Background
Juan Martin de Porres Velázquez was born in the city of Lima, in the Viceroyalty of Peru, on December 9, 1579.
He was the illegitimate son of a Spanish nobleman, Don Juan de Porres, and Ana Velázquez, a freed slave from Panama, of African or possibly part Native American descent. He had a sister named Juana, born two years later in 1581. After the birth of his sister, the father abandoned the family.
The boy was never fully accepted by his father, and his baptismal certificate bore the words "father unknown. "
Career
When he was about 15 years old, Martin was employed as a servant at the Dominican priory in Lima, where he was permitted to perform only the most menial tasks.
His devoted service among the indigenous people and blacks, however, influenced his superior to admit him to the order in 1610. Until that time, blacks, were not allowed to serve as Dominican lay brothers. As a friar, Martin worked among the poor of the city and tended the sick. He also founded a school and asylum for the youth of Lima.
He died in Lima on November 3, 1639, and was beatified by Pope Gregory XVI on August 8, 1837. Several miracles have been attributed to his name.
