In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.
Saint Martin de Porres shone singularly in the virtue of humility. It was very rarely that anyone
saw Saint Martin de Porres lift his eyes from the earth. When he entered the cells of the religious,
they gave him a chair or bench to sit on, but he did not allow it and preferred to
sit on the ground at their feet. And if some of them treated him badly with words,
Saint Martin de Porres' face was more cheerful than if they gave him some honor or flattery,
responding to the reproaches they gave him with words of great love and meekness.
Saint Martin did much penance offering his sufferings for the salvation of others.
He was very abstinent with his food. And this was reduced on the days that the Community ate meat to
a bowl of broth and some vegetables; and on fish days, some legumes. And this was very moderate.
Seeing it, it seemed impossible to sustain a human body like this.
He fasted every Lent on bread and water from Holy Thursday until
Easter at noon. And on this day as a great gift he ate some yuccas and sweet potatoes.
And on the second day he ate for the solemnity of Easter a soup and a few
cabbages without eating meat. Every day after prayers he locked himself in his cell
and spent just over three-quarters of an hour in prayer and discipline.
One of the characteristic features of the life of Saint Martin was his great charity towards
everyone. Father Fernando, his fellow nurse affirms: His charity was so great that there
was nothing imaginable that he did not do, serving and healing the sick, giving alms to Spaniards,
Indians and black persons because he loved all and loved them with singular love and charity.
He married orphans, dressed the poor and for many needy religious he remedied their needs. Some rich
men gave him money to give alms on their behalf. At the door of the convent poor Spaniards waited
for the servant of God, so that he would heal incurable diseases, aged sores rebellious to
medicines. And in four days that he cured them and laid hands on the diseases, Saint Martin de Porres
brought them to a better state, healing them.
Saint Martin did the same to the Indians and
blacks whom the servant of God cured with ardent zeal for charity and love of God that burned in
his soul. And at this time there was a plague in this city of a disease called rubeola or measles
in which one of the witnesses of the beatification process had sixty patients in his infirmary,
most of them young novices. This disease gave a cruel fever that rose to the head. The servant
of God was non-stop day and night, going to these patients with help, with ointments, also bringing
them sugar, rose honeycomb, pumpkin and water at midnight to refresh the sick. And at this time he
marvelously entered and left the novitiate with the doors closed, through the walls.
The same witness points out that at noon, at lunchtime, the servant of God went to the dining
room and carried a cup and a pot to collect his food and the rest that was left over from the
religious who ate at his side, and if Saint Martin saw some poor man at the door of the dining room,
his restlessness was remarkable until he sent them food to eat.
The servant of God, not eating more than bread and water because
of his great abstinence, wanted everyone to eat very well because of his great charity.
And when he finished eating, he took out his pot and his cup full of food and went to the kitchen
of the infirmary where poor Spaniards, blacks and sick Indians would wait for him at those hours,
and even dogs and cats at that hour were waiting for food from the servant of God.
And before distributing, Saint Martin would bless them, saying: "May God increase it by His infinite
mercy." And so it seems that it happened that God increased it by His hand, because they all ate
and filled their pots and they were all happy, even the dogs and cats. And when he finished,
Saint Martin was so joyful that he said that there was no such pleasure as giving to the poor.
His charity was displayed in the first place with his religious brothers
to whom he was a nurse. With the help of some rich people he had a wardrobe for the sick.
Some years before he died he made more than 80 woolen shirts in the infirmary of the convent
which he distributed among the religious so that they would not put on canvas but wool,
so that they would give him canvases for the sick in the infirmary.
Saint Martin de Porres cared not only for their bodies but also for their souls.
Friar Francisco declares that he walked in the haciendas of the convent teaching the Christian
doctrine and the faith of Jesus Christ to the blacks and Indians and rustic people who attended.
Saint Martin tried to attract rustic people such as blacks and Indians
to the true path of salvation, exhorting them in God to keep His commandments and not offend Him.
He exhorted everyone very much not to offend His divine Majesty
and love Him above all things and their neighbors as themselves,
giving them healthy advice and trying to direct them to the true path of salvation.
On one occasion, he was concerned about a Dutchman, a former privateer,
who lived in the city. His name was Esteban and he was considered a Christian. He married and when he
was about to die in the hospital of San Andrés he was suffering for three days with the admiration
of those who attended him. On the last day the servant of God went to the hospital in a hurry
and told the nurse: “How is this? He is unbaptized and does he want to die?"
So Saint Martin de Porres told him so many things in order to convert him
that this man understood and asked Saint Martin to be baptized. The servant of God went in haste
to call the priest, whom he made baptize the sick man and marry him and later he died.
On many occasions Saint Martin expressed his desire to be a martyr in Japan. In this regard,
Father Francisco states that he heard a religious saying that Saint Martin de Porres
went to Japan most of the days in spirit and there he communicated with those of the nation.
His charity towards animals was also to be admired. When he went to the henhouse in the
infirmary, the chickens allowed themselves to be treated by him and they entertained,
surrounded and celebrated him as acknowledgement of his charity. And if he entered the stable, the
mules and other beasts would arrive, loving and flattering him with particular displays of love.
And the same thing happened with the dogs, cats and other domestic animals that showed,
wherever they saw him, a lot of excitement in their flattery, showing as best they
could the pleasure they received in seeing him, touching him and licking his clothes.
On one occasion, having found a mule in a dunghill to die
because his leg had been broken and it was badly wounded, the mule in no way useful for anything,
our Saint Martin de Porres took it, cured it and splinted it, saying: "Creature of God,
heal." And within a few days the mule was good and healthy.
On another occasion, when Saint Martin was going down the street he found a dog
who had been stabbed and whose guts were out and feeling very hurt for him, as he did for others,
he took him to his cell and there he cured the dog in the same manner as if the dog
were a rational person, and made him a bed until he was well, taking great care of him.
One day when this witness Francisco was with Saint Martin, a large dog came from the street
that had been badly injured and giving to Saint Martin many caresses and compliments
that it seemed to know him, Saint Martin immediately made a bed on a sheepskin in his cell
and there he cured the dog as if the dog were a person
and with the same care until the dog was good. And being healthy, this witness saw how Saint
Martin led the dog to the door of the convent and there he told the dog to go where his master was;
and so the dog did, obeying the servant of God.
Father Hernando states that he heard publicly said
that a buzzard was shot and the animal was in the river behind the convent.
The animal was wounded with his legs broken, so the buzzard flew to the convent garden
where the bird saw the servant of God who was sowing medicinal herbs to cure the sick.
Saint Martin got to the buzzard and despite being a very fearful and cowardly animal,
the animal remained as if waiting for the help of the servant of God,
who healed the wound continuing every day to take it to eat in the garden.
When the buzzard saw any other person he fled, except from the servant of God whom he awaited
as if the servant of God were his father and acknowledged him with due gratitude.
On another occasion, bulls and calves were brought to the convent for the choristers to play with;
and they went four days without eating. And knowing about this the servant of God
was very distressed and in the presence of this witness, Marcelo, he hastily loaded jars of water
and put them at the door of the novitiate. The next day, the case was published throughout the
convent. It happened that, after having a lot of water and grass that Saint Martin brought from the
convent stables, the doors of the novitiate were opened to him later than midnight and Saint Martin
was putting out water and grass, distributing it to each one according to their age.
The bulls are furious animals, but they were tamed such that they came to the servant of God
as if to kiss his habit. A religious named Friar Diego heard Saint Martin
speak and say to the bulls: "Elder brother, stop, stop. let the younger ones eat"
One day Saint Martin de Porres was afflicted when he saw the damage that mice did to the
clothes of the sick. And Saint Martin took a mouse and said to him: “Brother,
why do you and your companions hurt the clothes of the sick? I will not kill you, but go and summon
your companions to go to the garden, I will feed them there every day ”. And it happened like this,
Saint Martin brought the leftovers from the infirmary every day. And our Lord allowed, as
a reward for his great charity, that there were no more mice in the wardrobe, as another witness saw.
But not only in the wardrobe, but also in the sacristy of the convent there were many
mice that destroyed the liturgical ornaments. The sacristan continually complained. Saint
Martin brought a basket from the infirmary and entering with the sacristan in the room of the
office that is used to keep the vestments of the sacristy, he put the basket in the middle
of it and with a meek voice of authority and full of confidence, he said: “Mouse brothers,
all of you gather in this basket, there is no reason for you to spoil the ornaments that serve
divine worship and impoverish religion and the sacristy”. And at the voice of the servant of God
the mice collected into the basket in view of some religious who were present, and he carried them
loaded in the basket to the garden, with Saint Martin promising that he would bring them food.
Another witness Fernando says: It seems that the animals obeyed him by a particular privilege of
God, as will be seen from an example and a prodigious event that this witness saw.
It happened that under the basement that is under the infirmary of the convent, a dog and a cat had
puppies and kittens. The servant of God started to feed them because they could starve, Saint Martin
took care every day to bring them a plate of soup; and while they were eating, he would say to them:
"Eat and be quiet and do not quarrel." And it happened that one day a mouse came out wanting
to eat from the same plate, and seeing the servant of God, Saint Martin de Porras said to the mouse:
"Brother, do not disturb the children, and if you want to eat, go ahead and eat and be with God."
And all of this happened in this way, the mouse and the dogs and cats were eating together with
great quietness, which this witness saw because the servant of God had called him to see this.
Friar Juan states that he saw dogs, cats and mice eat together without offending each other.
Friar Antonio assures that on one occasion he sent a dog, a cat and a mouse to eat together,
as if they were of the same species, and when the dinner was finished,
they each left for their part, obedient to the voice of God's servant.
And it was publicly known in the convent that Saint Martin de Porres told them what to eat
in pots. Saint Martin ordered the animals that they eat without hurting each other,
dogs, cats and mice being together, obeying the command as if they were extremely rational.
In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.