"My mother is a Negro,

My father's eyes are blue,

And his name is Mr. Unknown."

"Go and play with your own kind. We don't want you. You don't belong."

These were the taunts the other children flung at Martin and his little sister Juana. Beaten by their mother and forgotten by their father they knew only too well the meaning of hunger and misery. Lima, Peru, late in the sixteenth century was not an easy place to grow up with half Negro and half Spanish blood. It was a city of extremes: great wealth for the Spanish masters; abject poverty for the Inca Indians and the Negroes imported there as slave labor to work the mines. It was remarkable that in this city filled with greed and selfishness Martin felt no bitterness or hate for anyone.

This is the story of Martin's life, and of how through his love of God, he managed to minister to all people regardless of race or creed from the time he was a little boy until his death. He could never bear to see anyone sick or starving. Martin did more than anyone thought humanly possible to follow his belief that before man is preached to about God, he must first be fed, clothed, sheltered, and educated. In 1639 when Martin died he left behind him a permanent record of astounding achievements.

In 1837 Martin de Porres was beatified by Pope Gregory XVI, and in 1951 the Pan American Congress of Pharmacists selected him to be their Patron.

Claire Huchet Bishop adds this book as a third in her series on the lives of the saints. She has given us a moving and inspired story of Martin de Porres' unbelievable exploits, but more than this she has shown the warm human qualities which have made him an unforgettable person. The rich feeling in the halftone admiration of this distinguished artist for Blessed Martin, one of his favorite "saints".

From the dust jacket