(circa 1579-1639)

Patron of African Americans
and of racial harmony

Martin de Porres was born in Lima, Peru as the illegitimate son of a Spanish nobleman and a freed black slave. At the age of 11, he became a servant in a Dominican Abbey. He became known for his tender care of the sick and for his spectacular cures. The Abbot dropped the stipulation that no black person may be received to the order, and Martin took his vows as a Dominican brother. He established an orphanage and children’s hospital for the poor children of the slums.