St. Martin de Porres: Patron Saint of Racial Harmony and Barbers - Life, Feast Day and Prayer
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Saint Martin de Porres, anonymous Italian master, 18th century. Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons.
St. Martin de Porres swept floors, cut hair and nursed the sick in a Dominican priory in Lima, Peru. Born poor and of mixed race at a time when that closed nearly every door, he became one of the most loved saints of the Americas. The Church honors him as a patron of racial harmony, barbers and all who care for the sick.
Quick Facts
Feast day: November 3
Born: December 9, 1579, Lima, Peru
Died: November 3, 1639, Lima
Beatified: 1837, by Pope Gregory XVI
Canonized: May 6, 1962, by Pope St. John XXIII
Patron of: Racial harmony, people of mixed race, barbers and hairdressers, public health workers, innkeepers, social justice
Symbols: Broom, crucifix, rosary, a dog, cat and mouse eating from one dish
His Life
Martin was born in Lima to Juan de Porres, a Spanish nobleman, and Ana Velázquez, a freed Black woman from Panama. His father did not at first acknowledge the boy or his younger sister, Juana, and the family grew up in poverty. When Martin was about twelve, his mother placed him with a barber-surgeon. In those days a barber also set bones, dressed wounds and gave simple medicines, and Martin learned all of it well.
Even as a boy he was known for giving away what little he had and for spending long hours in prayer. At about fifteen he asked to join the Dominican Priory of the Holy Rosary in Lima. Colonial law barred men of African descent from full membership in religious orders, so he was received as a donado, a lay helper who lived with the friars and did the humblest work. He accepted this gladly. Some years later the community, moved by his holiness, admitted him to profession as a lay brother.
For the rest of his life Martin served as the priory's infirmarian, barber and almoner. He nursed sick friars day and night and cared for the poor who crowded the priory gate. He brought Spaniards, Indigenous people and African slaves alike into his care without distinction. When an epidemic struck Lima he looked after the sick in the city as well. With help from wealthy friends he founded a home and school for orphaned and abandoned children. He also gathered alms for dowries so that poor young women could marry.
Early accounts describe extraordinary gifts. Witnesses said he was seen in distant places while never leaving Lima, that he was lifted from the ground in prayer, and that he passed through locked doors to reach the sick. He also had a famous tenderness for animals. Stories tell of him persuading the priory's mice to leave the sacristy and of a dog, a cat and a mouse eating peacefully from one bowl. He counted St. Rose of Lima and St. John Macías among his friends.
Martin called himself "a poor mulatto" and once offered to be sold to pay the priory's debts. He died of fever on November 3, 1639, while the friars prayed the Creed around him. Crowds came to venerate his body, and the archbishop and the viceroy's officials carried his coffin. Devotion to him spread through Peru and then the world, and in 1962 Pope St. John XXIII canonized him.
Legacy
Martin de Porres shows that holiness grows in hidden service. He never preached or wrote a book, yet his humility, his work with the sick and his refusal to treat anyone as lesser made him a sign of unity in a society divided by race and class. Today schools, parishes, hospitals and outreach programs carry his name across the Americas, Africa and beyond.
Prayer to St. Martin de Porres
O St. Martin de Porres, humble brother and faithful servant of the poor, you saw Christ in every person who came to your door. Pray for us, that we may set aside every prejudice and treat each person as a child of God. Obtain healing for the sick, comfort for the lonely and peace in our homes and communities. Teach us to love humble work and to serve without seeking praise. Through Christ our Lord. Amen.
Original prayer by Daily Catholic Prayers. You may print and share it freely.
How to Celebrate His Feast Day
Pray the prayer above, or begin a novena on October 25 so it ends on his feast.
Do one hidden act of service: clean, cook or run an errand for someone without being asked.
Visit or call someone who is sick, or thank a nurse, barber or health worker.
Make an effort to welcome someone who feels like an outsider in your parish or workplace.
Share a simple meal as a family and read a short account of his life together.
Novenas Through the Year
A beginner's printable booklet of Catholic novenas for the feasts of the year. Pray nine days before St. Martin's feast or any time you need help.
$3.99 · Get the booklet
Frequently Asked Questions
When is the feast day of St. Martin de Porres?
November 3, the day he died in 1639. In the United States it is an optional memorial.
What is St. Martin de Porres the patron saint of?
Racial harmony, people of mixed race, barbers and hairdressers, public health workers, innkeepers and social justice.
Why is St. Martin de Porres shown with a broom?
The broom stands for the humble work he did gladly. He considered no task beneath him.
Was St. Martin de Porres a priest?
No. He was a Dominican lay brother. He first served as a lay helper because the law of his time kept men of African descent out of full religious life.
Who were St. Martin's friends among the saints?
St. Rose of Lima and St. John Macías, who lived in Lima at the same time.
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