Our spirituality
Since the establishment of our Center, we have combined our mission with the spirituality of St. Martin de Porres. He tried, with word, advice and work, like Saint Paul, to be “everything for everyone”, regardless of social status, skin color, political views or religion, to fulfill Christ’s commandment: “Be compassionate just as your Father is compassionate.” Luke 6.36.
Service
Our service focuses primarily on helping the most vulnerable – children with disabilities, children from large families or those in difficult life situations, as well as those living below the poverty line, orphans, including social ones, as well as lonely and sick elderly people.
“Be compassionate just as your Father is compassionate.”
Luke 6.36.
Important dates
July 22, 2005
Opening of the House of St. Martin de Porres
June 2008
First Children’s Day celebrations
February 2009
Opening of the kitchen for those in need of the name Mother of God of Lourdes
November 3, 2013
Blessing of the House of St. Martin
2013 -2015
Renovation of the Saint Martin Center
November 2015
Opening of the San Angelo cafe
December 16, 2015
Blessing of the Saint Martin Center
June 2016
Construction of a football field with artificial coating
October 2016
Opening of a rehabilitation center
October 3, 2017
Blessing of the St. Martin’s chapel, presided over by the Apostolic Nuncio Claudio Gugerotti
May 2018
Opening of the “Clothing Bank”
December 2018
Opening of an outdoor gym
October 2019
Opening of the “Green Room”
On July 2, 2005, the St. Martin’s House for street children was opened in a small building, the so-called “monastery postulancy”, with an area of only 72 m2. In the years 2005–2008 four volunteers worked in this place: Luba, Ola, Arina and Katia. Over time, volunteers from Poland, Germany, Slovenia, Switzerland and Slovakia joined them. Some helped with repairs, others organized specialized support or workshops.
In 2008, a meeting was held that changed the nature of our service. On Christmas night, a sick woman with two children was found at the train station (as it turned out, the woman was pregnant with two kids). The sick mother was taken to the hospital to save her life. The children, a boy and a girl, were cared for for next 9 months, in the St. Martin’s House.
Families in Ukraine and the United States were found for these children. Since then, some children in need have lived in our home. Among the worries of everyday life, we tried not to forget about the spiritual needs that every child has. For this reason our students had regular catechetical classes, which they, unfortunately, did not attend before. The number of children in need was constantly growing, and there was not enough space in the small house. Every day we received 30 to 40 children, including Roma people, who needed all-day care and social adaptation.
The year 2012 was important to us – then the charity organizations Stepic CEE and Klein Herzen, with the help of Caritas-Spes, supported our project of building a new home for street children. At the same time, the Eastern Vicariate of the Dominican Order donated the building “Old School” for the House of St. Martin, and the foundations Renovabis, Kindermissionwerk, Förderkreis der Begegnung mit Christen des Ostens Foundation awarded a subsidy for its renovation and equipment.
St. Martin’s House is a crisis interventional center for the children in need.
Opening of the St. Martin Center
Without the House of St. Martin it would not be possible to open the Christian Center of Saint Martin de Porres on December 16, 2015. Inaugural Mass was presided over by the late Archbishop Petro Malczuk together with the clergy of the Kiev-Zhytomyr Diocese, and we were accompanied by the ambassador of the Republic of Poland Henryk Litwin and numerous guests from Germany, Switzerland and Poland. Today, the Center of St. Martin de Porres is the heart of the city’s charitable and cultural activities.
