What do you think?
Rate this book
Saint Martin de Porres
The story for youth of St. Martin de Porres, who helped heal people, spoke to the animals and worked many unusual miracles. A fantastic story of a South American saint, whose example in helping others is truly inspiring. Impr. 122 pgs 16 Illus, PB
136 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1942
17 people are currently reading
84 people want to read
About the author
Mary Fabyan Windeatt
101 books25 followersMary Fabyan Windeatt was born in Regina, Saskatchewan, Canada, in 1910. Interested in music as a child, she received a degree in music from Toronto Conservatory of Music at the age of fifteen and a further degree in music from Mount Saint Vincent College in Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada, in 1927. This same year she moved with her family to San Diego, California, graduating from San Diego State College in 1934 with a degree in business.
She moved to New York to seek employment in the field of advertising but was unsuccessful. With time on her hands, she began to write and in 1934, she sent a story, which was accepted for publication, to a Catholic magazine. She continued to write while pursuing her studies, graduating in 1940 with a master’s degree from Columbia University.
Miss Windeatt eventually contributed verse, book reviews, short stories, and articles to thirty-three different publications and wrote numerous biographies of saints for children. The first biography, Saints in the Sky, The Story of St. Catherine of Siena, was published in 1941. Considerable research went into her books; for example, she traveled to Peru in the summer of 1941 prior to publishing Lad of Lima, The Story of Blessed Martin de Porres in 1942. (St. Martin de Porres was canonized a saint in 1962.) In addition to her biographies, she also wrote the text for twenty-eight Catholic coloring books and was a regular contributor to the monthly Dominican magazine The Torch in which many of her books originally appeared in serial form. A third-order (secular) Dominican, she has been called the “storyteller of the saints”—especially Dominican saints.
Later in life, Miss Windeatt moved near St. Meinrad’s Abbey in St. Meinrad, Indiana with her mother. She died on November 20, 1979.
Under their original titles, the series of saint biographies that Mary Fabyan Windeatt wrote in the 1940’s and 1950’s are currently out of print. However between 1991 and 1994, Tan Books and Publishers, Inc. republished twenty of these saint biographies.
Rich in Roman Catholic culture and doctrine, these books illustrate to both children and adults how the Faith was lived every day by the saints; they inspire us to know, love, and serve God as the saints did. Mary Fabyan Windeatt had the ability to relate much factual information about each saint while seasoning the narrative with the doctrinal truths they lived. While each saint shines forth in these books, these writings also reveal to us Ms. Windeatt’s own strong Catholic beliefs; her faith too lives on.
She moved to New York to seek employment in the field of advertising but was unsuccessful. With time on her hands, she began to write and in 1934, she sent a story, which was accepted for publication, to a Catholic magazine. She continued to write while pursuing her studies, graduating in 1940 with a master’s degree from Columbia University.
Miss Windeatt eventually contributed verse, book reviews, short stories, and articles to thirty-three different publications and wrote numerous biographies of saints for children. The first biography, Saints in the Sky, The Story of St. Catherine of Siena, was published in 1941. Considerable research went into her books; for example, she traveled to Peru in the summer of 1941 prior to publishing Lad of Lima, The Story of Blessed Martin de Porres in 1942. (St. Martin de Porres was canonized a saint in 1962.) In addition to her biographies, she also wrote the text for twenty-eight Catholic coloring books and was a regular contributor to the monthly Dominican magazine The Torch in which many of her books originally appeared in serial form. A third-order (secular) Dominican, she has been called the “storyteller of the saints”—especially Dominican saints.
Later in life, Miss Windeatt moved near St. Meinrad’s Abbey in St. Meinrad, Indiana with her mother. She died on November 20, 1979.
Under their original titles, the series of saint biographies that Mary Fabyan Windeatt wrote in the 1940’s and 1950’s are currently out of print. However between 1991 and 1994, Tan Books and Publishers, Inc. republished twenty of these saint biographies.
Rich in Roman Catholic culture and doctrine, these books illustrate to both children and adults how the Faith was lived every day by the saints; they inspire us to know, love, and serve God as the saints did. Mary Fabyan Windeatt had the ability to relate much factual information about each saint while seasoning the narrative with the doctrinal truths they lived. While each saint shines forth in these books, these writings also reveal to us Ms. Windeatt’s own strong Catholic beliefs; her faith too lives on.
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 8 of 8 reviews
April 28, 2021
So beautiful, and inspiring.
November 17, 2025
my mum made me read this, as this guy is my namesake
my fav part was when Saint Martin made a literal miracle salad that saved a man's leg from being amputated, 10/10 unintentional comedy
edit: just found out he is the patron saint of barbers, and I absolutely had to acknowledge that
my fav part was when Saint Martin made a literal miracle salad that saved a man's leg from being amputated, 10/10 unintentional comedy
edit: just found out he is the patron saint of barbers, and I absolutely had to acknowledge that
November 30, 2009
This was our most recent read-aloud. The kids (ds-9 and dd-8)enjoyed it especially since we have been learning about South America. It also led to a small study of Peru and then started us on a journey to learn more about St. Rose Of Lima. The first Saint of the Americas.
We learned about St. Martin, who helped heal people, spoke to the animals and worked many unusual miracles. A fantastic story of a South American saint, whose example in helping others is truly inspiring. We especially enjoyed when St. Martin asked the rats and mice at the Dominican Monastery to move into the barn so they wouldn't be killed. Of course, the animals listened. A great read-aloud.
We learned about St. Martin, who helped heal people, spoke to the animals and worked many unusual miracles. A fantastic story of a South American saint, whose example in helping others is truly inspiring. We especially enjoyed when St. Martin asked the rats and mice at the Dominican Monastery to move into the barn so they wouldn't be killed. Of course, the animals listened. A great read-aloud.
September 9, 2018
Awesome Book
I particularly enjoyed St. Martin's care for animals. This aspect of many saints is often ignored. I was looking for a simple book about St. Martin's life. This book delivered.
I particularly enjoyed St. Martin's care for animals. This aspect of many saints is often ignored. I was looking for a simple book about St. Martin's life. This book delivered.
August 11, 2020
Children’s book of a lay Brother of the Dominican order, 1579-1639
April 30, 2021
This was a beautiful story of St. Martin de Porres life. I was inspired by his love of all people and all of God's creation.
April 14, 2016
04/16: This one starts off rather dark. In this one, his mom is sort of angry with her two children at first and hard on them because of their dark coloring. I'd always read that she supported them even when the father and world did not. That was hard to read. It depends on how sensitive your child is whether or not it's appropriate. But it does touch on so many of the amazing things St. Martin de Porres did. It does talk about his kindness to animals and the amazing way they listened to him. It also brings up levitation during prayer, and his feeding the poor, and healing. I never knew he brought a fellow brother back to life! That was wild.
November 21, 2017
Technically Martin's canonization is not complete because it was done by an antipope, John XXIII, however, Martin was still very good and this story is a very good one.
Displaying 1 - 8 of 8 reviews