of his great penances.
The witnesses of the process of beatification coincide in affirming that he was a very happy
man, although he did not express it externally with great laughter but with a simple smile
that transmitted love and peace.
His niece Catalina de Porras says that he had a very cheerful and smiling face.
Father Salvador assures that he always had a very happy face.
Captain Juan, who was his friend, affirms that he always had a cheerful and smiling face.
Father Antonio emphasizes this, saying that he helped everyone with great pleasure and
with a cheerful and smiling face.
Francisco Ortiz found him one day with great joy and smiling a lot, speaking the Chinese language.
Father Francisco could say of him that he was very peaceful and loving, and this witness
never saw in Saint Martin an angry face or impatient action, but rather he always brought
a happy face, a peaceful and quiet heart.
In Saint Martin de Porras' soul dwelt the grace of the Holy Spirit who governed his actions.
Therefore we can say that Saint Martin was a cheerful and happy man.
It has been said for a long time that he was a sad saint, and this is totally false.
We would say that there cannot be a true saint who is sad.
One of the certain signs of authentic holiness is the love, peace and joy of God that the saints have.
So is it worth being a Saint?
Let us ask God for this grace through the intercession of Saint Martin de Porras, since
God has chosen us from all eternity to be holy and immaculate before Him through love (Ephesians 1: 4).
Many times Saint Martin had communication with angels, although not much is known about
this aspect of his life.
Doctor Marcelo claims to have heard from the monks of the convent, and this was
public and well-known, that the servant of God, whipping himself through the convent
as if in procession was being illuminated by four beautiful young men who were understood to be angels.
Francisco Quintero says: This witness saw that every night the servant of God would
get up at one o'clock in the morning and then start praying in front of Saint Veronica where
he spent more than an hour.
Then this witness saw that every night, through a window out of the cell to the cloister of
the infirmary, a large cat of three colors entered.
The colors which this witness saw were white, black and brown.
And the venerable brother Saint Martin was reached by this cat who pulled his habit as
if to signal that it was time for some exercise.
Who could be this intelligent cat, who woke him up every night?
Other times when Saint Martin de Porras went out to pray with the Community, the religious
saw that two angels were lighting him with torches in their hands.
One of the mystical gifts that God grants to His servants is that of ecstasy, a state
in which the person is so absorbed in God that he remains immobile and insensitive to
external sensations.
This state can in some cases reach levitation.
In other words, the saint can rise from the ground and remain suspended in the air for
up to several hours.
Father Gonzalo declares in the process of beatification that in the convent specifically
in the Chapter room Saint Martin embraced a holy crucifix and was suspended from the
ground at some distance.
Saint Martin de Porras was with the crucifix in such a way that his arms were around it,
which caused notable admiration.
Juan Parra assures that once they had gone to plant chamomile
and Saint Martin de Porras began to pray on his knees, thanking God Our Lord and turning
his eyes to heaven.
Then this witness saw Saint Martin who also rose suspended high above the ground and spent
more than an hour and a half like that.
The same witness certifies that one day going to the cell of Saint Martin de Porras around
two in the afternoon, he saw the saint in prayer in front of the image of a holy crucifix
that he had in the cell.
This witness saw Saint Martin with his arms outstretched and in his right hand a cross
and with his eyes staring at the crucifix.
Saint Martin was suspended in the air.
And this witness seeing this was so scared and terrified that he ran out in a hurry,
and went to call a lay religious named Fernando who was attending the pharmacy.
When the witness told Fernando about what he saw, the lay religious told him to be quiet,
close the door and that he would see so many of these supernatural situations and there
is no reason to be scared about it.
Bilocation is the simultaneous presence of the same person in two different places.
It is known with certainty that Saint Martin had the gift of bilocation and while he was
present in the convent fulfilling his daily obligations, he was seen in another distant
place doing works of charity.
It is impossible for the same person with a single body to be in two different places
but for God nothing is impossible.
For this reason it is sometimes considered that in one of the two places an angel takes
the figure of him and acts as him.
Doctor Jose tells us about a merchant from Lima, a friend of Saint Martin, who traveled to Mexico.
While in that city a serious illness happened to him and he remembered his friend Saint
Martin who had already cured him on some occasion while in Lima, and he started to invoke him.
The merchant was saying: "My beloved Friar Martin, my nurse.
I am seriously ill in this city, ask God to free me from this disease".
And saying these and other similar supplications, he saw Saint Martin de Porras enter through
the door of his bedroom who told him: "Trust in God that you will not die from this disease".
Saint Martin applied some medicines to him and when the merchant asked Saint Martin where
he was, the saint replied: "In the convent."
The merchant believed that he was in the convent of Mexico.
And the next day when he was healthy he went to visit him, but there no one knew anything.
And when he returned to Lima, he went to visit him at the convent of Santo Domingo, where
some religious confirmed that he had never left Lima.
Another similar case also occurred with a friend of Saint Martin who while in Portobelo
Panama became ill.
And Saint Martin went to heal him in bilocation.
Francisco in his statements notes the fact that he had spoken with a former
captive from Algeria where he had met Saint Martin de Porras who visited Christian slaves,
comforting and relieving them.
After a time when he was released and coming to Peru looking for a future, he met with
Saint Martin and his admiration was great when he learned from the other religious that
the saint had never left Peru.
Friar Antonio says that due to cases that were discovered, Saint Martin was in Bayonne
- France in a hospital in that city and the saint arranged and founded another in Barbary
for the captive Christians.
Saint Martin de Porras was in Japan comforting the new converts as well.
The gift of agility is the almost instantaneous body movement from one place to another, sometimes
very far from where we are.
Cases of these are known in the life of Saint Martin de Porras.
Father Alonso affirms that one day in the Limatambo hacienda some horses had fled and
they had jumped over a wall.
And this witness said that Saint Martin de Porras was present and ran after them and
caught them instantaneously.
This witness assured that Saint Martin de Porras had the gift of agility.
But something more wonderful was to make a group of religious travel a great distance
in an instant in a supernatural way.
It is told by one of those who lived through this experience, Friar Francisco.
One spring day a group of young religious had gone out to
more than 3 miles or 4 Kilometers from the convent.
After the snack and seeing that the night was closing in Saint Martin was driving the
carriage and said to the religious brothers, who were more than thirty: Hey, little ones,
take your capes, it's time to start moving to get home.
And all of them coming on foot and having heard the prayer in an alley almost 3 miles
from the convent, they found themselves in the middle of another location, without knowing
where or how they had come.
They were more entertained and amused with the same activity and fervor of the servant
of God that encouraged them to walk.
In the name of the Father, and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.