First Saturday Parish Rosary at St. Anthony of Padua Church, 11/7/2015

My Rosa Mystica statue with relics of Our
Lady's veil & St. Martin de Porres at its base.

The Saint we honored at our First Saturday Rosary was St. Martin de Porres, the illegitimate son of a fair-skinned, Spanish father, and a Black mother (a freed slave) who died in the 17th Century; his father was relatively wealthy, while his mother was poor. So Martin's life, being bi-racial, straddled two cultures; two social statuses... and he was made fun of by both the Spanish and the slave-class (black and native indians) because they didn't see him as being completely one of their own.

How difficult and painful it must have been for St. Martin to be in "social limbo"; not feeling like he belonged anywhere... yet, through God's grace, he forgave the ridicule, over and over, and just strove to see Christ in each person; serving Christ, via ministry to his neighbor, regardless of skin color and social background.

After he joined the Dominicans in the city of Lima, St. Martin's reputation for exceptional sanctity (and remarkable miracles, too) became so widespread in Peru, he attracted everyone to himself... and in his love-filled presence, racial and social status lines were blurred, and the people united as a peaceful family in God.  Our featured Saint, today, posed a challenge for all of us in attendance, which was... to be a person who healed division in the different areas of our lives - at home; at work; and out on the streets -  rather than be the cause.  St. Martin de Porres, pray for us.

After our Saint-Lesson, we proceeded with our Rosary, keeping our Saint's life-example in mind.  It was a reflective prayer, given that our spiritual goal is to pray for Peace every month.  And people must have been touched by my narrative on St. Martin, because afterwards, several of them went up to the display altar to venerate his relic - a 1st Class [Flesh] Relic - that I brought to our Day Chapel for today's meeting.  It's always a joy for me when I see the people venerating the Saints with sincere enthusiasm.  The Saints deserve to be remembered and honored, and the power of their intercession should never be overlooked.

Prayer participants venerating the relics

on the display altar... and discussing the life

and miracles of St. Martin de Porres.

Our next First Saturday Rosary will be prayed on December 5th, beginning at 4:25pm with the sharing of next month's yet-to-be-determined Saint.  All are invited to pray and be inspired... and to venerate genuine relics of the Blessed Mother's veil and a featured Saint.  We hope to see you there.

Saint of the Month - November 2015: Saint Martin de Porres

St. Martin de Porres

A Saint for ALL People

Feast: November 3rd

This month's featured Saint is beloved by people of all racial backgrounds - Hispanics, Blacks, and Caucasians - and it's because he embodies the best of all of us.  Martin de Porres was born in Lima, Peru, on December 9, 1579; the illegitimate son of a Spanish nobleman and a freed Panamanian slave of mixed African/Native American heritage.  The boy's father actually abandoned him and his mother and a young sister when he was but a child, leaving the trio to live in grinding poverty.  Martin's father later experienced a measure of remorse and arranged for his son to be trained as a Barber, which back in the Saint's time, also meant being somewhat of a medic; performing blood-letting and minor surgical procedures, when needed.

Among St. Martin's many spiritual gifts
was the ability to levitate.

The youthful Martin trained in his profession with great skill, but deep in his heart, he knew it wasn't what he truly wanted to do.  He was deeply pious and longed for the religious life, despite the fact natives and colored people were restricted by law from full profession with religious orders. The 15-year-old Martin found a way around it by offering himself as a servant to the Dominican Monastery of the Holy Rosary in Lima.  There, he was allowed to wear the habit, but was assigned the most difficult chores that no one else wanted to do.  In addition to the menial work, he was looked down upon by some of the friars for being bi-racial.  

Martin was grateful to be among the Dominicans and persevered despite the prejudice and other challenges. His background as a barber/medic made him indispensable to the monastery. His humility, charity, and piety also came to be well-respected by the friars and he was eventually accepted as a lay-brother in 1603 when Martin was 24-years-old. He was later assigned to run the infirmary, which he did admirably for 36 years.

A facial reconstruction of St. Martin's features,
created by a team of forensic scientists.

God confirmed Bro. Martin's sanctity with multiple spiritual gifts, among which were the gifts of Bilocation, Healing, and Prophecy. Often, the patients in the infirmary would just need to mentally formulate a request to Martin and, through the power of God, he would mysteriously appear to fulfill the request... sometimes even walking through locked doors or the walls.  The nature-loving friar also had a special affinity with animals.  One of his most famous miracles was the ridding of the monastery of an infestation of mice by simply calling on the rodents and leading them out to the barn where he fed them on scraps.  The friars had intended to poison the mice, but gentle Martin, in his love for all God's creation, interceded on behalf of the poor mice. 

Bro. Martin's wonders became so commonplace among his brethren, the other friars could have easily taken his miraculous feats for granted.  But his spiritual gifts in no way distracted him from his duties, but rather, the humble friar lived his vocation of charitable service, effectively, for many years - performing his routine chores and ministering to the sick-poor during the day; spending his nights in deep ecstatic prayer in the monastery chapel... sometimes raised several feet above the ground and surrounded by a luminous glow!

Needless to say, the humble mulatto came to be highly revered in his lifetime.  He was a confidante of St. Rose of Lima and a friend of St. Juan Macias, who was also a friar in the same monastery.  Bro. Martin fell seriously ill in the beginning of 1639 and passed away at aged 60 on November 3, 1639, deeply mourned by all of Lima.  In his lifetime he had managed to bring about a measure of peaceful unity among the various races - rich and poor - through his example of charity and unconditional love.

St. Martin de Porres was canonized by Pope John XXIII on May 6, 1962, and for obvious reasons, he is considered the Patron Saint of Barbers, Surgeons, and of Social Justice.  May St. Martin pray for our personal needs and the needs of the Universal Church.

A Reflection

Sanctity comes in a variety of colors!

A Short Prayer

Lord, help us to see beyond the color of a person's skin; to clearly recognize your innate presence and beauty within each soul.  Amen.

Speaking Presentation & Holy Relics Exhibit: St. Anthony of Padua Church, 11/1/2015

It was all about the Saints today at St. Anthony of Padua Church in Kailua.  Fitting, given the entire Church was celebrating a special day - the Feast of All Saints.

The floor plan on our Relic Exhibit

Guide that was distributed to the audience,

and which showed the names of Saints and

Blesseds whose relics were on display

for public veneration.

In honor of this hallowed day, my ministry was invited to speak to our parishioners about Saints and to bring multiple relics for public veneration.  In response, me and a team of volunteers organized an exhibit of Holy Relics, consisting of thirty-three 1st and 2nd Class Relics from various Saints and Blesseds.

  

Parishioners gathered for the Saints

and Relics Presentation/Exhibit in our

Parish Hall.

The event started with a short talk, during which I emphasized the role of Saints as our spiritual heroes and intercessors; role models for all Catholics to look up to and emulate. After the presentation, parishioners - consisting of adults and many children - were invited to walk around 5 tables on which were displayed the Relics of Saints and Blesseds.  Among those present were genuine relics from many popular Saints:  St. Bernadette of Lourdes, St. Catherine Laboure, St. Christopher, St. Gerard Majella, St. John Paul II, St. Philomena, St. Padre Pio. St. Rita of Cascia, St. Therese the Little Flower, etc.

Some of the many relics that were

displayed at our parish's exhibit.  Also

included were relics of the True Cross

of Jesus and clothing-relics of Our

Lady and St. Joseph.

 

It was a joy to see entire families, standing in front of the relics discussing the Saints whose relics were represented.  Square pieces of fabric were also handed out to each family, to be touched to the relics of the Saint(s) who had inspired them the most during my talk.  Many made use of their cloth, moving from table to table, prayerfully touching the reliquaries.  I could see from peoples' facial expression that most were considerably impressed by their personal contact with the Saints and several wept with emotion.  It was definitely a memorable event for our participating parishioners, as well as my ministry; my first ever large-scale exhibit.

Parishioners making their way to the

various displays of our Relic Exhibit.

 

After the event ended, our team celebrated with a fellowship luncheon of spaghetti, sweet bread rolls, softdrinks, and dessert.  Our conversation was fun, lively, and meaningful.  It was a perfect ending for our Saints Day Celebration and I couldn't help but think that this is how this feast should be observed each year.  With that stated, God willing, I'm aiming for another exhibit in 2016... bigger and better!

Thank you, Lord, for the gift and blessing of your Saints!