FR. MARTIN DE PORRES MARIA WARD, OFM CONV. 1918 -1999
Allow me to introduce to you one of our contemporary Franciscan brothers and Servant of God, Father Martin de Porres Maria Ward, OFM Conv. I had the privilege of spending a week with Fr. Martin and our friars of Brazil in 1998. And now the Church allows us to invoke his intercession as we pray for favors such as healing in body and heart, the conversions of others, etc…
Born on March 20, 1918 to an interracial Methodist couple in Virginia, young Mattias Ward (Martin’s baptismal name) and his family endured many trials due to racial segregation and discrimination. The Jim Crow laws were still being enforced even when his family moved to Washington and Martin attended the first DC public high school for African Americans. Martin converted to the Catholic Faith in high school and then joined our Franciscan Order.
After his ordination in 1955, (Martin) volunteered for our newly established mission in Brazil. There he would spend the rest of his life as a Friar-Priest” ministering to the people of Brazil. As a missionary, he was able to freely minister without the discrimination he would have faced in the USA. As a true son of Saint Francis, Martin was known to the friars and the people he served as a man of great compassion and kindness with a good sense of humor. When I was with him, he took great delight in showing me his Brazilian passport which listed his race as “white” because he was born in the United States.
Because of his ordinary kindness and approachability, Martin was considered a close friend (compadre) by everyone who knew him well or just met him briefly. In the mission he served as a teacher and parish priest and an example to the younger friars in houses of formation. The friars spoke of his great reverence when he celebrated Mass and stated that during the consecration, one had the feeling he was having an intimate conversation with Christ. Through his preaching, celebrating Mass, visiting the sick or hearing confessions, Martin drew many back to the practice of their faith. And very soon after his death, many people made pilgrimage to his grave to invoke his prayers of intercession. What follows is a prayer for the Beatification and Canonization of the Servant of God. May all who pray this prayer know the compassion and love of Christ which Fr. Martin shared with others. May you too treasure Martin’s friendship and assistance.
O Glorious High God, who deigned to glorify in heaven, souls of those who served and glorified You on earth, hear our prayers (petitions/requests) and according to Your Divine Providence, deign to glorify Your servant, Friar Martin Maria, who by his love desired to offer his life for the education and service of the poor, and the sick that like our compadre we too may progress in service to those most in need. Amen.
