Saint Martin de Porres was a Dominican friar who was born in Peru, continue with our article to learn about the miracles of Saint Martin de Porres that we know will interest you.
Since the cause for the canonisation of Blessed Martin de Porres was presented in 1926, the miracles have been examined by the Church authorities and two of them have been accepted as true and irrefutable miracles of St Martin de Porres.
St Martin de Porres was born in Lima on 9 December 1579, in the colonial viceroyalty of Peru; the illegitimate son of a Spanish nobleman and a freed Panamanian slave, he showed sincere devotion to God and a very humble and kind heart from childhood.
He learnt medicine from his mentor, a surgeon, and was a barber from the age of ten, which allowed him to come into contact with many local patients and to develop an empathy for people that would eventually lead him to a missionary vocation and to his deathbed.
He desperately wanted to join the Church as a religious, but his status as an illegitimate son and of mixed race would not allow him to do so.
His only option was to enter the convent of the Dominicans of the Holy Rosary in Lima as a “donado”.
Thanks to his previous knowledge of medicine and his sincere and compassionate devotion to the sick, he was assigned to the infirmary.
He carried out this work efficiently until the end of his life, when he was about sixty years old. He became a Dominican friar at the age of twenty-four.
But before you learn about all the miracles attributed to him, perhaps you would like to know a little about the story of St Martin de Porres through this video:
What are the miracles of Saint Martin de Porres?
The most famous miracles of St Martin de Porres are: clairvoyance about the processes or medicines needed to cure a sick person. He was also known as Fray Escoba because he was always cleaning and sweeping everywhere in the convent.
The immediate healing of patients, both personally and through the gift of bilocation (being in two places at once) and her famous ability to communicate with animals. In addition to the miracles of St. Rose of Lima, St. Martin de Porres was an example of humility.
St Martin de Porres was an example of humility, devotion to God and total selflessness in helping the poor and the displaced, he was the first black-skinned saint of the American continent who spiritually touched an entire people in his time. Thanks to the miracles of St Martin de Porres, his veneration has spread throughout the Catholic world.
Here is a video to introduce you to the miracles of St Martin de Porres:
The first miracle of St Martin de Porres
The first of the miracles of Saint Martin de Porres recognised by the Catholic Church is known as the “Miracle of Paraguay”. It is testified and recorded that Dorothea Caballero Escalante, an 87-year-old lady living in Paraguay, was given only a few hours to live.
She had a severe intestinal obstruction and had suffered a heart attack. One of the doctors attending her, who was her grandson, went home to make arrangements for her funeral the next day.
Meanwhile, in Buenos Aires, some 1,000 miles away, her daughter and some friends prayed to Blessed Martin incessantly.
An hour after her mother was given up by the doctors, her daughter went to a church near her home in Buenos Aires and asked Blessed Martin to heal her mother.
Late that night she couldn’t sleep and at two o’clock in the morning she got up to say 15 decades of the rosary, asking through the intercession of Blessed Martin that her mother would still be alive when she returned to Paraguay.
When he arrived in Paraguay, he found a house full of excited people. A miracle had happened. His mother’s terrible vomiting had stopped when he prayed for her in the church in Buenos Aires, and when she said her rosaries at two o’clock in the morning, the old woman suddenly began to improve.
The improvement continued and led to a complete recovery, so much so that two or three days later she celebrated her 87th birthday as if nothing had happened to her.
The second miracle of Saint Martin de Porres
The second of the miracles of Saint Martin de Porres recognised by the Catholic Church, and the one that led to his canonisation in 1956, was the case of the child Antonio Cabrera Perez, a boy of just four and a half years old, who was walking and playing with his friend in Tenerife. Passing a house under construction, Antonio playfully took a bar of soap from his friend and threw it over one of the unfinished walls.
His friend began to cry loudly and Antonio decided to climb the unfinished wall to retrieve the bar of soap. However, the cement blocks of the wall were just stacked on top of each other.
As Antonio climbed up, one of the blocks, weighing about 60 pounds, came loose. He fell to the ground and the block fell on top of him, crushing his left foot. When his mother heard the news, she immediately called her husband and they took their son to the nearest doctor.
About three hours later, the boy was examined at Santa Cruz Hospital and the parents were told that the leg would probably have to be amputated. The foot was bleeding and the lesions on the arteries and veins were so severe that the toes of the left foot had turned black.
By the end of the week, the child was yellow all over and it was clear that amputation was inevitable. Shortly after the decision to amputate was made, a Spanish friend of the family arrived in Santa Cruz on business.
He was informed of the accident and when he went to the hospital, he was shocked by the child’s condition and moved by the mother’s anguish.
He immediately gave her a relic card of Blessed Martin with a prayer to the Blessed and a small strip of cloth that had been touched to Martin’s remains.
He had a devotion to Blessed Martin and always carried the picture and the relic in his pocket. Antonio’s mother, as she herself said, “passed the picture and the relic over my son’s foot, leaving the picture between his dead toes for some time”.
Later, she gave the picture to Antonio to kiss, and together they prayed to Saint Martin, asking that the leg not be amputated and that their child not bear the marks of the accident.
The sisters in charge of the hospital and the visitors also joined in the prayers. Within two days the leg had regained its natural colour and 23 days later Antonio returned home with his parents.
After three months, Antonio was able to wear a shoe and later started playing football again without the slightest discomfort.
Find out more about the miracle of St Martin de Porres that brought him to the altars of Rome:
List of miracles attributed to St Martin de Porres
The miracles attributed to St Martin de Porres are
- Bilocation, being in two places at the same time: when he was alive, people who knew him left testimonies of seeing him in other countries, but this man never left Peru.
- Healing the sick: He had a reputation as a surgeon and healer. It is said that when he passed by the side of a sick person, their suffering would disappear.
- Clairvoyance: sometimes just by looking at a sick person, he knew how to cure them and what medicines they needed to take. He also knew about medical procedures in other countries where he had never been.
- He could communicate with animals, just like St Francis of Assisi.
Watch the video below where they have used advanced technology to find out what the real face of St Martin de Porres looked like:
Miracles of St Martin de Porres before his death
The miracles of St Martin de Porres before his death have a lot of information that St Martin was seen in two places at the same time, this is due to the personality and fame of this saint, as it was very easy for the people of that time to attribute a divine nature to this ability.
It is said that Fray Martin was seen several times in places such as Mexico, China, Japan, Africa, the Philippines and perhaps in France, knowing that he always worked from the convent and never left Lima. This power or miracle is also attributed to St Joseph of Cupertino, St Francis Xavier, St John Bosco and others.
Saint Martin wanted to be a missionary, but his dream did not come true, but this did not prevent him from mysteriously appearing to the missionaries when they encountered difficulties during their services in distant lands.
In the convent, without having the keys to the locks, he is said to have visited seriously ill patients at their bedsides, consoling or healing them.
The people of Lima wondered how he could get through locked doors, to which he kindly replied: “I have my ways of getting in and out”.
A friend of Fray Martin’s, a merchant, came to see him before he left on a business trip and asked him to pray for his success.
When he arrived in Mexico, he fell ill. In the midst of his suffering, he remembered his friend Fray Martin, who suddenly appeared at his side.
He prescribed a medicinal drink to help him recover quickly. Now healthy, the merchant went to the city to look for his friend to thank him, thinking he was visiting Mexico. He looked for him in the Dominican convent in Mexico, in the archbishop’s house, in hotels and inns all over the city, but did not find him. It was only when he returned to Lima that he understood the nature of the miracle, since he had never left Lima.
Similarly, a man from Peru had a face-to-face conversation with Friar Martin in China, at the customs house. During the conversation, the friar gave him a detailed description of the whereabouts of a Dominican friar in Manila whom he had also mysteriously met in the Philippines.
Another story tells of a patient suffering from erysipelas who was reluctant to undergo the friar’s treatment of applying the blood of a rooster to the infected skin. Brother Martin said that it was an effective way of relieving his pain, adding that “I have seen it used successfully in the hospital of Bayonne in France”.
One of the most important cases of the friar’s bilocation comes from the sworn testimony of a man called Francisco de Vega Montoya, who claimed to have seen him in North Africa when he was a prisoner of war in Barbary.
When he arrived there, he went to the Dominican monastery to see Friar Martin to thank him for his work in Africa, and the friar asked him not to mention his presence in Africa to anyone.
Another of the miracles of St Martin de Porres is that he had skill and fame as a surgeon and healer. It has been difficult to determine whether his healings were the acts of a skilled physician or the miracles of a holy man, since the recovery of the sick in the stories is always associated with immediacy or speed.
There are writings which speak of a novice who cut his finger and it became infected, they called Martin and he used some herbs to heal not only the finger but also the novice’s hand and arm, which was already gangrenous.
On many occasions, his mere presence made a patient’s suffering disappear. Once he cured a priest who was dying of a badly infected leg. Another account tells how he cured a young student of the order who had injured his fingers, so that he could continue his career as a priest.
This kind of miracle also happened quite often with the use of bilocation. A common phrase spoken by the friar at the time of his healing was “I heal you, God saves you”.
There are many accounts, that this saint was clairvoyant. Despite having knowledge of medicine, it was quite impossible to believe that he always got exactly the right medicine or treatment to be used to cure an illness.
It was common to see him approach a person who was secretly in pain and advise him what to do, drink and eat to improve his health.
He might even arrive with the necessary medicine and materials to attend to a needy person, without this even having warned him of his condition or requested any remedy.
With the use of bilocation it is also said that exactly what the patient needed to be cured is prescribed.
Then it would simply disappear and the patient would miraculously recover by following the treatment on demand. It is believed that he knew the moment of his death by accepting his departure in peace.
Just like, St. Anthony of Padua or St. Francis of Assisi, another miracle of St. Martin de Porres is that he could also communicate with animals, which is not the miracle itself. It was what he was able to do with this gift that really counts as a miracle. It is said that once made a dog, a cat and a mouse eat the same dish without attacking each other.
Once the novices brought a pair of bulls to the monastery. When they began to fight, the monk managed to calm them down and even get them to eat together. He asked the older bull to allow the younger one to eat first, as was the order’s custom.
Another episode tells of a rat infestation in the monastery. Friar Martin spoke to the rodents in the garden and told them that he would bring them food once a day if they promised to stay outside. From then on, the monastery had no more rat problems.
Watch this video about the vocation of Saint Martin de Porres since his birth:
The miracles of Saint Martin de Porres after his death
At the time of his death on 3 November 1639, he was already a fully recognised and loved figure in Lima.
His veneration began almost immediately, and accounts of his miracles as a saint circulated throughout the country.
The collection of stories of the miracles of Saint Martin de Porres was initiated in 1660 by the Archbishop of Lima with the intention of requesting his beatification, but the colonial structure of society did not allow it.
It was not until 1837 that the prejudices of the time were overcome and his beatification was granted by Pope Gregory XVI.
Pope John XXIII canonised Brother Martin de Porres in 1962. This long-awaited canonisation was supported by two miracles which were considered to be the undoubted intercession of Martin.
His remains are kept in the Basilica of St Dominic in Lima, which is similar in structure to the Basilica of St Paul Outside the Walls.
Watch this video to see how Saint Martin de Porres dies:
Works and miracles of Saint Martin de Porres
Saint Martin de Porres was born on 9 December 1579 in Lima, Peru. Martin was the illegitimate son of a Spanish gentleman and a free slave from Panama of African or possibly Indian descent.
Martin’s father abandoned him at a young age, leaving Martin to grow up in deep poverty. After only two years of primary school, Martin was sent to live with a barber and surgeon to learn hair cutting and medical skills.
As Martin grew up, he experienced humiliation for being of mixed race. In Peru, by law, all descendants of Africans or Indians could not become full members of religious orders. This was the case with St Benedict, who was also black.
Martin, who spent long hours in prayer, found that his only way to the community he longed for was to ask the Dominicans of the Holy Rosary in Lima to accept him as a volunteer to do the menial work in the monastery.
In return, he would be allowed to wear the habit and live in the community. When Martin was 15 years old, he asked to be admitted to the Dominican Convent of the Holy Rosary in Lima and was accepted as a servant, eventually becoming the church official in charge of distributing money to the deserving poor.
During his time in the convent, Martin resumed his old professions of barber and healer, as well as working in the kitchen, washing and cleaning. He was very obedient to everything that was asked of him as he wanted to continue in this ministry.
In this video you can see the obedience of St Martin de Porres.
After eight more years with the Holy Rosary, Martin was granted the privilege of taking his vows as a member of the Third Order of St Dominic by Juan de Lorenzana, who decided to ignore the law that restricted Martin because of his race.
Not all members of the Holy Rosary were as open as Lorenzana, however, and Martin was called terrible names and mocked for being illegitimate and descended from slaves.
Martin grew up to become a Dominican lay brother in 1603 at the age of 24. Ten years later, after receiving the habit of a lay brother, Martin was assigned to the infirmary, where he would remain until his death.
He became known for embracing the virtues necessary for loving and patient care of the sick, even in the most difficult situations.
Martin was praised for his unconditional care for all people, regardless of race or wealth. He cared for everyone from Spanish nobles to African slaves. He was an example of humility and simplicity, just like St Joseph.
Watch the video below to see how humble St Martin de Porres was:
Martin did not care if the person was sick or dirty and welcomed them into his home.
Martin also founded an orphanage for abandoned children and slaves, and is known for raising the dowry for girls in a short time.During an epidemic in Lima, many of the monks at the Convent of the Rosary became very ill.
They were confined to a remote part of the convent, away from the professed. On more than one occasion, however, Martin went through the closed doors to minister to the sick.
However, he was disciplined for not following the rules of the monastery, but after replying: “Forgive my error and please instruct me, for I did not know that the commandment of obedience took precedence over that of charity”, which gave him the freedom to follow his heart in mercy.
Martin was a great friend of St John Macias, a lay Dominican brother, and of St Rose of Lima, a lay Dominican.
In January 1639, when Martin was 60 years old, he became very ill with chills, fever and tremors that caused him excruciating pain. He was to remain ill for almost a year until his death on 3 November 1639.
By the time he died, he was widely known and accepted. Tales of his miracles in medicine and in caring for the sick were everywhere.
After his death, the miracles of Saint Martin de Porres were so much invoked that when he was exhumed 25 years later, his body exhaled a wonderful fragrance and was still intact. Thanks to the miracles of Saint Martin de Porres, he was beatified by Pope Gregory XVI on 29 October 1837 and canonised by Pope John XXIII on 6 May 1962. His remains are kept in the Basilica of Santo Domingo in Lima.
He became the patron saint of people of mixed race, innkeepers, barbers, public health workers and others. His feast day is 3 November.
Watch this video to see the process of canonisation of Martin de Porres by Pope John XXIII:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M4-YI8cYmu8
The prayer to Saint Martin de Porres is very powerful and many people pray it with faith and devotion, either to ask for health or to get out of some difficulty:
“In this pain and sadness that weighs on me and for which I find no human support, I turn to you, Saint Martin. Be my friend and protector and intercede for me with our merciful Father in heaven.
Ask that my sins may be forgiven and that I may be freed from the evils that weigh me down and distract me.
Give me your spirit of sacrifice so that I may welcome whatever God sends me out of love for the One who makes all things a means of holiness.
O Heavenly Father, in the name of Your Son and His Most Holy Mother, and through the merits of Your faithful servant Martin, help me in my great need and do not abandon me. Amen”.
If you like, you can watch this video of the 1974 film about St Martin de Porres, which we know you will like because it shows how humble, simple and just this saint was:
