Fight Against Death With a Hail Mary (II)

And I started saying non-stop, initially to myself, then in a low voice, ‘Hail Mary, full of grace…’ I was just so desperate. We laid my child on the table; she was rigid and immobile. She gave me the impression that she was “nailed on” the table. Then, I remembered the crucifix and I thought: “nailed like Jesus on the Cross,”… 3:15 AM - The doctor told me that it was time to prepare a cloth in which to wrap the body of my child. I was in such a state of anguish that I could not articulate a sound, except for my “Hail Marys” and the “Lord's Prayer” and other invocations like: “Save my child!” I told my mother where she could find a cloth and continued clinging to my “Hail Marys” like to a life buoy. At this point, I started following the Way of the Cross in my mind, (I remembered that from my catechism). I saw Jesus whipped, struck and then fall on the rocky path. I was so concentrated in my thoughts that I thought I could hear a woman cry; and I said myself: who can cry like that except a mother who sees her child dying. And, then I relived in thought the scene of the Crucifixion, I really understood Mary’s pain as she was crucified with her Son, but accepted to give Him up for the salvation of the world. As for me, I would not have given up my child to save anybody’s life. Now I understood that Mary was crying for me, for my little girl, for all of us and that she interceded on our behalf with the force of her tears. Then, for a moment I forgot my own suffering and said to Jesus, “Lord, have mercy on Your mother.”