Most saints are remembered for miracles.
St. Martin de Porres is remembered for negotiating with rats.
The story sounds almost unbelievable.
The Dominican monastery in Lima where Martin lived had developed a serious rat problem. The friars wanted to poison them before they ruined the monastery's food supply.
Martin had another idea.
According to one of the earliest accounts of his life, he went down to the cellar where the rats had gathered and spoke to them. He promised that if they would leave the monastery and stop damaging its food, the brothers would feed them elsewhere.
Then something extraordinary happened.
The rats followed him.
Martin led them outside to a nearby place where food was left for them, and tradition says they never again became a nuisance in the monastery.
It's a great story, but it also shows us something about St. Martin. It reveals the depth of his faith.
Most of us, faced with a rat infestation, would probably call an exterminator. It likely wouldn't even occur to us to ask God for help. Martin saw no division between the ordinary problems of daily life and the providence of God. He believed that everything—from caring for the sick to feeding the poor to dealing with a colony of hungry rats—could be entrusted to the Lord.
His extraordinary faith gave rise to an extraordinary charity. Martin didn't just see a nuisance. He saw creatures made by God and trusted that, with God's help, there was a solution that reflected both justice and mercy. According to the tradition, his simple agreement with the rats worked!
It's a wonderful reminder that no concern is too small to bring before the Lord. We often reserve prayer for life's greatest crises, forgetting that God also cares about the ordinary frustrations of everyday life. St. Martin's example invites us to trust God not only with the big things, but with the little ones as well. Let St. Martin’s example inspire you to bring every concern before the Lord. Find yours today at The Catholic Company.
