Martin de Porres was born in Lima, Peru, on December 9, 1579. His father Don Juan de Porres was a Spanish knight and his mother, Anna Velazquez, a native of Panama. At fifteen Martin sought admission at the Dominican Priory in Santo Domingo as a Tertiary helper. Nine years later at twenty-four, he became a Dominican lay-brother. For the remainder of his life Brother Martin worked to relieve the degradation and distress among the Indians, Negroes and Spaniards in Peru. After his death at the age of sixty on November 3, 1639, devotion to this outstanding Negro brother became very popular. He was declared a Saint by Pope John XXIII on May 6, 1962 and his Feast Day is kept on November 3.