November 3
The saints and feasts remembered on November 3, each with a short life, a Bible passage and a prayer.
Saint Martin de Porres
Mixed-race Dominican brother who nursed the sick and poor of Lima
Martin de Porres was born in Lima, Peru, in 1579. His father was a Spanish nobleman; his mother, Ana Velázquez, was a freed Black woman. His father was slow to acknowledge him, and Martin grew up poor and looked down on for his mixed race. As a teenager he trained as a barber-surgeon, learning to dress wounds and prepare simple remedies.
Around the age of fifteen he went to the Dominican friars in Lima. The rules of the time kept people of African descent out of full membership, so he was taken in as a lay helper and given the humblest work. Years later he made vows as a lay brother. He ran the infirmary, nursed friars and townspeople alike, and handed out food and clothing at the door. Many stories also tell of his gentleness with animals, even mice.
He died on 3 November 1639 and was canonised in 1962. He is remembered as a man who answered contempt with patient, practical care.
For I was hungry and you gave Me something to eat, I was thirsty and you gave Me something to drink, I was a stranger and you took Me in, I was naked and you clothed Me, I was sick and you looked after Me, I was in prison and you visited Me.’
Matthew 25:35–36 · BSB
A prayer
God of mercy, you led Martin de Porres, scorned for his birth, to serve the sick and the poor with humble and tireless hands. Free us from pride and prejudice, open our eyes to those the world overlooks, and teach us to love them in deeds as well as words, through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.
The lives are written with AI help from public-domain histories and checked before publishing; the prayers are ours. Bible quotations are from the Berean Standard Bible (BSB), in the public domain. How we write.