Monday, October 30, 2006

All Hallows Meme

T.O. at LAMLand tagged me awhile ago (sorry!)...

If you were invited to a Halloween/ All Saints Day Costume Party, which saint would you dress up as and why? (The Blessed Virgin Mary, the Mother of God, is not an option.)

My own patron, St. Martin de Porres; because he's my patron, and I would be delighted to make him better known.

Which saint or other person would accompany you to the party?

St. Rose, because they were compatriots.

What famous quote would help others identify you?

Hmmm, not very famous, but: "Mice, you must not go into the house!"

Describe your costume.

A Dominican habit, and a broom. Maybe a stuffed mouse taped to my foot. The question of coloring my hair and face arises, but alas, that sort of thing isn't considered "innocent" in our day and age, even though I wouldn't do it to demean my patron. Some day we will be past all that.

Which movie or film best depicts the life of this saint?

I know of none. Anyone know of a film about little St. Martin?

What is your favorite book written about this saint or that he or she has written?

I have a couple of books about St. Martin, but I confess I don't know where they are just now, sorry.

I tag the first five people who acknowledge reading this.

9 comments:

EC Gefroh said...

Nice choice Father. But then again I am partial to Peruvian saints. :-)
I am currently reading Life of St. Martin de Porres: Patron Saint of Interracial Justice by Stanislas Fumet. I'm only on the second chapter or so so I can't really recommend it but so far, so good.

Terry Nelson said...

I love St Martin and his two friends, St. Rose and St. John Mascias. May they pray for you and support you in your ministry!

Anonymous said...

Hey, better late than never! I'm surprised you found it buried in the Oct. archives. Thanks for playing along - I learned more about St. Martin than I knew before (I only knew the one who cut his cloak in half!)

Kasia said...

Good call on not coloring your hair and face, Father - while your intentions would be completely aboveboard, as you observed, that sort of thing is easily misinterpreted...

What's the story with St. Martin and mice? All I knew was that he was of mixed ethnic origin.

The Digital Hairshirt said...

Okay, Father, since I am comment numero five, I will respond.

Anonymous said...

Gosh, Father, I'd have thought you to be more the Martin of Tours type! (joke)... I too love St. Martin de Porres, along with St. Rose of Lima. And I also wonder about the meaning of the mice comment. Happy All Saints' Day to you, and congratulations on yet another great homily.

Regards from Canada,
Pat Gonzalez

Anonymous said...

Father:

A search on the Internet Movie Database for Martin Porres produed two titles -- a 1959 movie called TEARS OF ST. MARTIN DE PORRES and a 1964 TV series of 100 episodes called "St. Martin de Porres." Both are from Mexico; neither has had so many as five people give a rating to it (BABEL, which hasn't even been released yet, has about 1,300 as I type this in). Neither film is listed as available on video.

There is a film called ST. TEARS OF MARTIN DE PORRES avaialble on DVD from CD Universe or Amazon or direct from the distrubutor Laguna Films.

Thing is, this film is listed without a country of origin, from a different year and having different actors than the IMDb listing (and no listing of its own). And the Laguna films Web site is entirely in Spanish. So FWIW and before you order it, Father, I strongly suspect this film would have no subtitles. (Just fair warning. Dunno whether your Spanish would be up to it, Padre.)

Anonymous said...

But about your costume, Padre. How would you get the dog and the cat not to fight and the cat not to eat the mouse?

Fr Martin Fox said...

From this web site, the story about the mice:

On the lighter side, often we see Martin pictured in his Dominican habit holding a broom, with a mouse and dog at his feet. There is an interesting anectdote about mice. One time there seemed to be a mouse "convention" in the wardrobe room of the monastery, where they feasted on the finest linen garments and sheets, leaving the old ones untouched. Some of the monks wanted to poison the rodents, but Martin would not hear of it. One day he caught a little mouse and held him gently, and said, "Little brother, why are you and your companions doing so much harm to the things belonging to the sick? Look; I shall not kill you, but you are to assemble all your friends and lead them to the far end of the garden. Everyday I will bring you food if you leave the wardrobe alone," After Martin let go of the mouse, there was scurrying from every nook and cranny and the procession started towards the monastery garden. Martin, tall and slender, with long strides, led the mice to their new home. Everyday he brought them a meal and no mouse ever set claw or tooth in the monastery wardrobe.