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Man of Prayer

1. Prayer is not the first thing we notice when we meet someone. In ordinary conversation, it is difficult to tell if a person prays a lot or what is the quality of her prayer. Yet if we stay for a while close to her we begin to perceive how she reacts in times of trial. When things go tough we immediately note who relies on herself and who relies on God.
2. Paul VI, the pope who canonized Martin de Porres, once taught: “The quiet personal prayer in which you encounter Christ in order to keep vital the contact of the soul with God, the source of all graces, simply does not have a substitute.” Prayer cannot be traded and there is no workaround for that time we spend with the Lord.
3. Prayer is the beginning and the end of a holy day. If we are called to be holy, we are called to be prayerful, for we cannot lead a holy life without holy mornings, holy evenings and holy nights.

A Contemplative Man

1. Martin is well remembered as a man of prayer. He used to spend a good portion of the night in the church, contemplating the Crucified Lord. If Christ hanging on the Cross is the great source of every grace, where are we supposed to go if not to that fountain?
2. St. Martin’s prayer shines forth with many rays. Among them, I would like to highlight these four: humility, adoration, perseverance, confidence. He certainly knew the power of prayer and was generous in giving time to his best friend, Jesus Christ.
3. It has been reported that, even walking down by the corridors of the priory, he would seldom or never pass by the image of a saint without saying some prayer. The statues were not mere decoration for him! He would recommend similar practices to his brothers in religion, and to everybody that would listen to him.

What We Can Learn from St. Martin To-day

1. We are in great need of rediscovering prayer. It can be difficult at times; it can seem wasting of time; we can feel we are going nowhere. Yet that “useless” time delivers our lives to the One that is able to shape us according to the image of his only Begotten Son.
2. The important point in prayer is not what we do but what God does. More important than our words is his Word. More important than our feelings is the mysterious action of his grace and his love.
3. We are not alone on the way to become prayerful people. The lives of the saints, true witnesses of God’s love, is constantly remind us that if we sow with generosity, we will harvest with joy.

Humility

1. Have you noticed that in Christianity the only popular people are humble people? To be popular is to be humble. It is all the same in our own lives: we only remember with pleasure those who were kind with us. Most popular Saints, like St. Francis of Assisi or St. Martin de Porres were humblest and kindest among all.
2. We like other people to be humble yet we struggle ourselves in getting humility. It is a difficult virtue, hard to acquire and easy to lose.
3. There is a complex relationship between being humble and being humiliated. We cannot derive the former from the latter. Some people learn humility from a tough environment; others instead grow a deep feeling of rebellion and hatred.

St. Martin, A Humble Lay Dominican Brother

1. When we fully realize how well loved is St. Martin we probably think “It would be great to have someone like him in my family,” or “among my friends.” Yet, Martin was only acknowledged as son of his father when the child was 8. This abandonment locked Martin into the lower levels of Lima’s society even if he knew his father was nothing less than a Spanish nobleman fully capable of looking well after him.
2. Two things amaze me. Firstly, there is simply no record of any unkind word from Martin about his father. Secondly, it was among the poor of his time that Martin made his spiritual dwelling. He would not regard them as destitutes but as brothers and sisters.
3. Martin entered the Dominican Orden through the humblest door. He gave himself up to the Order and did not ask to be admitted as a brother but only as a “donado”–a Spanish name for unpaid servants that used to live in the priories for no other reward than food and shelter. Eventually he was asked to do his Religious Profession; later on, he considered that day the happiest in his life.

What We Can Learn from St. Martin To-day

1. When Jesus presented himself as an example, he did not say: “learn from me, for I am wise and admirable,” even if he was. What he said was: “learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls” (Matthew 11,29).We only can thank people like St. Martin for making this passage alive for us.
2. We have to acknowledge that humility is not an easy virtue. Yet what is the alternative? Pride is the worst adviser. Pride is the oldest maker of quarrels and wars. Pride is ready to fill with hatred our souls. It has been scientifically proved that pride is close to madness, for a proud person has to deny the opinion of the rest of the world. Humility is a sensible choice and God’s grace will bestow it on us as soon as we open the door.
3. Humility is deeply related to fraternity. Pride spells isolation; humility means gathering, community, encounter. For similar reasons, humility is a close relative of happiness and peace of mind.

Why Do We Celebrate the Saints?

1. We celebrate the Saints because they are living pages of the Gospel of Christ. In them we learn that the Gospel is not a fable; it is not a fairy tale but something real, as real as the bones and flesh of these heroic men and women.
2. We celebrate them because no joy could be more justifiable. What profit is to conquer this Earth if we were to lose Heaven? The Saints are people that won the true battle and deserve the true prize.
3. We celebrate them as a means of inspiration for each one of us. Life has been likened to a road, and as travelers we constantly need new strength, advise and direction. We get them from the Saints.

Basic Facts about St. Martin de Porres’ Early Life

1. Martin was the son of a freed slave woman from Panama and a Spanish conquistador, who abandoned the young mother and son for many years.
2. He was born during the Colonial period of the Spanish dominion over South America. Poverty, racism and illiteracy pressed heavily down on the young boy.
3. He was particularly discriminated against, for he would not be seen as neither Spanish nor native south American. His neighbors would call him “Blackish Dog!” just to enrage him.

What We Can Learn from St. Martin To-day

1. Martin was an ideal candidate for hatred and resentment. Yet neither could really grab his heart. We are not defined only by the circumstances, no matter how difficult they are.
2. Martin is remembered as a joyful man. He had the capacity of picking the best from everybody. How did a rich man get his riches? Collecting them. To be rich in virtue we have to collect virtues, as we can find them in others. It is our choice, whether we focus our attention in the good that others have or only in their defects, faults and failures.
3. Life is not what happens to you; is what you do with what happens to you. Many people have gone through situations similar to St. Martin’s. Most of them left no trace of their path. We are happy to celebrate someone that threw himself so completely in God’s hands, as to receive from God his victory–and a well deserved place among the Saints.