Discover the Saint Martin de Porres Shrine
In the weeks following Sept. 11,2001, Memphis, along with the rest of America, reeled in the horrors of the terrorist attacks: Government buildings were locked down; hotels were packed; and office tower workers feared for their lives. Still, amid the panic and misery, a new ministry was quietly dedicated in the heart of Downtown Memphis with a mission to, ironically, teach and pray for healing and justice.
The St. Martin de Porres Shrine & Institute, a ministry of the Southern Dominican Province and part of St. Peter Catholic Church, was designed to be more than a typical shrine. "A shrine in most Catholic churches is basically a side altar that's dedicated to a particular saint," says St. Martin Shrine's director, Father John Pitzer. "That's kind of the way the St. Martin's Shrine was before we brought it to Memphis. We wanted more."
Originally founded in Columbia, SC, in 1936, the shrine celebrates St. Martin de Porres, the Catholic patron saint of social justice. De Porres was born in 1579, the child of a mixed-race: marriage between a Spanish nobleman and a freed black slave from Panama. A barber by trade - in the days when barbers dispensed herbal medicines - De Porres joined the Dominican Order in his home of Lima, Peru, where he was celebrated as a creation-loving healer and worker.
"It's hard enough to be of mixed race today," says Father John. "Certainly, a few hundred years ago, it was extremely difficult. So it's fitting that today he is the patron saint of social justice in the Catholic Church." De Porres died in 1639 at the age of 60 and was canonized in 1962 by Pope John XXIII.
After the Columbia parish closed, the shrine moved to New Orleans - headquarters of the Southern Dominican Order - for a short lime before making its way to the Bluff City in 2001.
"We were looking for a permanent home for the shrine, a place where it could become something much more than just a side altar," says Father John, who was ordained in 1999 after serving as a seminarian at 51. Peter Church, where he also serves as associate pastor. "We wanted a phy~ical building. The New Orleans province looked at places throughout the South. We thought that with Memphis being the home of civil rights, with Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. having been assassinated here, and with the ongOing struggle for social justice for all people - well, here we have the patron saint of social justice, and it was a perfect fit."
Because St. Martin Shrine is the only shrine dedicated to this particular saint, it holds a special meaning to Catholics aroun? the country.
The shrine itself includes a 50seat chapel accessible through a gated courtyard on Third Street behind 51. Peter's sanctuary. A fountain in the courtyard memorializes S1. Martin with a bronze statue by Memphis sculptor Roy Tamboli. The joyous St. Martin rises from the center, surrounded by animals - symbolizing creation - and bread that represents feeding the hungry.
Statues and icons have special relevance in the Catholic tradition. "Saints are extremely popular, and sometimes that gets a bad rap," says Father John. "People on the outside ask, 'Why do Catholics worship statues?' OUf view is that saints are people we can emulate imd look to as guides in our lives. If I ask someone to pray for me, I can do that with anyone I see face to face. In the Catholic tradition, we believe we can ask someone in Heaven to pray for us."
A niche in the courtyard to the east of the fountain holds the church's columbarium, a final resting place for the ashes of cremated church members. The entire exterior of the shrine was designed to look like an original part of 51. Peter Church, built in 1855 and one of the oldest churches in Memphis.
Inside the Spanish Missionstyle chapel, the rich imagery of St. Martin continues with five painted icons on the west wall by Memphis artist Pam Hassler in which the saint is displayed in the religious postures he was known for: worshipping the Lord, serving in faith, feeding the hungry, caring for creation, and healing the sick.
Hassler also painted a larger icon of Our Lady of Guada1~ upe that hangs opposite the pews on the east side of the chapel.
In the painting Serving in Faith, as well as in an 89-yearold statue behind the altar, St. Martin is pictured with a broom, the symbol of hard work and humble stewardship. A basket of prayer petitions received from all over the world sits at the foot of the statue.
Also behind the altar is an ornate frame containing two relics of St. Martin de Porres - literal pieces of the saint's life. The tiny first class relic is a chip of one of his bones, and the second, a piece of wood, may have been part of his bed.
Classrooms, office space, and a bookstore, all on the north side of the courtyard, complete St. Martin Shrine's mission of education and outreach, symbolized by the "Institute" in the shrine's name.
"That's really what makes us different," says Father John. "We included the word institute because we intended this to become a place of learning - a place that would challenge people and address pertinent issues, whether they be homeless ness, the death penalty, or racism."
The institute is perhaps best known for last year's "Healing of the Races" symposium, a one-day conversation and community builder designed to help citizens begin addressing and understanding Memphis's complex race relations.
"The next symposium I'd like to do is something on homelessness and hunger," says Father John. "That type of outreach is what makes us an institute. /I
Education, prayer, and imagery, Father John points out, are tightl y interwoven in Catholic history and remain the basis for St. Martin Shrine's service to the people of Memphis.
"Centuries ago when people did not read, you couldn't open a history book and learn about S1. Martin, so you'd creatp. a statue you could point to and say, 'That's what 51. Martin looked like,'" says Father John. "That's why we have stained glass windows. We can point to the windows and tell our stories.
Written by: Jonathan Devin © March 2009 Downtown Productions
