Today is the feast of St. Martín de Porres and I’d like to share this lovely and lively song composed by Chabuca Granda, a beloved Peruvian singer and composer. It is titled Couplets to Fray Martín. The song is filled with Afro-Peruvian rhythms, a tribute to this bi-racial man of 16th century Peru.
Like the songwriter, St. Martín de Porres was born in Lima. His father was a Spanish gentleman and his mother a freed African slave from Panama. At fifteen, he became a lay brother at the Dominican Friary at Lima and spent his life there as a barber, farm laborer, infirmarian and “other duties”.
This gentle soul loved all, shown equally to humans and to animals, including vermin. St. Martín de Porres is often depicted with a broom in one hand and at his feet are a dog, cat and mouse. Gosh we certainly need Fray San Martín’s intercession for global peace in the 21st century!
My favorite words from this song are:
Y es la esperanza del pobre,
y es el consuelo del rico,
un hombre de tez morena
y el alma como paloma.
Roughly translated the words are:
You (Martín) are the hope of the poor,
comfort of the rich,
a man of dark skin
and with a soul like a dove.