Ask for the Catholic baptism and I will come get you

The Oblates of Mary arrived in Lesotho in 1862. The following year, one of them, Father Joseph, was traveling through the mountainous regions on horseback with a catechist. A rosary in hand, he visited the Christians scattered in many of the villages. At one point, he heard people calling him from a distant village. The priest stopped and said: "They are calling us. Let’s go!" The catechist answered: “No, don’t go! It's a village full of witches, you’ll fall into a trap.” But the priest insisted: "There might be a soul to save. I’m going!” And Father Joseph went to the village followed by a very nervous assistant.

As soon as they arrived, the women took the priest to a hut where a teenage girl was dying. They told him: "She's asking to receive the baptism of Catholics, so she can go to a beautiful lady!" The priest knelt down next to the dying girl, who urged him: "Baptize me quickly! Please hurry!" While the assistant prepared everything, the priest asked the girl some questions about the faith. She was able to answer without hesitation. Surprised, the missionary learned that she had been taught by children from the Christian village. Without delay he administered the sacrament. At the words: "Mary, I baptize you," a radiant joy illuminated her face. He then asked her where this desire for baptism had come from: "I had a dream," she said, "in which I saw a beautiful white lady holding out her arms and saying to me, ‘Ask for the Catholic baptism and I will come get you’."

Very moved, the Father presented her with a Miraculous Medal: "It's her! She's the one I saw!" The dying girl kissed it lovingly, just before passing away.

Testimony of a missionary from Lesotho

Reported in the magazine Notre Dame des temps Nouveaux issue #6 -1982

and in the 1986 Collection of Marian Stories by Brother Albert Pfleger, Marist.