What is the importance of San Lázaro in the memoir, A Cup of Water Under My Bed?

San Lázaro is the Spanish name for the Christian Saint Lazarus. In the chapter "The Candy Dish" (35), Hernández explains that this saint was particularly venerated in her household. Her parents had a statue of San Lázaro and they celebrated his feast day on December 17th. Cuban Catholics worship San Lázaro as the patron saint of the poor and the sick. Hernández goes on to note that when the African Yoruba were enslaved by Spanish conquistadors and taken to the Americas, they were forbidden from worshiping their native religion, in which Elegguá was a significant god (Elegguá being the god to whom Hernández's father leaves offerings in the candy dish). The Yoruba learned that the Spanish worshiped a similar figure, whom they called San Lázaro, so they began referring to Elegguá as San Lázaro; these two religious figures are essentially one and the same.