St Martin de Porres

by Maja

St Martin de Porres was born in Lima, Peru on December 9th in 1579.

At a young age, Martin's father abandoned him, his mother and his younger sister, leaving Martin to grow up in deep poverty.

As Martin grew older, he experienced a great

deal of ridicule for being of mixed-race. 

In Peru, by law, all descendants of African or Indians were not allowed to become full

members of religious orders and were treated

badly throughout society.