August 16, 2019

My Journey to God

A Gift on the Feast of the Assumption

I know a woman who has long had a devotion to the Blessed Mother. Time and again she sought Mary’s intercession while raising her children, managing the budget and coping with everyday life.

And time and again she placed her prayers and trust in the lap of Mother Mary as her husband suffered through several bouts of cancer. Persistently through the years, she offered rosaries, tears and pleas to Our Lady of Love.

His final bout with cancer lasted seven long journeys around the sun. Not one of those days passed without her fingers sliding slowly, patiently over her rosary beads as she entrusted all to the Queen of Heaven. Her husband joined her as his conditioned worsened.

The woman, too, became physically worn and emotionally weary from the agony of seeing her husband suffer. He could not even smile at her during his final year—his condition robbed him of the use of those facial muscles. It was late at night on Aug. 14 when the woman begged Mary Most Holy in prayer. “Please, Mary,” she implored. “End my husband’s misery. Tomorrow is the feast of your Assumption. Please take him with you to heaven.” Then she fell asleep.

When she awoke after midnight on Aug. 15, she rose and walked to her husband’s bedroom. She was astonished at what she saw. Her husband’s face was alight and vibrant with joy, his eyes wide open and glistening. And he wore a broad, full-tooth smile that had been physically impossible for the last year.

His pain had left him, as had his soul. She knew then that Mary had given them a most profound gift: On the feast of her glorious Assumption, the Mother of Mercy cradled in her arms the love of this woman’s life, carrying him with her on her glory-bound rise to Heaven.

By Natalie Hoefer
 

(Natalie Hoefer is a member of St. Monica Parish in Indianapolis and is a reporter for The Criterion.)

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