De Porres Connection

Today I was admiring a statue of St. Martin de Porres.  An acquaintance came over to me and told me the story of the statue.  Essentially, she rescued it from a yard.  The owner offered it to her and she snatched it up.  She had it repainted.

So I told her my story about a statue of St. Martin de Porres.  Once upon a time, I wasn't a Lay Dominican.  I don't think I even knew there was such an organization as the Order of Preachers, never mind that St. Martin de Porres was a famous member of the Order.

I was teaching in a parochial school.  I was team teaching with a religious sister.  I don't remember what religious order she belonged to.  That fact alone, tells you how ignorant I was of things religious.  Every day, my class and I prayed a rosary.  We used a statue of a "black Madonna" for inspiration.  One day, Sister and I were talking and I happened to mention the statue in my classroom of the "black Madonna."

"What black Madonna?"  Sister asked.

"That one."  I pointed.

Sister laughed...and laughed...and laughed....
"That's not Mary. That's St. Martin de Porres!"  And she couldn't stop laughing.

I was very, very embarrassed.  Here I was teaching at a Catholic school and I had never heard of St. Martin de Porres and couldn't tell him from Mary!  "Well." I said. " Why is he wearing a dress?"

Sister laughed even more! !!!!!!  "That's a Dominican habit!"

I  was too humiliated to ask what a Dominican was, nevermind a habit!

But just look at me know.