St. Martin grew up very poor. At a young age, he had to leave the school. Instead, he went to learn from a barber/surgeon. At this time, these two jobs were performed by the same person. He learned to both cut hair and heal others.
Martin wanted to join a religious order, but encountered a large obstacle. Martin was mixed-race, meaning his parents were two different races. His father was a well respected, rich Spanish man, while his mother was a poor woman from Peru. At this time, those who were from this type of background were not allowed to do many things in society, including join religious orders.
Since he was not allowed to join as a professed religious, Martin became a volunteer at a Dominican Priory in Lima, Peru. He was allowed to live in the community and wear the habit. He took the most humble position, serving as their janitor. He cleaned, helped in the kitchen and did laundry. Because of this humble position, he is often depicted holding a broom.
St. Martin put his medical knowledge to use, caring for the sick in the monastery and in the community surrounding it. He helped those living on the streets of Lima, even to the point of giving up his own bed. His superior did not agree with this, but Martin believed that God was asking him to continue helping the less fortunate in every way he could. He spent many hours on the streets begging for money which he used to feed the poor, collecting enough to feed 160 people each day.
St. Martin’s generosity also extended to animals. He is said to have fed and healed stray animals of all types. There is even a story that when his monastery was having a mouse problem, St. Martin made a deal with the mice that if they left, he would feed them at the back door. After this, the monastery no longer had any mice.
St. Martin became more respected in the community, and the prior allowed him to take vows as a Third Order Dominican despite it still being illegal.
He was said to have mystical powers, such as healing the sick simply by being in the same room as them, being able to be in two places at once (bilocating), and levitating. When an epidemic hit his area, the sick in the priory were kept in a room behind locked doors to protect the others from becoming ill. St. Martin was seen several times walking through the locked doors to care for the sick.
Today, St Martin’s generosity can remind us that we must also be generous to care for our brothers and sisters. It might not be easy or comfortable but God does not promise us an easy life on this Earth. He promised us that if we follow in His ways, we will spend eternity in paradise.
Third order Dominicans: Lay people, not fully processed religious. They promise to go to Mass daily, say morning and night prayer, and pray the rosary. They also promise to continue to learn about the Church and to teach others what they learn. They do all of this while continuing to live out their vocations as parents, married persons, single people, or whatever other life God has called them to.
Fully Professed Dominicans give up everything to live in the order’s home, have no job outside of the order, and submit to what the Prior, the leader of the order, requests of them.