Biography
St. Martin was born in Lima, Peru in 1579. His father was a Spanish nobleman and his mother a former slave from Panama. St. Martin apprenticed under a physician, receiving solid medical training. He became a member of the Dominican Third Order and lived as a lay brother at the local friary. St. Martin cared tirelessly for the sick and later founded an orphanage for Peruvian children. He died in 1639 and was canonized in 1962 by Pope Saint John XXIII. [1][2] Written by Sarah Ciotti Reviewed by Fr. Hugh Feiss, OSB, STD [1] Fr. Hugh Feiss, OSB, The Martyrology of the Monastery of the Ascension, 2008. [2] Herbert J. Thurston, S.J. and Donald Attwater, Butler’s Lives of the Saints Volume 4 (Indiana: Ave Maria Press, Inc., 1956), 269-270. Note: Optional Memorials and Commemorations are optional celebrations and, at present, we do not include content specific to these special days. This “About Today” is provided so that you can celebrate this Saint as you worship Christ. Thank you for praying with us. If you feel called, your Lenten offering helps carry this prayer to more hearts and languages. Contribute now