Sister Maria de la Paz Orortiz (on the right) is pictured sitting next to her sister Lucha (left). The photo was taken the day before Maria entered the convent in 1924.

Sister Maria de la Paz Orortiz was 24 when she sneaked out of her parents' home in Mexico City to join the convent despite her father's wishes.
   Orortiz, who turns 100 Friday, is as devoted today to that spiritual calling as she was when as a teen-ager she first developed a great love for the missionary work of nuns, which led her to join the Order of Incarnate Word and Blessed Sacrament.
   Seventy-six years after making her first religious vows, Orortiz, the oldest nun now residing at Corpus Christi's Incarnate Word Motherhouse, goes to chapel for private prayer and to read the liturgy of the day every morning at 6 a.m. without fail.
   Never far from her is her sister, Augustine, who joined the Order 20 years after Sister Maria joined.
   "My decision was for a lifetime," Orortiz said, recalling how as a young woman and accomplished pianist she agonized about leaving her family in pursuit of her spiritual life.
   In honor of her upcoming birthday, Incarnate Word sisters will observe Mass today at the convent in celebration of Orortiz's life.
   "At a time when there are so many broken promises, when people are so undecided about what to do with their lives, Sister's story is quite edifying," said Sister Irma Gonzalez, superior general of Incarnate Word and Blessed Sacrament sisters of Corpus Christi.
   Orortiz first became acquainted with missions as an elementary schoolgirl attending Incarnate Word Academy in Mexico City. Her teacher, a nun, often spoke about missions and encouraged her students to donate their pennies to a collection box she kept on her desk on behalf of these missionaries.

   The turning point

Sister Maria de la Paz Orortiz, who turns 100 on May 11, is the oldest nun now residing at Corpus Christi's Incarnate Word Motherhouse.

   But it was a book, "The Martyrs of Uganda," that Maria won as a prize in geography class that proved a turning point.
   Just as she couldn't put the book down before reading it from beginning to end, no matter how many times she had already read it, she also couldn't deny her growing desire to do the Lord's will.
   Mother gives blessing
   She made her wishes about becoming a nun known to her family, and although her mother gave her blessing, her father did not.
   Orortiz, however, couldn't be dissuaded.
   And so it was one early morning in 1925 that Orortiz left her home while everyone was asleep.
   The night before Orortiz left her parents' home, she went to bed fully clothed.
   "I hadn't planned how I was going to leave or how I was to get where I needed to, but my guardian angel guided me," Orortiz said.
   "I cried all night. I loved my family so much and didn't want to leave them. But on the other hand, I knew this was my calling."
   At the crack of dawn, Orortiz left her bedroom, crossed the courtyard situated in the center of her home and made her way to the dining room on the opposite end.
   The doors to this room were always locked at bedtime, but somehow the task had been overlooked the night before.
   Using a chair, Orortiz reached a dining room window and climbed out. When she got to the front gate, she found it unlocked.
   The gate that her parents always locked at night had been opened that morning by a gardener who arrived early to sweep up leaves.
   Brownsville convent
   Orortiz went to a church where she knew two nuns from Brownsville were staying, nuns that she had spoken to in previous days. Because of religious persecution in Mexico at the time, Orortiz's application to the convents there had been denied.
   The Brownsville nuns, however, were eagerly looking for vocations and accepted Orortiz.
   She left a day after her brother had gone to the train station looking for her.
   Orortiz entered the Brownsville convent and made her first profession of vows on March 25, 1927.
   Several years later, Orortiz suffered a lung infection and returned home. Her parents were elated.
   'The prodigal son'
   "Not a word about what I'd done was spoken," Orortiz said. "I felt like the prodigal son.
   "My family had strung up streamers everywhere and a big bowl of all colors of flowers had been picked for me."
   Nine months later, fully recovered, Orortiz announced to her family that she wanted to return home to the convent.
   Suffering was worthwhile
   "My mother gave me her blessing," Orortiz said. "Then I went to my daddy and knelt beside him.
   "I told him that I planned to leave the next day and he gave me his blessing.
   "I knew then that all my nine months of suffering had been worthwhile."
   Her father's blessing
   Orortiz's illness had allowed her father a second chance to give his daughter what she wanted most - his blessing.
   Orortiz never became a missionary, instead becoming a teacher.
   But Orortiz had a third sister, now deceased, who also entered the convent and spent her life as a missionary working with the poor in Mexico City.
   As for Orortiz, she offers a bit of insight about her devotion to her calling.
   "No matter how many stones I meet on the road, big or small," Orortiz said, "I've always known that my decision was for a lifetime."
  

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