We just celebrated the great Solemnity of All Saints Day. I want to write to you today about an amazing Saint who lived 400 years ago in Peru, SAINT MARTIN DE PORRES whose Feast was just celebrated on Tuesday, November 3rd. He is not as well-known as some of the greatest Saints as Saint Francis of Assisi or Saint Vincent de Paul. But like Saint Francis and Saint Vincent de Paul, he was fully committed to help people in need, whether poor or sick. He was also extremely humble. He had a very difficult childhood. He was born out of wedlock. His mother was a former slave in Peru and his father a Spanish nobleman who abandoned his son Martin right after the birth of his sister. He joined the Dominican convent of the Holy Rosary as a servant and did all kinds of menial jobs with great love: cooking, cleaning, and feeding the unwanted and the abandoned. Eventually, he took vows as a lay brother. He had an exceptional love for the great Sacrament of the Eucharist and for the Adoration of the Blessed Sacrament In the last few years, we remembered him in our parish as part of our traditional celebration of November as Black Catholic History Month, celebrating the history and proud heritage of Black Catholics in our country and throughout the world. November was chosen as it is the month of two Black saints: The very famous St Augustine living in North Africa in the 4th century (Feast on November 13) and the less-known St Martin de Porres (November 3rd).
In our church on November 3rd, Election Day, we had an all-day Adoration of the Blessed Sacrament to pray for PEACE and for healing of divisions. I spent the entire day in prayer, and this gave me much time to meditate on the powerful example of SAINT MARTIN DE PORRES, who by his Love of God and neighbor was truly a peacemaker. In his homily at the Canonization of Saint Martin, Saint John XXIII said: "The example of Martin's life is ample evidence that we can strive for holiness and salvation as Christ Jesus has shown us: first by loving God with all your heart and all your soul and with all your mind, and second by loving our neighbor as yourself...Saint Martin, always obedient and inspired by his divine teacher (Jesus Christ carrying our sins on his body to the Cross), dealt with his brothers (and sisters) with that profound love which comes from pure faith and humility of spirit."
Last Monday, Fr. Ben and I held our second Family and Faith Forum. It is open to all children and youth of our Religious Education Program, and to all their parents. It is live-streamed on the OLHOC YouTube Channel, so that it can be accessed at any time. The children can ask us questions in advance. We covered All Saints Day, All Souls Day, and the Holy Trinity. We also introduced a family activity, "share with each other the name of a favorite Saint and the reason why that Saint is special to you”. Fr. Ben talked about Saint Teresa of Avila, the great mystic reformer of the Carmelite Order, and I talked about St John Vianney, the Cure d'Ars, patron Saint of all priests. You can watch this at the end of our 30-minute video on YouTube (click here to watch).
As I am writing this column (November 4th), we are celebrating another great Saint: St Charles Borromeo who lived in northern Italy 450 years ago. He guided the final session of the Council of Trent, who led to a great renewal of the Catholic Church as a response to the emergence of Martin Luther and the Protestant Reform in Germany. As the Bishop of Milan, St. Charles was an example of how to promote the formation of seminarians and priests. Next time you drive on St Charles Parkway think about St Charles Borromeo and pray for our seminarians and priests. Note that the immediate area around our own parish has streets named from great Catholic Saints: St Ignatius, St. Mark, St. Paul, St. Andrew and St Thomas. As you drive you can teach your children about those Saints, and your favorite ones.
Let us pray together: Almighty God, help us all to desire to become saints. May you help us maintain our hope that one day we will be together with ALL THE SAINTS IN HEAVEN! Almighty God, You led Martin de PORRES by a life of humility to eternal glory. May we follow his example of peacemaker and helper of the poor and sick. May we be exalted with him in the KINGDOM of HEAVEN!