St Martin De Porres Church, Belvai

St Martin de Porres - Patron of Social Justice

St. Martin de Porres was born at Lima, Peru, in 1579.
His father was a Spanish gentleman and his mother a coloured freed-woman from Panama.
At fifteen, he became a lay brother at the Dominican Friary at Lima and spent his whole life there-as a barber, farm laborer, almoner, and infirmarian among other things.

Martin de Porres is often depicted as a young mulatto friar wearing the old habit of the Dominican lay brother, a black scapular and capuce, along with a broom, since he considered all work to be sacred no matter how menial.
He is sometimes shown with a dog, a cat and a mouse eating in peace from the same dish.
Pope Gregory XVI beatified Martin de Porres on October 29, 1837, and nearly 125 years later, Pope Saint John XXIII canonized him in Rome on May 6, 1962.
He is the patron saint of people of mixed race, and of innkeepers, barbers, public health workers and more, with a feast day on November 3
(Source: Catholic Online)

HISTORY of BELVAI PARISH:

Belvai was once a part of Moodbidri-Alangar church. With a view to starting a missionary centre at Belvai Fr Francis Elias D’Souza got a government grant of 2 acres of land and bought another 5 acres of land in 1958. 10 years after his demise, a chapel was built and inaugurated on April 27, 1969. But, the regular celebration of Sunday Mass started only from August 15, 1969. Since the cemetery of the church was located at a distance too far from the church, a small plot of land was bought later and blessed for the purpose of using it as the new cemetery block close to the church.

On June 1, 1971 this church was raised to the status of a parish. The first parish priest, Fr Francis Xavier D’Souza constructed the belfry.
Fr Gregory Serrao started the construction of the new church and the presbytery buildings in 2000 and was inaugurated on Dec 7, 2004