Saints of Panama World Youth Day 2019 - St. Martin de Porres.
Grandinmedia St. Martin de Porres is a Latin American saint and is the patron of interracial justice. Born the son of a white Spanish nobleman, and a black Panamanian slave in 1579, his family background became the driving force in his life. He was forbidden by Peruvian law to become a member of religious orders, so at 15 years of age, he entered the Dominicans of Holy Rosary Priory by asking to become a volunteer as a servant boy to earn the privilege of being there. After eight years performing janitorial work, the prior decided to permit Martin to take his vows as a member of the Third order of St. Dominic. By age 34, he finally received a religious habit and served in the infirmary. He lived his life as a humble servant to the sick and begged for alms in order to feed 160 poor people daily. He also founded an orphanage in Lima, Peru St. Martin de Porres was the first black saint of the Americas and canonized in 1962 by St …More