The Visitation mystery brings to my mind the story by Catherine Doherty related in her book, NOT WITHOUT PARABLES. Catherine was a nurse, and lived in the Catholic community of Madonna House in Combermere, Ontario, which she had founded as an apostolate of lay people living the Gospel message and serving the poor in this rural Canadian area.
She relates the story of a man who came to her for help with his dying wife, who needed a nurse to administer pain relieving shots to her. The man hesitated to ask Catherine, he being non-Catholic (Orangeman was the term used) and not knowing if Catherine would help. She agreed readily however, and accompanied this man each day for three months on a three hour drive to and from his remote homestead. Then he stopped coming, and Catherine assumed the wife had died.
A few weeks later he returned however, and begged her to come back again, or to send “those nuns” who had been such a help for his wife.
I can’t do justice to Catherine’s telling of the story – it needs to be read in the book.
Suffice it to say that a beautiful miracle unfolds, as we discover the identity of the “two nuns” and how they ministered to this dying woman and her husband.
Whenever I go to bring the Eucharist to those in the hospital, or to visit someone who is ill or lonely, I’m reminded to invite the companionship of Our Lady of the Visitation and St. Therese of Lisieux to accompany me, and remain when I leave. This story calls me to a deeper belief in the communion of the saints, and the good they desire to do for and with us, especially for the suffering…
Lord God, thank You for the great gift of the communion of the saints, and of the reality of their presence and help when we call upon them. Thank You for Our Lady of the Visitation – may I never go on an errand of mercy without her ~
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A second remembrance that surfaces for this mystery concerns a beautiful Franciscan Sister of the Renewal who was in my class at the Cenacle of Our Lady of Divine Providence in Florida. We spent a good deal of time in solitary prayer, and on several occasions a scene would surface in my prayer time which included this particular Sister, who seemed to represent Mary to me. It was always a comforting presence, and brought the Lord’s healing grace with it. Sr. Clare has a great smile and contagious laughter, and a heart on fire with love for the Lord.
I picked up my phone one day, and there on the other end was the voice I recognized as Sr. Clare – and my heart leaped for Joy as I heard her speak! I’ve always felt so very blessed to have been called to the Cenacle, and to have met and spent time with so many holy and faith-filled people. Who am I to have been so blessed? So the words from Luke come into my heart: “And how does this happen to me, that the mother of my Lord should come to me? For at the moment the sound of your greeting reached my ears, the infant in my womb leaped for joy.” (Luke 1:43-44)
What joy does indeed fill our hearts when we meet and connect with others whose hearts are on fire with love for Jesus! It’s an inner stirring of the Spirit, an interior recognition of God’s presence in the other person. How grateful I am, for it always re-ignites my own fire and fills me with love…
Lord God, thank You for the fire of Your Love that fills the hearts of Your people, and for the tangible experience of meeting and receiving that fire! May my heart be always sensitive and open to celebrate Your presence with profound gratitude ~
Spiritual Sun Pennies 