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Saint Martin de Porres, whose feast day we celebrate today, lived in times much like ours.
A native of Peru, he joined a local Dominican monastery at the age of 15, doing menial tasks to pay for his tuition. But his servant’s heart never left him.
He spent the final 25 years of his life caring for the sick and the dying.
When an epidemic broke out around him, for example, he went into the streets and welcomed the sick and homeless into the monastery.
He even carried a beggar covered with ulcers and sores into his room, offering him his bed.
Martin slept on the floor.
When one of his fellow monks, clearly uncomfortable with the presence of the sick around him, asked Martin why he insisted upon sharing his room with a man half-dead, Martin replied:
“Compassion, my dear brother, is preferable to cleanliness.”
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Martin’s example speaks clearly to all of the healthcare workers fighting on the frontlines – not only caring for COVID patients, but also those with cancer, the flu, heart conditions, and so on.
But what about the rest of us? How is the Lord inviting me to have a deeper sense of compassion on my neighbor?
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Maybe someone you love made a mistake and needs forgiveness.
Maybe a neighbor is overburdened and needs a helping hand.
Maybe a family member or a friend is confined to a nursing home and needs a phone call.
Or maybe we ourselves are in need of compassion.
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In every case, Martin reminds us that charity is preferable to selfishness; forgiveness is preferable to anger; humility is preferable to pride; and action is preferable to indifference.
Saint Martin de Porres, pray for us.
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Image credits: (1) livewell.church (2) St. Martin Apostolate
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