October 20, 2017

St. Martin de Porres Mass celebrating multicultural saint is set for Nov. 3

The annual St. Martin de Porres Mass, sponsored by the archdiocesan Black Catholic and Hispanic ministries, will be held at St. Lawrence Church, 6944 E. 46th St., in Indianapolis, at 7 p.m. on Nov. 3. A reception will follow the liturgy.

The Mass celebrates the feast day of St. Martin de Porres, a saint of both Black and Peruvian heritage. He was born in Lima, Peru, in 1579, the illegitimate son of a Spanish knight and a freed African slave. He grew up in poverty and struggled with the stigma of being of mixed race in a time of great prejudice.

He is the patron saint of hairdressers, race relations, innkeepers, African-Americans, public schools, interracial harmony, Peru, people of mixed race, social justice and more.

Bring a dish to share at the reception following the Mass.

For more information, contact Pearlette Springer, Black Catholic Ministry coordinator, at 317-236-1474 or pspringer@archindy.org, or Saul Llasca, Hispanic Ministry coordinator, at 317-236-7312 or sllacsa@archindy.org. †

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