Product Description
ST. MARTIN DE PORRES STATUE - 12"
This is a beautifully detailed statue of St. Martin de Porres, patron saint of mixed-race people, barbers, innkeepers, public health workers, and all those seeking racial harmony. Made of resin and hand-painted, it measures approximately 11” from base to halo.
Saint Martin was born on December 9, 1579 in Lima, Peru. He was the illegitimate son of a Spanish nobleman and a freed slave from Panama who never married. His father abandoned the family two years later after the birth of his sister leaving the children to be raised in dire poverty. When Martin was 12, his mother apprenticed him to a barber-surgeon where he learned how to cut hair, draw blood, care for wounds and prepare and administer medicines.
After several years, Martin discerned Jesus calling him to enter the Dominicans in Lima. He shared two strong devotions dear to the Order and its saints: devotion to the Rosary and to the Queen of the Most Holy Rosary, and a powerful love of the Eucharist. After nine years and significant contributions to the community, he made solemn vows as a lay brother. He was noted for his work on behalf of the poor, establishing an orphanage and a children's hospital. He maintained an austere lifestyle, which included fasting and abstaining from meat. Among the many miracles attributed to him were those of levitation, bilocation, miraculous knowledge, instantaneous cures, and an ability to communicate with animals. Martin de Porres was canonized by Pope John XXIII in 1962 and we celebrate his feast day on November 3rd.